Diocese of Crookston

Territory

The Diocese of Crookston comprises 14 counties in Minnesota: Kittson, Roseau, Lake of the Woods, Marshall, Polk, Red Lake, Pennington, Clearwater, Beltrami, Norman, Mahnomen, Hubbard, Clay and Becker.

History

The first Catholic priest to serve in present-day Minnesota was Jean-Pierre Aulneau, a French missionary at Fort Saint Charles near Penasse. He was killed by a Sioux war party in 1736. The Minnesota area went through several Catholic jurisdictions before the creation of the Diocese of Crookston:

• Diocese of Saint Louis (1826 to 1837)
• Diocese of Dubuque (1837 to 1850)
• Diocese of Saint Paul (1850 to 1879)

St. Mary's Mission at Red Lake was established in 1858 on the Red Lake Reservation to serve the Chippewa/Ojibwe people in the region.

1900 to 1960

The Diocese of Crookston was erected on December 31, 1909, by Pope Pius X with territory taken from the Archdiocese of Saint Paul. The pope named Timothy J. Corbett of Saint Paul as the first bishop of Crookston. During his 28-year tenure, Corbett established over 50 churches and 12 schools through soliciting funds. In 1913, he dedicated the first Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Crookston. Corbett resigned in 1938.

Pope Pius XI in 1938 named John Peschges of the Diocese of Winona to be the second bishop of Crookston. Peschges established the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, a program of religious courses for rural youth, in the diocese and founded other organizations for agricultural development.

After Peschges died in 1944, Pope Pius XII in 1945 appointed Monsignor Francis Schenk of Saint Paul to succeed him. During his tenure in Crookston, Schenk established over 30 new churches, founded Our Northland Diocese newspaper, and organized diocesan offices of the Catholic Social Service Agency and the Catholic Youth Organization. He also founded summer boarding schools for children of the thousands of Mexican migrant workers who worked in the diocese. In 1960, Peschges became bishop of the Diocese of Duluth.

1960 to 2007

The next bishop of Crookston was Lawrence Glenn of Duluth, appointed by Pope John XXIII in 1960. Glenn retired as bishop ten years later. To succeed Glenn, Pope Paul VI named Kenneth Povish of the Diocese of Saginaw in 1970. During his five-year tenure, Povish implemented the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, establishing parish councils in each parish and a pastoral council for the diocese. He also supported liturgical reform and the ecumenical movement.

Povish became bishop of the Diocese of Lansing in 1975. Paul VI replaced him in 1976 in Crookston with Victor Balke from the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. In 1990, Balke dedicated the current Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. He retired in 2007.

2007 to present

Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 appointed Monsignor Michael Hoeppner of the Diocese of Winona as the next bishop of Crookston. Following a Vatican investigation of Hoeppener for coercing a sexual abuse victim, Pope Francis ordered his resignation as the bishop of Crookston. The pope accepted it on April 13, 2021.

As of 2023, the bishop of the Diocese of Crookston is Andrew Cozzens, formerly an auxiliary bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. He was appointed by Francis in late 2021.

Sex abuse

In 2006, a teenage girl accused the priest Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul of raping and sodomizing her on many occasions in Greenbush when she was age 14 in 2004 and 2005. He arrived in the diocese as a visiting priest from India in 2004, but returned home in 2005 to visit a sick relative. Bishop Balke then revoked permission for Jeyapaul to return to Crookston. The girl sued the diocese in 2009. The diocese soon received a similar accusation against him from another woman. In November 2014, the United States extradited Jeyapaul from India to face sexual assault charges in Minnesota. Jeyapaul pleaded guilty to sexual assault in May 2015 and was sentenced to one year in prison, followed by deportation to India.

The diocese was sued in 2013 by a man from the White Earth Indian Reservation in the diocese. The plaintiff said that he was sexually abused as a young boy in the 1960s by the priest J. Vincent Fitzgerald.

In 2011, Ronald Vasek, a former diaconate candidate, reported to the diocese that Roger Grundhaus had sexually abused him when he was a teenager during a trip to Ohio in 1971. In October 2015, Bishop Hoeppner asked Vasek to sign a letter recanting his accusations against Grundhaus, which he did. In May 2017, Vasek sued Hoeppner on ground of coercion, the first such lawsuit ever file against a Catholic bishop in the United States. Vasek claimed that Hoeppner had threatened retaliation against Vasek's son, a priest in the diocese, if he failed to sign the 2015 letter. Vasek said that Hoeppner's actions were like "being abused all over again."

