Charlotte priest placed on leave as old allegation of sexual abuse with minor surfaces
The pastor of Charlotte’s St. Matthew Catholic Church — one of the largest parishes in the country — has been put on administrative leave as decades-old allegations of sexual abuse of a minor have surfaced, the Bishop of the Diocese said Monday.
The Rev. Patrick Hoare, who has been pastor at St. Matthew since July 2017, was placed on leave Monday afternoon, the Most Rev. Peter Jugis said in a statement sent to parishioners Monday evening. The action came after a man accused Hoare of sexual abuse 25 years ago in Pennsylvania before Hoare entered the ministry, Jugis said in a statement. The man was then a minor, Jugis said.
Hoare denies the allegations, Jugis said.
“Please understand administrative leave is standard procedure under our policy and does not imply guilt,” Jugis said in a statement. “We do not yet know the facts and have no indication of any issues at St. Matthew Church.”
In addition to the man reporting the allegations to the diocese, he has contacted police and social services, Jugis said. The Charlotte diocese also has contacted police and “will cooperate in any investigation,” Jugis said. After the investigation is complete, Jugis said a review board will also conduct an internal investigation and a “determination of credibility.”
In 2017, St. Matthew, in Ballantyne, was named the country’s largest parish, with 10,370 registered families, The Observer previously reported. In November, that number had reached 10,975, according to the National Catholic Register.
Hoare succeeded longtime priest, Monsignor John McSweeney, after he retired in 2017. Hoare had been pastor at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Charlotte, The Observer reported then. But he had a history with St. Matthew, having been a lay member and deacon until he was ordained in 2007, The Observer reported.
Jugis said Monday the diocese is “committed to providing a safe environment for all people, especially the young and vulnerable.” He cited the policy U.S. bishops adopted in 2002, which outlined protocols to respond to allegations of abuse.
Hoare, one of four priests at St. Matthew, issued a statement to his congregation in 2018 after the Pennsylvania Attorney General released the Diocese Victims Report, the result of a two-year grand jury investigation into sexual abuse of children at Roman Catholic Dioceses in the state. He said the report “reveals inexcusable instances of poor judgment, deception, and negligence in the pastoral care of the victims of sexual abuse,” according to the statement on the church’s website.
“We can’t understand how such abuse and injustice was tolerated by those with the power to stop it,” he said in the statement.
Official investigated
Jugis’ announcement Monday comes a few weeks after he said a former top official of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte also is under investigation, The Observer reported.
The two investigations are not related.
On Nov. 26, Jugis said Monsignor Mauricio West faced four new claims of sexual misconduct that had been found “credible.” The allegations did not constitute sexual abuse and did not involve a minor, Jugis said.
West, who stepped down as vicar general and chancellor of the diocese in March, denies the allegations.
He is accused of inappropriate behavior with adult students at Belmont Abbey College in the 1980s and ‘90s, including unwanted kissing, according to the Diocese. West was vice president for student affairs at the school at the time.
Other allegations are from a 1991 incident with an employee at the House of Mercy in Belmont and a 1993 incident with an employee at St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Charlotte.
“The finding of a credible allegation is not a finding of guilt but is an allegation of improper behavior that both the diocese and the college take seriously,” according to Jugis’ statement.
This story was originally published December 9, 2019 at 10:02 PM with the headline "Charlotte priest placed on leave as old allegation of sexual abuse with minor surfaces."