The following open letter is to Dan Cellucci of the Catholic Leadership Institute, and Brian McCarthy the Chief Strategy Officer of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Catholic Philly identifies the Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI) as a key partner to the Strategic Planning Office which will be overseeing Archbishop Perez’s Trust and Hope Campaign The effort focuses on bringing the 83% of non attending registered Philly Catholics back to the Church. Dan and Brian are also both fathers of young children.
Dear Dan and Brian,
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia continues to endanger children and laity.
Would you want a porn addict priest on the altar at the Cathedral for your child’s high school baccalaureate mass? A priest who was caught two different times with thousands of porn images downloaded, with some of possible minors. Who law enforcement advised Archbishop Chaput not be placed back in ministry but the Review Board of the Archdiocese unanimously voted for his return. Not only returning him to ministry but placing him at the Cathedral. Is that who you want in the background of your child’s photos? The lurking porn priest? It’s exactly what happened to Bishop McDevitt High School.
Would you want your teen son or daughter to receive one- on- one spiritual counseling by a priest who was under secret investigation for child sex abuse? That’s what happened at John W Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School 2018-2019
Would you want to drop your child off at a Kairos Retreat for a weekend at Malvern Retreat House where the chaplain was under secret investigation for child sex abuse? Would you want your child to line up at the Malvern Retreat Family Weekend and go to confession to the sexual predator priest? This all happened to numerous students/families in 2018.
Would you want your child to go off to a Catholic college and end up in the company of a school chaplain who was sent there with Archbishop Chaput knowing of his many problems? Would you want to attend a Catholic family fun concert where this priest who was under investigation for sexually assaulting a college student was performing? This all happened in 2017-2019. Also the Archdiocese never released any information that the priest was under investigation or that it was found that he credibly violated the Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries. It was only revealed because a Catholic news outlet did an in depth article on the case. That is how the laity in Philadelphia found out.
Would you want your child to attend a youth group event where a very deeply troubled priest who has been removed from ministry several times and served probation for several alcohol related crimes is present? Charges including criminal mischief, disorderly conduct/engage in fighting, public drunkenness, driving under the influence and accident involving damages. This priest now removed from ministry once again for unknown reasons. This happened and his presence at the youth group was actually highlighted as a good thing in Catholic Philly ,September 2025.
Would you want to know if your child had been part of a youth group and the chaplain to the group was reported for sexting with someone over the age of 18? Would you expect that the Archdiocese would let you know rather than the priest just disappearing? Delaware County youth group involving students from a few parishes.
Would you want your child to be chaperoned on a trip out of the country by a priest who just weeks prior was found to have violated the Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries ?Also would you expect that if your child was the victim of the violation Standards that as a parent you would have been notified? No Notification. Bishop Shanahan students 2017.
If you dropped your child off to volunteer with the elderly IHM Sisters at Camilla Hall would you expect that the chaplain was under secret investigation for child sex abuse AND also had a previous credible violation of the Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries on his record? 2019-2020
Would you want your child to be told by school staff to pray for a Philly priest who arrested for the sexual assault of a teen parishioner? Reported directly to us by an IHM parent
If Archbishop Perez installed a new pastor at your parish would you expect that the priest was allegedly under investigation for the sexual abuse of an adult and was found to have credibly violated the Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries? I have offered to personally meet with both of you and share documentation in this case.
It never ends. These are just a few examples. This is tip of the iceberg of the years of information that we receive. The only reason that Catholics4Change exists 15 years later is because the people in the pews reach out for assistance. They recognize that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia continues to endanger children and laity.
They tell us exact situations when priests under secret investigation for sex abuse had access to children. They tell us that the staff who work directly with the children were not ever told of any restrictions on the priest or of the sex abuse investigation. They feel complicit while they are not at fault. They report clergy who act odd or strange. They contact us when the Archdiocese distributes incorrect info such as reporting abuse protocol.
They contact us when a priest has been found credibly accused and tell us of instances/ situations that would have been valuable to the investigation had they known that the priest was being investigated. As I have explained repeatedly, the secret investigations into sex abuse allegations is unique to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. In other dioceses the priest is placed on administrative leave for the protection of children and the investigation is announced in a diocesan statement. All are encouraged to come forward with relevant information to the case. Did you ever wonder why the stats of unfounded allegations are so high in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia? Do you even know the stats? Maybe it’s because investigations are conducted in secret. No diocesan wide statement released asking anyone with relevant information to come forward. We have received information of situations that happened 10, 20, to 30 years prior that would have proved invaluable in an investigation.
Survivors of clergy sex abuse provide us with exact details that the Archdiocese leaves out of their very brief, and often technically incorrect press releases of a priest being found credibly accused of sexual abuse. We have timelines that the Archdiocese would never release because it would show how long the priest remained in ministry while under secret investigation. I have offered to meet with both of you and picked three cases that easily show the story that the Archdiocese tells, compared to the actual facts. We have the documentation. I have never heard back from either of you about taking me up on that offer.
