MINNEAPOLIS _ A newborn baby boy, his umbilical cord tied with a paper clip, was left in a laundry basket in the Cathedral of St. Paul Wednesday evening.
A church employee found the infant, still covered in blood from the birth, and called the Cathedral's rector, Father John L. Ubel.
"I told him to call 911 and meet me in the church as I have found a new born baby!" church employee Nathan R. Leonhardt wrote in Facebook messenger. As they awaited medical help, Ubel baptized the boy and named him Nathan John, Leonhardt added.
"The child is in good shape," said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a police spokesman.
The baby was found about 6 p.m. wrapped in blankets. Police reports do not mention the presence of any notes or additional items with the boy, Ernster said.
Fire medics took the boy to Children's Hospital, and the case will be turned over to Ramsey County Child Protection.
First passed in 2000, Minnesota's Safe Haven law allowed mothers to give up their newborns to hospitals within three days of birth. In 2012, the law was expanded to allow mothers the option of legally abandoning their babies by calling 911 for an ambulance, or by delivering the infants to hospitals or urgent care clinics.
Although the baby was not left at a medical facility, Ernster said that police are not treating the case as a crime matter, and are not looking for a parent.
"I was doing my normal closing routine," Leonhardt recounted on Facebook. "I came across a green laundry bin with laundry in it. Didn't think anything of it so I went and locked the door. While walking back up the stairs I thought in my head I should just feel around in the bin and make sure nothing is in there. I felt nothing so I went to go through the second set of doors and heard crying. I immediately froze for what felt like 10 seconds. I opened the blanket that was sticking out on top and saw the baby's head. I could not grasp if I was dreaming or if it was real! I immediately picked the baby up and called the rector of the cathedral, Father Ubel."
