A priest in the Archdiocese of Chicago has been barred from ministry there after allegations he engaged in “inappropriate conversations” with both children and adults.
Father Jose Molina, a priest of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, was accused of engaging in “improper and inappropriate conversations and communications with minors and adult women,” Chicago archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich said in a May 9 letter.
Cupich, in the letter addressed to parishioners at St. Francis of Assisi Parish on Chicagoʼs Near West Side, said he had sent Molina back to the provincial house of the Institute of the Incarnate Word and had removed Molinaʼs faculties to minister in the archdiocese.
The letter also said the archdiocese has “reported the allegations to civil authorities,” while Molinaʼs accusers were “offered the services of the archdiocese’s Office of Assistance Ministry.”
The archbishopʼs letter did not offer any further details about the allegations against Molina and indicated the investigation was ongoing.
Priest in New Mexico also removed from ministry
A priest in New Mexico was also recently removed from ministry amid allegations of the theft of diocesan records.
In a May 8 letter to parishioners at the Basilica of San Albino, Las Cruces Bishop Peter Baldacchino said Father Chris Williams had been “relieved of all his duties” in the diocese and suspended as pastor of the basilica amid a controversy involving the reported theft of tens of thousands of diocesan files.
The bishop said a civil discovery process revealed that Williams and “certain employees” of the basilica allegedly conspired to steal “over 60,000 private diocesan records,” specifically financial records. The diocese has referred the theft to law enforcement, he said.
The alleged robbery “exposed the diocese and all parishes to a significant risk of misappropriation and theft,” the bishop said.
Williams’ brother, Father Michael Williams, would serve as the temporary pastor of the basilica, Baldacchino said, noting he was unable to share further details due to the ongoing investigation.