Why do survivors contact us and share information that provides a correct timeline of the case? Because they also realize that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia continues to endanger children and laity.
In 2016, Archbishop Chaput actually changed the Charter for the Protection of Children to eliminate the Review Board from deciding interim safety measures of priests under investigation for sexual abuse. The Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries have not been updated since 2003. A tech addendum was added in 2011. Adult sexual abuse (victim over the age of 18) lacks any real policy given that since 2018 most dioceses now have sections devoted to the abuse of adults. None of it matters though because our Standards begin with a legal preamble that absolves the Archdiocese of responsibility. It’s all a game to them.
The Oversight Committee that Archbishop Chaput established in 2018 to evaluate the child protection policies was chaired by a man who was publicly linked to the Epstein files in 2019. ( Can’t make this stuff up if you tried) The report issued by the committee was a joke, but none of this is funny . Why didn’t the Archdiocese of Philadelphia release the review of Victims Assistance/OCYP? Where is Lynn’s Shiner’s report? Were her recommendations implemented? Lynn Shiner at least put effort into her report.
As leaders in the Trust and Hope campaign have you told the founding donor families of the very important child and laity protection issues that I have exhaustively brought to your attention over the past year? You no longer respond to emails about the child/laity protection issues. I have informed you of the risks of your youth centric plan. I have informed you that the 250 missionary disciples who will be mostly young adults are at risk in the Archdiocese. As are the children of families that you are recruiting to return Most importantly, so are your children.
Catholic Leadership Institute blocked Catholics4Change on Facebook when we tagged them in posts with important information. You blocked a group that consists of the 17% of Church attendees, the 83% you are trying to bring back, survivors of clergy sex abuse, and parents trying to keep their kids safe.
The powers that be at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia will shake your hand, take your money, and endanger your children. When I met with John Delaney from the Office of Investigations of the Archdiocese and told him of a 15 year old girl at Hallahan who received one-on-one counseling from a priest while he was under secret Archdiocesan investigation, Delaney simply shrugged his shoulders and asked if anything happened to her . Your children are a shoulder shrug to them.
In December 2025, Leslie Davila, Director of Office of Child and Youth Protection informed Philly clergy that she would be leaving her position ( I guess some prayers do get answered, Bye Bye Leslie) Has the position been filled?
The house needs to be cleaned top to bottom.
You both have an enormous responsibility moving forwards. What you can’t claim is ignorance to the issues.
Simply search our site of over 800 blog posts. It’s all there. Spelled out as plain as day.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia continues to endanger children and laity.
.
Catholics4Change 
Kansas Attorney General Office has an obligation to the public to release the entire Kansas Bureau of Investigation Catholic Clergy Child Sex Abuse Investigation Report
Child sex abuse is a community health problem, particularly when perpetrators operate within trusted institutions such as schools, youth clubs and churches.
The number of clergy credibly accused of sex abuse in the United States is staggering and does not factor in the horrifying number of victims due to the fact that clergy, just like coaches and teachers, have access to larger numbers of children than the general population.
On Monday, August 13, 2018, a “call to action” for an clergy sex investigation was made by Missouri based attorney Rebecca Randles at a press conference which also featured four victims of clergy sex abuse.
Randles said she became concerned after the recent release of the Pennsylvania Catholic Clergy Sex Abuse Investigation Report and the prevalence of abuse in the six dioceses there and number of victims (more than 1,000) included in that. The Pennsylvania Grand Jury Investigation and resulting report was covered extensively in media at the time.
During the press conference Randles and her clients asked then Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and former Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley for a similar query as had been done by the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Investigation which resulted in prosecution and conviction of two priests.
This press conference, reported on by various media, was the call to action for then Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt to create an internal Task Force and launch the Kansas Bureau of Investigation Catholic Church Child Sex Abuse Investigation that November, which, was intended to be of the same scope as the bombshell Pennsylvania Catholic Clergy Sex Abuse Investigation.
In a press release the first week of February, 2019, the KBI asked victims to step forward with information about abuse inflicted by clergy members, church employees or church volunteers.
The press release stated the KBI Task Force “would work with local authorities to determine whether cases merit prosecution.”
A 21 page Executive Summary of the then, five year long KBI Clergy Sex Abuse Investigation was released by outgoing Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, at 5 p.m., on Friday, January 6, 2023, his last day in office.
The introduction to the Executive Summary states: “In summary, the task force receivedand reviewed 41,265 pages of records, received and reviewed 224 tips, interviewed 137 victims of abuse, initiated 125 criminal cases and distributed 30 charging affidavits to the appropriate prosecutors for charging consideration … Our investigations identified 188 clergy members suspected of committing various criminal acts, to include: aggravated criminal sodomy, rape aggravated indecent liberties with a child and aggravated sexual battery. The summary contained also anonymous information about the Catholic dioceses of Kansas and numerical data about victims and perpetrators.
