After two rejections, Father Hoare makes final appeal to Vatican
CHARLOTTE — Church proceedings continue involving Father Patrick Hoare, who was removed as pastor of St. Matthew Parish three years ago after an investigation found his observed behavior with children constituted boundary violations and raised questions about his judgment.
Vatican courts have twice rejected Father Hoare’s claim to be reinstated, but he has made a final appeal to the Church’s highest court, Bishop Peter Jugis informed St. Matthew parishioners in a Jan. 21 letter.
Read the full text of the bishop’s letter
Father Hoare was placed on leave in December 2019 and removed as pastor the following year after a diocesan investigation found “multiple reports of inappropriate behavior in violation of ministerial standards of conduct with minors” that “raised grave concerns among parishioners and at a minimum called into question Father Hoare’s judgment,” the bishop wrote in his letter. He “failed to live up to contemporary standards of conduct with minors, with concerns raised at each parish where he had been assigned since his ordination in 2007, including St. Matthew.”
Father Hoare appealed his removal to authorities in Rome, who examined the evidentiary record and denied Father Hoare’s appeal, the bishop said. A second appeal was filed with the Apostolic Signatura, the Church’s highest court, which last November ruled the appeal “manifestly lacking in foundation” and “must be dismissed.”
The bishop said, “Father Hoare has since made a final appeal to a larger panel of the Apostolic Signatura. It is unclear when a decision in that matter might be made, but that ruling is expected to conclude the Church proceedings involving Father Hoare. Until then, he remains on leave without an ecclesiastical assignment.”
Ordained in 2007, Father Hoare served for about two years at St. Mark Church in Huntersville before being appointed pastor of St. John Neumann Church in Charlotte in 2009 and then pastor of St. Matthew Church in 2017.
— Catholic News Herald