Statement Regarding Martin Shanahan and ‘Spirit of Hope Catholic Community’

From Archbishop Bernard Hebda

Martin Shanahan is a former deacon of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. In 2009, he was dismissed from the clerical state after having sought presbyteral ordination in the “Old Catholic Church” (aka Apostolic Catholic Orthodox Church). Shanahan then founded the “Spirit of Hope Catholic Community” in Sunfish Lake. On October 29, 2016, Shanahan was ordained as a bishop of the Holy Cross Old Catholic Diocese of Minnesota.

Shanahan, the Spirit of Hope Catholic Community, and the Holy Cross Old Catholic Diocese of Minnesota are not affiliated or in communion with the Roman Catholic Church or the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. For a list of Catholic parishes and institutions in the Archdiocese that are authorized to administer the sacraments, please visit www.archspm.org/places.

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