Baby safe after being found abandoned at Minnesota cathedral

Author: Kresta in the Afternoon Published on: January 9, 2017 Published in: A World in Pain

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The infant was left in a plastic laundry basket at the entrance to the church

A newborn child found on the doorstep of the Cathedral of St Paul was in good health and being cared for by local children’s services officials.

Nathan Leonhardt, a custodian at the cathedral, discovered the child on January 4 as he was locking the building about 6pm following evening Mass. The baby was left in a plastic laundry basket between the exterior and interior doors of a church entrance.

Leonhardt and Fr John Ubel, cathedral rector, cared for the infant boy in the church sacristy until emergency responders arrived. The priest said he baptised the child while waiting for police and an ambulance to arrive.

Fr Ubel said he hopes the boy, whom he christened Nathan John, will be adopted by a Catholic family. He finds it significant that the baby was left at a Catholic parish. The baby was placed in the care of Ramsey County Child Protective Services.

Police are not pursuing the case as a criminal matter, said Sgt Mike Ernster, St Paul police spokesman. Minnesota law allows a mother to leave a newborn in a safe place within seven days of birth, such as a hospital or urgent care clinic without having to answer any questions. However, a church is not classified as one of those safe places.