This is a list of notable former
Roman Catholicpriests. Both
religious and
diocesan priests, and bishops, are included. Most persons on this list can fit into one of the following categories:
Left the priesthood but remained Catholic (voluntary laicization)
Left the priesthood and the Catholic Church altogether (voluntary laicization)
Jesús Aguirre –
Spanish intellectual and aristocrat;
Jesuit priest until he left 1969 to become a literary editor
José Inocencio Alas –
Salvadorian-American former diocesan priest, friend of Archbishop
Óscar Romero, and advocate of peasants' rights; left the priesthood in the 1980s while still continuing his advocacy
Caspar Aquila –
German theologian and reformer during the Protestant Reformation; diocesan priest since 1514 and imprisoned in either 1520 or 1522 for openly adopting
Lutheran beliefs
Jean-Bertrand Aristide –
Haitian pro-democracy activist and
Haiti's first democratically elected president; ordained a
Salesian priest in 1982 and served as a vocal advocate of
liberation theology before being expelled by the Salesians in 1988 and leaving the priesthood in 1994 as a result of tensions with church hierarchy
Xabier Arzalluz – Spanish
Basque nationalist politician; ordained a Jesuit in the 1960s before leaving and being laicized in the 1970s to marry
Philip Berrigan – American peace activist and former member of the
Josephite Fathers; ordained in 1955 and secretly married a former nun in 1970 before going public in 1973
Phillip Berryman – American author of the topics of liberation theology and Christianity in
Latin America; ordained a priest in 1963 and left 10 years later to marry
Joseph Birmingham – American former diocesan priest from Massachusetts; laicized after being accused of sexually abusing as many as 40 underage boys over a 30-year period
Ambrosius Blarer –
Swiss reformer in the Protestant Reformation; former
Benedictine monk who fled his monastery in 1522 after a conflict with his superiors concerning his adoption and propagation of heretical beliefs
Leonardo Boff –
Brazilian liberation theologian and writer; ordained a
Franciscan priest in 1964 and left in 1992 due to clashes with church hierarchy
Roy Bourgeois – founder of the human rights group
School of the Americas Watch; ordained a
Maryknoll Missionary in 1972 and canonically dismissed in 2012 from both the Maryknolls and the priesthood because of his 2008 participation in the invalid ordination of a woman and "a simulated
Mass" in Kentucky
Peter of Bruys – 12th century French
heresiarch, or leader of a heretical movement and former diocesan priest who left to preach uncommon Protestant beliefs
Frank Cordaro – American peace activist and
Christian anarchist; diocesan priest from 1985–2003 and left partially because he wished not to be celibate
France Cukjati –
Slovenian politician, physician, theologian, and former Jesuit priest until 1971
Alberto Cutié – American former diocesan priest and radio and television personality; converted to and became a priest of the
Episcopal Church in 2009 after being photographed with his girlfriend at the beach
D
Anthony D'Andrea – American mobster in Chicago and former diocesan priest who left after falling in love with a woman
Daniel Dolan – American sedevacantist Traditionalist Catholic bishop and former priest of the Society of St. Pius X until he left in 1983 over a theological dispute; later joined the Society of St. Pius V
Matthew Fox – American theologian and former Dominican priest who was expelled from his order largely to the unconventional programming at his Institute for Creation Spirituality, with a faculty that included a
masseuse, a
Zen Buddhist, a
yoga teacher, and self-described
witchStarhawk; he joined the priesthood of the Episcopal Church following his laicization
Vernon F. Gallagher – American former
Spiritan priest and President of Dusquene University; left the priesthood and the Spiritans in 1972 and worked as an academic administrator at
Saint Michael's College
Pierino Gelmini – Italian former diocesan priest who founded a famous drug abuse rehabilitation center; laicized by his own request following a 2010 indictment under charges of child sexual abuse of 12 boys
John Geoghan – American former diocesan priest from
Boston laicized by
Pope John Paul II after being accused of sexually abusing more than 130 boys
Michael Glennon – Australian former diocesan priest; laicized in 1984 after being convicted of raping two preadolescent boys
Johannes Gossner – German philanthropist and charismatic diocesan priest from 1804–1826 before leaving the Catholic Church to become Protestant
Thomas Groome – Irish-American theologian and professor at
Boston College; diocesan priest from 1968–1986 before leaving to marry a woman
Sally Gross – born Selwyn Gross, was a Dominican priest before leaving the order and exploring his
intersex identity; laicized in 1987
Philip Guarino – American restaurateur, political activist, and former diocesan priest; left the priesthood in the 1960s
H
Michael Harding –
Irish writer and playwright; was a diocesan priest from 1980–1985 before leaving to marry a woman and practice
Buddhism
Neil Horan – Irish man best known for his interference with major sports events by running on the field to promote his belief in the imminent
