Maria Wiering

Julie Sullivan, president of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, has been named president of Santa Clara University, a Jesuit-run university near San Francisco, where she will be the school's first layperson and first woman president.

Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, encouraged his brother bishops "to work with care, patience, justice and charity" as "these new norms are implemented ... (and) as together we foster a eucharistic renewal in our nation."

A video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of a handcuffed man repeatedly saying "I can't breathe," and who appears to lose consciousness or die while being pinned down, is "gut wrenching and deeply disturbing," Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda  of St. Paul and Minneapolis said in a May 27 statement.

A new executive order from Gov. Tim Walz permits faith-based gatherings at 25% church capacity, with a total limit of 250 people, beginning May 27. The Minnesota governor announced the new order May 23.

Minnesota's bishops are moving ahead with plans to resume Masses at one-third church capacity May 26, a plan that defies current state directives limiting faith-based gatherings to 10 or fewer people.

Catholic educators have a charge to teach that a person's sexual identity is a gift from God that cannot change and resist cultural tides toward "gender theory," according to new guiding principles released by Minnesota's bishops.

A Minnesota pastor has apologized after remarks he made about Muslim immigration and Islam being "the greatest threat in the world" sparked controversy.

Bishop Paul Sirba of Duluth, Minnesota, died at Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center in Duluth Dec. 1. He was 59.

St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson announced May 14 that he is representing five sexual abuse survivors suing the Holy See for names of clergy sexual abuse offenders worldwide.

The Field Hospital: Fr. Kevin Finnegan said he didn't know what to expect when he arrived at St. Peter in Mendota. He was responding to an invitation Archbishop Bernard Hebda had extended to priests of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis: to join him for an evening to reflect on the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

The Field Hospital: Over a dozen clergy sexual abuse survivors are in regular contact with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis' Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment. They provide advice for the archdiocese's outreach to other survivors.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis said Dec. 14 that until "all open allegations are resolved," his predecessor, Archbishop John Nienstedt, is not free to exercise public ministry in the archdiocese.

Archbishop John Nienstedt has "stepped aside from his responsibilities" at the Napa Institute, the Irvine, California-based organization announced Aug. 15.

A federal appeals court upheld two lower court rulings that the assets of Catholic institutions, including parishes, are separate from those of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and that they cannot be consolidated with archdiocesan assets in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy.