(LifeSiteNews) — A west Michigan diocese long known for being home to lay Catholics seeking to be faithful to Church teaching is doing damage control after the state attorney general’s office released a report revealing more than 50 priests were accused of abuse over the past 75 years.
“I am sorry that a church leader in whom you have placed your trust misused his power and abused you,” Bishop David Walkowiak said in a video statement. “Priests are ordained to serve in the person of Christ Himself … These men have broken a sacred trust. They have betrayed Christ and done violence to His beloved children.”
On December 15, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel published a long-anticipated 336-page document detailing decades of allegations made against priests in the Diocese of Grand Rapids. The diocese, which was established in 1882, first came under investigation in 2018 when law enforcement officials issued search warrants for the state’s seven Catholic dioceses. Venerable 19th century Bishop Frederic Baraga established a mission in the city, which today is heavily populated by the descendants of Polish immigrants, in 1833.
Nessel has served as Michigan’s attorney general under pro-abortion Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer since 2019. She previously tried to sue Christian adoption agencies that refused to place children in homosexual households. Nessel, who is “married” to a woman, ultimately failed when courts ruled against her in 2022.
Nessel did not instigate the investigation against the Catholic Church in Michigan. Rather, her Republican predecessor Bill Schuette launched the project in the fall of 2018. Among other things, he established a tip line and reporting website, which were continued by Nessel.
Over the past six years, the state has gathered additional information by conducting interviews with alleged victims, studying police reports, obtaining data from open source media, and collecting paper and electronic documents from the dioceses. Nessel’s report praised the “willingness of the Diocese to provide information” for their report.
Of the 51 priests named in the report, 37 are either dead or presumed dead. None of the other 14 listed in the report are actively practicing in the diocese.
The dossier notes that just because a cleric’s name is included in the study that fact “does not reflect a determination by the Department that the allegations are credible or otherwise substantiated or indicative of a crime.” At the same time, it also says that the state has issued “criminal charges in 11 cases throughout the entire state and secured convictions in nine cases, delivering justice for 38 survivors,” though “none of the cases were related to priests ministering in the Diocese of Grand Rapids.”
It also clarifies that “the majority of reported allegations of sexual abuse or assault or other sexual misconduct (including grooming conduct) were against either boys or girls under the age of 16 and also under the age of 18, but there were also allegations against nine priests only related to adults (18 years or older).”
Further, the report lists 59 victims as female or “Jane Does” and 99 as male or “John Does,” demonstrating that the clerical abuse was overwhelmingly homosexual in nature, as has typically been the case in recent decades in the Church.
In a statement, the Diocese of Grand Rapids, which is home to 79 parishes and 31 schools, clarified that the report did not reveal any allegations of abuse of minors with priests in active ministry currently.
“During the 75-year period in the report, more than 1,000 priests served in our diocese,” the diocese said. “The report details the reported abuse of 152 victim-survivors by 51 priests. The sexual misconduct allegations of 14 priests involve adults. While immoral, these actions are not in violation of Michigan law. The Attorney General has not filed criminal charges against any of these priests.”
Bishop Walkowiak was installed to lead the Diocese of Grand Rapids in 2013. Now 72 years old, he is originally from Cleveland, Ohio. Walkowiak has made headlines on several occasions in recent years. He has routinely prayed outside local abortion facilities, he denounced Governor Whitmer’s decision to keep abortion facilities open during COVID, he has ensured a local church has been allowed to continue hosting the Latin Mass following Traditionis custodes, and he has sided with a priest who came under fire from the media for having denied a “married” lesbian judge Holy Communion.
At the same time, Bishop Walkowiak refused to weigh in publicly when a local university installed a blasphemous “art” display on its campus in 2025, despite laity and local politicians denouncing the school. Otherwise, His Excellency keeps a low profile and is generally seen as a moderate bishop.
Bishop Walkowiak was preceded by Bishop Walter Hurley, who oversaw the diocese form 2005 until 2013. In recent years, Hurley has been the administrator of the Diocese of Gaylord in northern Michigan. He has a reputation for being more liberal-minded and has been accused of covering up priestly abuse in the Archdiocese of Detroit and the Diocese of Saginaw, where he was stationed previously. On January 30, 2019, Hurley removed a priest from a church in Bay City, Michigan, after he instituted traditional liturgical practices. A website called “Gaylord Diocese Watch” keeps tabs on local heterodox clergy and practices.
Other bishops who have overseen the Grand Rapids diocese in the past six decades include Bishop Kevin Britt (2003-2004), Bishop Robert Rose (1989-2003), ultra-liberal Bishop Joseph M. Breitenbeck (1969-1989), and Bishop Allen Babcock (1947-1969). The state’s attorney general office has already released reports of abuse allegations for the Dioceses of Kalamazoo, Lansing, Marquette, and Gaylord. Reports on the Saginaw diocese and the Archdiocese of Detroit are expected in 2026.
