GRAND RAPIDS (MI)
Manistee News Advocate [Manistee, MI]
December 17, 2025
By Arielle Breen
A recent Michigan Attorney General’s Office report released this month detailing allegations of clerical sexual abuse and misconduct taking place within the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids also includes ties to Manistee.
The Dec. 12 report includes allegations against two former priests with ties to Manistee.
The investigation did not reveal any allegations of the sexual abuse of a minor regarding priests in active ministry and there have been no criminal charges resulting from the investigation.
The 335-page document details reported abuse of 152 victim-survivors by 51 priests since 1950.
Two of those priests had connections with Manistee.
The late former Guardian Angels Church priest, Edward Kubiak, is listed in the report with allegations said to have taken place from 1965-1967 involving a child from the time they were 10-12 years old.
The Guardian Angels Church is no longer in operation through the diocese. In 2014, financial problems led the Catholic church to downsize its operations in Manistee.
The report notes that Kubiak denied the allegations. He died in 2003.
The second allegation with Manistee ties involves William Walters, a priest at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Grand Rapids.
The report states that he was ordained in 1963 and released from his duties as a priest in 1974 so that he could get married.
The allegations against Walters were reported to have taken place from 1964-1965 involving a child from the time they were 13-14 years old.
Some of the allegations are said to have taken place at a cottage in Manistee and others at the former St. James Catholic School in Grand Rapids.
Walters denied all allegations, per the report.
Report at a glance
The report is the fifth conducted by the attorney general’s office. One is being published for each of the six dioceses and the Archdiocese of Detroit. The attorney general’s office started publishing the reports in 2022.
Of the 51 priests listed in the Grand Rapids report, 37 are believed to be dead.
The following highlights are shown in a graphic created by the diocese using the report’s data on the number of children alleged to be victims of Diocese of Grand Rapids’ clergy through the decades:
• 1950-1959 timeframe: 21 children
• 1960-1969 timeframe: 22 children
• 1970-1979 timeframe: 34 children
• 1980-1989 timeframe: 13 children
• 1990-1999 timeframe: 10 children
• 2000-2009 timeframe: 0 children
• 2010-2019: 0 children
• 2020-2025: 0 children
The full report can be found online at michigan.gov/ag/-/media/Project/Websites/AG/releases/2025/December/Diocese-of-Grand-Rapids-Report-Dec-12-2025.pdf.
According to the attorney general’s office, “the information is being released to the public as an acknowledgment to the victims of these alleged crimes and as a public accounting of the resources allocated to the department of attorney general to investigate and prosecute clergy abuse.”
“It is important to note that a criminal charge is merely an allegation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty,” an attorney general news release states.
In a prepared statement on its website, the Diocese of Grand Rapids noted that “while it is difficult for our church to face the harsh reality contained in this report, it provides a necessary opportunity for us to move forward together in the light of Christ.”
In a video message on the diocese website, Grand Rapids Bishop David Walkowiak addressed the report.
“The sin of sexual abuse leaves deep, lasting scars that may never be seen or fully healed. The courage that victim-survivors have to tell their stories, to experience the healing process and to help create a better church and society for us is a testament to their strength and resilience,” Walkowiak said.
Walkowiak emphasized that the church has cooperated with the attorney generals office and that none of the clerics in the report are in active ministry for Grand Rapids.
He noted that the Catholic church has made “significant progress” over the last several decades to put safeguards in place to protect children.
Walkowiak credited former Grand Rapids Bishop Walter Hurley for laying strong groundwork in “establishing and implementing a strong safe environment program in our diocese that continues to function well to this day.”
Hurley had been at the diocese from 2005 through 2018.
The church has a “zero-tolerance policy” for anyone who has abused a minor or vulnerable adult, Walkowiak said.
Anyone suspected of abusing a minor “is immediately removed from public ministry” until they have undergone a “full civil and canonical investigation,” the bishop said.
Walkowiak said the diocese has mandated third-party compliance audits it has passed annually since 2002.
The diocese also uses the sexual abuse protection and detection training program called Virtus. It is mandatory for anyone volunteering or working in its parishes and schools, Walkowiak said.
Children are also taught how to report inappropriate behaviors by adults, he said.
The diocese has and still offers counseling to assist in ongoing healing of victim-survivors, Walkowiak said.
“But we still must acknowledge our past and the dark shadow it casts upon us all,” Walkowiak said. “First and foremost, I offer my deepest and most sincere apologies to the victim-survivors of clerical abuse.”
More information on resources for victims, annual audits or information on how to report abuse is available on the diocese website, grdiocese.org/ag-report.