Father Ronald Luka
Diocese of Rockville Centre, CMF
Ordained: 1963
Removed: 2002
Assignment History:
- 1966- Unknown: SUNY Farmingdale & NY Institute of Technology
- 1970-1975: Newman Apostolate (Garden City, NY)
- 1975-1978: St. Helen’s Catholic school (Lauderdale Lakes, FL)
- 1980-1981: Our Lady of Ransom (Niles, IL)
- 1982: Nativity Catholic Church (Brandon, FL)
- 1984-1999: Claretian Provincial House (Oak Park, IL)
- 1999: Wounded Brothers Project (Robertsville, MO)
Summary of Abuse Allegations Against Father Ronald Luka:
Fr. Ronald Luka of the Claretian Missionaries is listed on the Diocese of Rockville Centre’s 2021 List of Clergy Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of a Minor. The list states that the alleged sexual abuse occurred while Luka worked at SUNY Farmingdale in Nassau County, NY, sometime between 1966-1975. The list also says that Luka abused his victim(s) at a rectory in Long Island, a Boy Scout Camp in upstate New York, a farm in upstate New York, and at his private house in upstate NY. The details of the sexual abuse allegations, including the victim’s age/gender, are unknown.
In 2002, a civil lawsuit was filed by two men against Fr. Luka and the Archdiocese of Miami, alleging that they were sexually abused between 1976 and 1978 while attending St. Helen Catholic School in Lauderdale Lakes, FL. The suit accuses Luka of ingratiating himself with the boys’ families and then molesting them at his Fort Lauderdale home, during overnight religious retreats, and during a summer cross-country trip in 1978, where Luka allegedly forced the boys to watch behavior that included stripping, dancing naked, and self-stimulation.
According to the suit, the two victims were both 12 and in the sixth grade when Luka invited them separately to his house after school, where the initial abuse took place. The suit claims that Luka took one of the boys on an archdiocese-sponsored weekend retreat at a campground. Once there, the priest and the boy shared Luka’s pop-up camper, which had two beds. Fr. Luka climbed into the boy’s bed for both nights of the retreat and committed numerous acts of sexual battery and abuse.
Simultaneously, the other plaintiff in the suit claimed he was similarly abused at Luka’s home during after-school hours. The lawsuit states that there were back-scratching and massages, leading to genital fondling and masturbation. The abuse was reported to the school in 1978, and they promised to take appropriate action, but Luka was gone the next school year.
Originally from Chicago, Fr. Luka was assigned to the Claretian mission house in the Chicago area in the 1980s and 1990s and often traveled to the East Coast.
According to the lawsuit, the Claretians received their first allegation against Luka in 1999 of abuse occurring in NY state around 1979. After learning of the allegations, the Claretian Missionaries sent the priest to St. Luke’s Institute in Maryland, a church-sponsored treatment center for priests. After a 30-day treatment, it was determined that Luka be permanently removed from public ministry. Luka was then sent to live at the Wounded Brothers Project in Robertsville, MO, a halfway house for troubled priests. He’s under 24-hour supervision.
He is also listed on the Diocese of St. Petersburg’s 2016 List of Clergy Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of a Minor.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in New York, contact our office today. In October 2020, the Rockville Centre Diocese filed for federal bankruptcy protection. The Court will resolve all claims of sexual abuse in this process but strict filing deadlines will apply and no late claims will be considered, so contact us today. Our lawyers have decades of experience representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse in New York and nationwide. We can help.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.