LA priest cleared by Vatican of sexual misconduct claims

Los Angeles, Calif., Nov 10, 2014 / 14:03 pm

A Vatican tribunal has "definitively determined" that there is no proof of sexual misconduct by Monsignor Richard Loomis, a prominent Los Angeles archdiocese priest.

"Monsignor Loomis has always professed his innocence of these accusations," the Los Angeles archdiocese said Nov. 8, saying the tribunal's determination followed "ten years of exhaustive investigation and canonical trial."

The tribunal's ruling means that the allegations against the monsignor have been "conclusively resolved" and that he can return to public ministry.

"He remains a priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in good standing," the archdiocese said.

Msgr. Loomis, 68, first faced accusations of sexual misconduct allegations in 2003. The accusations concerned alleged misconduct between 1969 and 1971, when he was a seminarian. A 2003 lawsuit claimed that he had abused a teenage boy while teaching at a Catholic high school in the L.A. area, the Los Angeles Times reports.  

Archdiocesan investigators also identified a second person who claimed to have been abused by the priest. The priest was placed on temporary inactive ministry until the accusations could be resolved.

Msgr. Loomis is the former vicar for clergy for the archdiocese. He was a top aide to the previous Archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony.

The priest handled the archdiocese's response to sexual misconduct allegations against priests under Cardinal Mahony. He has testified about the archdiocese's response to sexual abuse in civil trials.