Second Coming of Christ; was a diocesan priest until leaving in 1974, then rejoining in 1980 and leaving once again and being laicized
Balthasar Hubmaier –
GermanAnabaptist leader and theologian; former diocesan priest until he married a woman in 1524, effectively renouncing his Catholic priesthood, although his theological beliefs had already been irreconcilably different for more than a year at that time
J
Luke Timothy Johnson – American New Testament scholar and historian of early Christianity; was a
Benedictine monk until the early 1970s when he left to marry a woman
Rob Keighron – American radio and television personality and former priest of the
Diocese of Brooklyn; left the priesthood in 2014
Clarence Kelly – American sedevacantist Catholic bishop and former priest of the Society of St. Pius X; left in 1983 because of his refusal to accept the
1962 Roman Missal promulgated by
Pope John XXIII; later cofounded and led the Society of St. Pius V
Peter Kennedy – Australian diocesan priest and pastor of
St. Mary's Catholic Church, South Brisbane who was removed for breaking Catholic teaching which included blessing homosexual couples and allowing women to preach; laicized after leaving with hundreds of parishioners to form an independent congregation
Donald Kimball – American former diocesan priest and radio personality; laicized in 2000 amidst charges of underage sexual abuse
Harold M. Koch – American former priest of the
Archdiocese of Chicago from 1958–1963 before being laicized for psychiatric problems; best known for defecting to the
Soviet Union in 1966 in protest of the United States' involvement in the
Vietnam War before returning three months later
Rudolph Kos – American former priest of the
Diocese of Dallas; laicized in the 1990s after being convicted on nine counts of child sexual abuse
Henry of Laussane – French former
Benedictine monk and heresiarch; left the priesthood around 1116 and developed a small heretical sect after denying many critical Catholic teachings
Micheál Ledwith – Irish academic administrator and former diocesan priest; laicized in 2005 due to allegations of sexual abuse
Marcel Lefebvre – French archbishop and former priest of the
Spiritans and later founder of the
Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in 1970; vocal leading opposer of many of the changes instituted in the
Second Vatican Council; excommunicated in 1988 for a breach of canon law after consecrating four bishops in the SSPX against the expressed prohibition of
Pope John Paul II
Peter Levi – British former Jesuit priest, poet, archaeologist, travel writer, biographer, and academic; left the priesthood in 1977, possibly to marry
Alfred Loisy – French
Modernist theologian and former diocesan priest; excommunicated in 1908 by
Pope Pius X for the adoption of theological heresies
Simon Lokodo –
Ugandan State Minister of Ethics & Integrity and former diocesan priest; excommunicated in 2009 for entering politics in violation of canon law
William Lombardy – American
chessgrandmaster who was ordained in the 1967 but left the priesthood in the early 1980s over disillusionment with the Catholic Church
John Loughlin – Northern Ireland-born British political scientist and former
Cistercian monk
Hyacinthe Loyson – French famous preacher, theologian, and priest of the
Discalced Carmelites excommunicated in 1869 after years of publicly speaking out against
papal infallibility and publishing a
manifesto discussing what he believed were numerous abuses by the Catholic Church
Brennan Manning – American author, public speaker, and former Franciscan priest and later of the
Little Brothers of Jesus before leaving and marrying a woman
Joseph McCabe - English
Freethought author, secular activist, critic of the Catholic Church, and former diocesan priest; he left the priesthood in 1896 after losing his faith.[citation needed]
Fred McCarthy – American cartoonist, comic artist, and former Franciscan priest; left the priesthood in the early 1960s while still joining the
Secular Franciscans
Michael McKee – Canadian lawyer, judge, politician, and former diocesan priest before leaving in 1982 to marry a woman
Robert McKenna – American
sedeprivationist Traditional Catholic bishop and former Dominican priest; status unclear as to his relationship with the Catholic Church as he founded unsanctioned organizations at odds with church teachings and participated in multiple unauthorized consecrations of bishops, yet was never officially expelled from the priesthood or the Dominicans
Neil McKenty – Canadian radio and television host, author, and former Jesuit priest until 1970
John McLaughlin – American television personality, political commentator, and former Jesuit priest; left the order in 1970 over disagreements with the editor of the Jesuit-produced Catholic magazine
America, where he was working at the time
Emmanuel Milingo – former diocesan priest and
Archbishop of Lusaka; married a woman in 2001, was automatically excommunicated in 2006 after consecrating four married men bishops without
papal mandate, and was officially announced to be laicized in 2009
Józef Milik –
Polish Biblical scholar,
multi-linguist, Dead Sea Scrolls expert, and former diocesan priest; was a priest from 1946–1969 when he left to marry a woman
Jonathan Morris - Fox news commentator who left the priesthood to get married.
