Washington priest faces laicisation after accusing senior clergy of abuse cover-up
The Catholic Herald • September 4, 2025
Cardinal Robert McElroy has moved to laicise a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington after he published allegations of clerical sexual abuse and cover-up involving senior figures in the local Church.
Father Michael Briese received a letter on 12 August from Cardinal McElroy informing him that the archdiocese was petitioning the Dicastery for the Clergy to dismiss him from the clerical state. The move followed a series of posts on Fr Briese’s Substack in which he accused two Washington priests, Father Adam Park and Father Carter Griffin, of sexually abusing seminarians. He also alleged that Cardinal McElroy and his predecessor, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, had sought to conceal the charges.
In his letter, Cardinal McElroy described Briese’s writings as “defamatory”, saying that during a meeting on 30 July he had offered the priest the option of continuing a limited ministry to the poor if he agreed to remove his online posts. Fr Briese declined, and the cardinal said the process for his laicisation would continue. He further alleged that Briese had threatened during their conversation to “bring down the Church and me personally, as well as Cardinal Gregory”.
The priest has denied the accusation, insisting that he was raising legitimate concerns. He noted that in his letter Cardinal McElroy did not directly rebut the substance of the allegations.
Father Park, formerly vice-rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome, stepped down from that role in 2021 after a former seminarian accused him of harassment. He has remained in good standing in Washington. Fr Briese has alleged that other testimonies corroborate the claims against Park and include accounts of misconduct with seminarians and others.
Father Griffin, rector of the Saint John Paul II Seminary, has also faced accusations from a former seminarian of inappropriate behaviour when he served as vice-rector. He has denied wrongdoing, pointing in correspondence to the responsibilities of his position as evidence of his innocence.
On 22 August, Fr Briese replied in writing to Cardinal McElroy, again stressing that the archdiocese had failed to address the substance of his claims. He said it would be contrary to safeguarding policies for him to retract his reports. He sent copies of his response to Pope Leo XIV through Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.
The case will now go before Pope Leo XIV, who will decide on the request for Father Briese’s laicisation and determine whether the Archdiocese of Washington acted improperly. The stakes are high, as the outcome will set a precedent for how similar disputes are handled in the wider Church.
Fr Briese has continued to insist that he will not remain silent. He urged other priests to resist pressure to conceal allegations, saying the faithful “deserve the truth”.