In September 2017, Vasek, the diocese and Hoeppner reached a financial settlement. As part of the agreement, Hoeppner released the 2015 letter. In September 2019, on the direction of the Vatican, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced that he would investigate Hoeppner's actions. This was the first investigation of an American bishop for failing to the follow the sexual abuse procedures in the 2019 papal document Vos estis lux mundi. Pope Francis forced Hoeppner to resign as bishop in 2021.

In July 2019, the diocese announced a $5 million financial settlement with 15 alleged victims of sexual abuse by diocesan clergy.

NOTOC

Bishops

1. Timothy J. Corbett (1910–38)
2. John Hubert Peschges (1938–44)
3. Francis Joseph Schenk (1945–60), appointed Bishop of Duluth
4. Lawrence Alexander Glenn (1960–70)
5. Kenneth Joseph Povish (1970–75), appointed Bishop of Lansing
6. Victor Hermann Balke (1976–2007)
7. Michael Joseph Hoeppner (2007–2021)
8. Andrew H. Cozzens (2021–present)

Education

As of 2025, Diocese of Crookston has eight elementary schools and one high school, Sacred Heart High School in East Grand Forks.

References

References

1. "History".
2. "Diocese of Crookston". Catholic-Hierarchy.
3. "Diocese of Crookston". GCatholic.org.
4. "Bishop Timothy J. Corbett". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
5. Sonnen, John Paul. "Old Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota)".
6. "Bishop John Hubert Peschges [Catholic-Hierarchy]".
7. "Bishop Francis Joseph Schenk [Catholic-Hierarchy]".
8. "Bishop Lawrence Alexander Glenn [Catholic-Hierarchy]".
9. {{Catholic-hierarchy. bishop. bpovish. Bishop Kenneth Joseph Povish. 21 January 2015
10. "History of Diocese". Diocese of Crookston.
11. "Bishop Victor Herman Balke [Catholic-Hierarchy]".
12. Hoerner, Michael. "Pope accepts resignation of Bishop Balke of Crookston".
13. "Rinunce e Nomine, 2007.09.28". Holy See Press Office.
14. Shirley, Hannah. (April 13, 2021). "Minnesota bishop resigns at request of pope for covering up sexual abuse by clergy". Brainerd Dispatch.
15. (April 13, 2021). "Statement re: Resignation of Bishop Michael Hoeppner". Diocese of Crookston.
16. (December 6, 2021). "Diocese of Crookston installs Andrew Cozzens as eighth bishop". Grand Forks Herald.
17. (July 6, 2009). "Woman Sues Crookston Diocese Says Priest Abused Her in 2004 in Greenbush".
18. Forliti, Amy. (November 17, 2014). "Accused Priest Extradited from India to Minnesota".
19. "Former Crookston Priest Files Notice to Plead Guilty to Sex Crime, by Sarah Volpenhein, Grand Forks Herald, May 22, 2015".
20. Lee, Stephen J.. (2013-11-22). "Member of White Earth Band of Chippewa sues Crookston Diocese".
21. Hofpensberger, Jean. (May 10, 2017). "Lawsuit accuses Minnesota bishop of coercion in clergy abuse case". Star Tribune.
22. WIERING, MARIE. (2021-04-19). "Hoeppner apologizes to Crookston Diocese during farewell Mass".
23. "Man Speaks Out Following Resignation Of Bishop Michael Hoeppner Of The Crookston Diocese".
24. Roewe, Brian. (September 26, 2017). "Minnesota diocese settles in lawsuit against Bishop Hoeppner". National Catholic Reporter.
25. (September 28, 2017). "Ex-deacon candidate settles coercion lawsuit against bishop". Fox News.
26. Williams, Tess. (September 11, 2019). "Crookston bishop to be investigated on allegations of sexual abuse cover up". Grand Forks Herald.
27. GERGEN, JANELLE C.. (July 18, 2019). "Crookston Diocese reaches $5 million settlement with abuse survivors".