Thomas Müntzer – German Protestant preacher and theologian during the early Protestant Reformation, and a rebel leader during the
German Peasants' War; had been a Catholic diocesan priest until 1519 when he took up a position as pastor at a Lutheran church
Romolo Murri –
Italian politician and former diocesan priest; laicized in 1905 for joining the political party Lega Democratica Nazionale
N
Xavier Novell i Gomà - Formerly the Bishop of Solsona in Catalonia Spain. Resigned to marry a erotic novelist.
O
Charles J. O'Byrne – American lawyer, political staffer, and former Jesuit priest; was a Jesuit from 1996–2002 and was dismissed voluntarily after his superiors determined he no longer wished to be in the order; he later came out as gay and is now a practicing Episcopalian
John O'Donahue – Irish poet, author,
Hegelian philosopher, and former diocesan priest who left in 2000
Gerald O'Donovan –
Irish-British former diocesan priest and writer; left the priesthood in 1908 after moving to
London but failing to find employment
Oliver O'Grady – Irish former diocesan priest; laicized after being charged and convicted of the sexual abuse of at least 25 children in
California from 1973–1990s
Huub Oosterhuis – Dutch theologian, writer, poet,
composer, and former Jesuit priest; left the order in 1969 and was pastor of an
independent Catholic church and married a woman
Joseph O'Rourke – American
pro-choice activist and former Jesuit priest; dismissed from the Jesuits and later laicized over his unauthorized baptism of a child whose mother publicly supported abortion rights; remained Catholic while strongly criticizing church teaching on sexuality
Frank Pavone – American anti-abortion leader, laicized in November 2022 for "blasphemous" speech and disobedience to his superiors.[1]
James Porter – American former diocesan priest laicized after being convicted of sexually abusing 28 children and admitting to molesting at least 100 from the 1960s–1990s
Gerald Ridsdale – Australian priest and school and hospital chaplain; laicized after being convicted between 1993 and 2013 of numerous cases of child sexual abuse and indecent assault against 54 children
Barry Ryan – American former diocesan priest suspended from priestly duties and later laicized amidst allegations of child sexual abuse; later convicted of sexual abuse of a 6-year-old boy in 2003
Richard Sipe - former Benedictine monk ordained in 1959 and voluntarily left the priesthood in 1970 to marry former Benedictine nun Marianne Benkert.
Edward J. Sponga – American former Jesuit priest and the 16th President of the
University of Scranton; left the Jesuits in 1968 to marry a divorced woman, thus incurring automatic excommunication
Richard Williamson –
English Traditionalist Catholic bishop and former priest of the Society of St. Pius X before being expelled in 2012 for offenses including his repeated calls for the deposition of Bishop
Bernard Fellay as the Superior General of the SSPX and his refusal to stop publishing his weekly email which often included his many controversial views
Finbar Wright – Irish musician and member of
The Irish Tenors; was ordained a diocesan priest in 1978 before leaving the priesthood and becoming laicized in 1987, citing philosophical differences with the Catholic Church
Jewish pope Andreas, a Jewish legend about a Jewish boy in the Middle Ages from the German town of
Mainz who is kidnaped while asleep, told his parents had died, converts to Catholicism, becomes a priest and is elected Pope but then engineers a meeting with Mainz Jews, discovers his rabbi father is still alive when he appears, before admitting to his father that he is his long-lost son, abdicates from the papacy, converts back to Judaism and moves back to Mainz.