NCR Online: Priests’ group urges Pope Leo to protect due process for accused clergy

by Ryan Di Corpo

A national group of U.S. Catholic priests has urged the Vatican to safeguard the due process rights of accused clergy. The group faulted bishops for allegedly violating canon law in disciplining some priests cited for misconduct.

The Association of U.S. Catholic Priests, formed outside of Chicago in 2011, asked Pope Leo XIV earlier this month to encourage churchwide obedience to canon law, which holds that accused persons are assumed innocent until facts demonstrate otherwise and that religious superiors “must start a judicial or administrative procedure” to discipline priests.

Since his installation as the first Augustinian pontiff in May, Leo, a canon lawyer by training, has repeatedly urged a “firm and decisive” response from church leaders in clergy sex abuse cases while facing questions about his own handling of abuse allegations in Chicago and Peru. 

In a recent report, published early last month and shared with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the priests’ group says that some priests facing misconduct allegations have been restricted in their ministry without compelling evidence of wrongdoing and been publicly named as accused before investigations were finished. The report does not provide hard data on how frequently this occurs or how many men in the United States have been affected. 

“It is vital to acknowledge that, as with victims, priests too are entitled to a fair hearing and the protection of their reputations,” the document says.

Some priests have sued bishops or dioceses for reputational damage stemming from their handling of abuse allegations. In March 2024, Fr. James DeOreo, a priest of the Diocese of Lafayette, Indiana, filed a defamation lawsuit against his diocese and its vicar general after a minor accused him of sexual harassment, and he was suspended from ministry and subsequently cleared of misconduct.

DeOreo took legal action after his diocese publicly stated that he had been suspended due to “allegations of inappropriate conduct with a minor.” His lawsuit was dismissed.

In a separate defamation case, Fr. Daniel Lacroix sued Bishop Edgar da Cunha of Fall River, Massachusetts, after the priest was permanently removed from ministry following accusations of child sex abuse. Lacroix denied these allegations.

Accusations of child sex abuse against priests create a challenging situation for bishops, said Fr. Jim Musumeci, who also helped write the report for the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests. 

“[Bishops] have to balance the rights of the wounded and hear the voices of the victims, and at the same time [they] have priests to support,” he told NCR. “You can take an accusation very seriously, but you also have to respect the due process rights of the priest.” 

Fr. Michael Sullivan, a canon lawyer and priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis who helped draft the June study, said that bishops’ focus on protecting potential victims of sexual abuse has meant a lack of concern for the rights of accused priests. 

“I do not want any priest who is guilty of a crime to go free or to continue to work in [the] priesthood,” Sullivan said in an email to NCR. “But I don’t want any innocent priest to suffer public humiliation or to lose his ability to do good ministry either.”

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https://www.ncronline.org/news/priests-group-urges-pope-leo-protect-due-process-accused-clergy

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