The result of the bombshell two year Pennsylvania Grand Jury Investigation of CatholicChurch Sexual Abuse (2016 – 2018) was a 457 page report, naming hundreds of perpetrators, and other services and resources – information that is readily accessible to the public on the Pennsylvania Attorney General website (https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/report/).
What the State of Kansas got, after five years (2018 – 2023) is a 21 page summary intended primarily for then Attorney General Derek Schmidt. No convictions. No victim resources.
Last year (2025) a link to the summary was removed from the KBI website but it is available fromother online sources (https://mediaassets.kshb.com/NWT/Sam/20230106-kbi-clergy-report.pdf?_ga=2.28115772.1808894093.1673529591-1385030012.1673357115).
The KBI Executive Summary did not release the names of any credibly accused priests, some of whom continue to be active in ministry and have contact with children and vulnerable others. No priests have been charged, though some crimes fall within Kansas statute of limitations.
According to KBI sources, after eight years, the investigation is “ongoing.
To date, it is obvious the KBI Clergy Sex Abuse Investigation did not produce the results the State of Pennsylvania Grand Jury Catholic Clergy Investigation did.
Unless the full KBI report, rumored to be hundreds of pages, is released to the public, naming perpetrators that are credibly accused, then this extensive effort will remain an ineffective, waste of tax payer dollars and the number of victims will continue to increase.
Hundreds of Kansas clergy sex abuse victims and their families, many known to state to authorities, have endured enough.
Burying the crimes against them is a stain upon the Kansas Criminal Justice System and the State of Kansas itself.
Thank you Kathy and Susan for everything you continue to do.
I was at the Bishop McDevitt Baccalaureate Mass at the Cathedral when the Porno Priest waddled up to the altar.
During my High School years at McDevitt, I was abused by the Former Father – but Current and Always will be a Criminal – John Paul. I went thru the investigative process with the Montgomery County DA as well as the Office of Investigations at the AOP. I heard of dozens of former classmates as well as students from other High Schools who were abused by this Criminal – both males and females. He abused my best friend in HS at the same time he was abusing me.
I was also taught “Faith and Morals” by Edward DePaoli – who was later arrested for child pornography and abuse. It was not a good time to be a student at McDevitt.
But somehow, someway – I managed to focus on the positive experiences at McDevitt. I got a great education and was an excellent student. I could name, and can still name, teachers who were positive influences in my life. And I focused on the Catholic religion and rituals that I had been raised in – that my father had converted to in his 50’s. I tried to look beyond the evil of two men.
Then I sat in a pew at St. Helena’s Church in Blue Bell on Easter Sunday and listened to a lector, during the Prayer of the Faithful, pray for “the victims of abuse in the Church and also the perpetrators of that abuse.” I was being prayed for alongside the criminals that were responsible for my pain. And I never went back.
And at that Baccalaureate Mass at the Cathedral, I was representing the Alumni Association as a Board Member. I had spent countless hours working on events, reading scholarship applications, and raising money so young people could have the educational experience that I had. Then the Porno Priest waddled up the aisle and all of that positivity, that hard work, the healing I had tried to foster in my head went away. I sat during the Mass with my head down. And I never went back.
I read this week that Leslie Davila has left the AOP. I met her several times – was vetted by her before my meeting with Archbishop Chaput. She greeted me when I arrived at that meeting and chastised me that I shouldn’t bring in my Starbucks coffee to the Archbishop’s office. More concerned that I would spill it on the carpet or create a ring on his walnut table than the comfort of a survivor. Perhaps she moved on to a career that better suits her skills – maybe working at Merry Maids.
I don’t attend Catholic Church services any longer. Maybe the occasional wedding or funeral but the desire to participate in the rituals has been erased by the continued heartless actions of the AOP.
To Dan & Brian – your Catholic population is dying. There seems to be a growing sect of young people who are intrigued by the conservatism of the Catholic Church – Maybe things will be straightened out by the time their children are in school, becoming altar servers and in the Confessional. But in the meantime, the demographic group that I belong to – 35-65 years old – has left you. And, in terms that I know you can understand, their money has left you too. So, no matter what you say, parishes will close or merge as well as schools. And more people will leave because they see nothing is changing and, the old boys club in cassocks and collars, have left you to hold the mess together with some thread and chewing gum.
But I will never be back.
I am happy that you have felt the support of the C4C community as you navigated through what you term the “heartless actions” of the Archdiocese. I am sorry that this site even needs to exist and that the crimes happened. As an early follower of C4C you know only too well that when I wrote that this blog post of examples was only the tip of the iceberg of concerns, it is very true A semester long college course of the continued endangerment to children and laity in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia would not even be enough time to educate the Trust and Hope team. Fifteen years, over 800 blog posts, and countless interactions with laity throughout the five county Archdiocese. I don’t know what the team is thinking, I imagine the Archdiocese has pulled out of their back pocket what they always do. They find some devout local Catholic with a law enforcement or legal background and have them say that everything is fixed. It’s a story as old as time.
I will email your comment to Dan Cellucci and Brian McCarthy.