Father John Paul
Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Ordained: 1972
Accused: Mid-2013
Resigned: Nov. 2013
Faculties removed: Dec. 2013
Laicized (removed from priesthood): 2015
Assigned as follows:
- 1972-1974: St. Alphonsus (Maple Glen, PA)
- 1974: Immaculate Conception (Jenkintown, PA)
- 1974-1975: Archbishop Kennedy High School
- 1974-1975: St. Isaac Jogues (Wayne, PA)
- 1975-1986: Bishop McDevitt High School (Wyncote, PA)
- 1975-1986: Brothers of Charity/Emeric Hall
- 1986-1990: St. James Catholic High School (Chester, PA)
- 1986-1990: St. Robert (Chester, PA)
- 1990-1993: Archbishop Kennedy High School
- 1990-1995: St. Philip Neri (Lafayette Hill, PA)
- 1995-1997: Our Mother of Sorrows (Bridgeport, PA)
- 1993-1997: Kennedy-Kenrick High School (Norristown, PA)
- 1997-2000: Archbishop Wood High School (Warminster, PA)
- 1997-2000: St. Andrew (Newtown, PA)
- 2000-2013: Our Lady of Calvary (Philadelphia, PA)
- 2013-2015: Administrative Leave
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Father John Paul:
Father John Paul was ordained a priest in 1972 and served in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He served in multiple parishes throughout his career. According to media reports, in 2013, two child sexual abuse allegations against Paul were reported. The alleged abuse occurred while he was a seminarian in the late 1960s. No additional details about the context of the abuse were provided to the public.
Rather than remove him in accordance with a stated policy of “zero tolerance,” the Archdiocese of Philadelphia opted to keep him in ministry “under a watchful eye” for several months before Paul opted to resign his faculties voluntarily in November 2013. Paul was laicized (removed from the priesthood) by the Vatican in 2015.
In December 2019, a woman filed a lawsuit under New Jersey’s new Victim’s Rights Bill alleging that Paul sexually abused her in a hotel in Ocean City and at a retreat owned by the Brothers of the Christian Schools in the 3000 block of Central Avenue. The alleged abuse started in the early 1980s, when she was a sophomore at a Pennsylvania high school, and continued into college.
The suit alleges that Paul “had pedophilic tendencies and posed a risk to the safety of children” and that the archdiocese was negligent in failing to identify his abuse.
According to a list maintained by Bishop Accountability.org, Father Paul was accused in a lawsuit of sexually abusing an 8-year-old boy on one occasion in approximately 1967. At the time of the alleged abuse, Father Paul was a seminarian in training to become a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The abuse occurred on a trip to New Jersey, where Father Paul brought the boy and several others. Father Paul sodomized the boy.
The claim settled in 2020. Paul is believed to be living in the Philadelphia area.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Pennsylvania, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia may have legal options, but filing deadlines will apply so please do not delay in reaching out to us.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.