Michael Joseph Hoeppner

Michael Joseph Hoeppner (born June 1, 1949) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the bishop of the Diocese of Crookston in Minnesota from November 30, 2007, to April 13, 2021.

After a Vatican investigation concluded that Hoeppner mishandled an allegation of sexual abuse by a priest, Pope Francis requested and received Hoeppner's resignation as bishop.

Biography

Early life Michael Hoeppner was born on June 1, 1949, in Winona, Minnesota. He undertook his theological studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Hoeppner was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Winona on June 29, 1975, by Pope Paul VI at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Hoeppner was consecrated at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Crookston by Archbishop Harry Flynn on November 30, 2007.

In May 2017, Hoeppner became the first American bishop to be sued personally for coercion. The lawsuit was filed by Ronald Vasek, a former diaconate candidate in the diocese. Vasek alleged that Monsignor Roger Grundhaus sexually abused him when he was a teenager during a trip to Ohio in 1971. Vasek reported his allegations to the diocese in 2011.

In October 2015, Vasek signed a letter recanting his accusations against Grundhaus. Vasek said that Hoeppner threatened retaliation against Vasek's son, a priest in the diocese, if he failed to sign it. Vasek said that Hoeppner's actions were like "being abused all over again." On September 20, 2017, Vasek, the diocese and Hoeppner reached a legal settlement. As part of the agreement, Hoeppner released the letter from October 2015.

In September 2019, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced it would investigate Hoeppner's actions in the Vasek case. This was the first investigation in the United States of a bishop for failure to follow the procedures for sexual abuse allegations that Pope Francis promulgated in the 2019 document Vos estis lux mundi.

Retirement Following the archdiocese investigation, Francis requested Hoeppner's resignation as bishop of Crookston. It was accepted by the pope on April 13, 2021. In his final mass in Crookston, Hoeppner apologized "...to you and everyone, as I've apologized to the Holy Father, for any failures of mine in governing as bishop."