NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WDSU [New Orleans LA]
January 3, 2026
By Metia Carroll
[See PDF of complete letter here.]
The Archdiocese of New Orleans has released a public apology to all abuse claimants.
The letter will be printed on Sunday, Jan. 4, in local newspapers and throughout the upcoming days and weeks in the various media markets.
In the letter, Archbishop Aymond expressed, “profound regret over the tragic and inexcusable harm” child sexual abuse survivors suffered writing, “I sincerely apologize to you for the trauma caused to you and to those close to you as a survivor of sexual abuse perpetrated by a member of the clergy, a religious sister or brother, or a lay employee or volunteer working within the Catholic Church.”
Aymond continued on describing sexual abuse as “an inexcusable evil” and expressed shame that survivors were sexually abused by someone working within the Catholic Church.
“Please know that you are not to blame for the abuse perpetrated on you,” writes the archbishop. “You were and are completely innocent and did nothing to deserve the pain you have suffered because of the hideous crime of sexual abuse of a minor. The Archdiocese of New Orleans takes responsibility for the abuse you have suffered and pledges to keep children and all vulnerable people safe in our ministry.”
The complete text of the letter can be found online now on the archdiocesan website at nolacatholic.org. It is also online now at clarionherald.org and will be in print in the upcoming edition of the Clarion Herald.
The letter will also be printed in its entirety on Sunday in the following publications:
Times Picayune (New Orleans), the Shreveport Times (Shreveport, LA), Hammond Daily Star (Hammond, LA), Lafayette Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, LA), Monroe News Star (Monroe, LA), Alexandria Town Talk (Alexandria, LA), Houma Courier (Houma, LA), American Press (Lake Charles, LA), Jennings Daily News (Jennings, LA), Daily Iberian (New Iberia), the Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX), the Clarion Ledger (Jackson, MS), Daily Review (Morgan City, LA), Minden Press Herald (Minden, LA), The Crowley Post Signal (Crowley, LA), Abbeville Meridonial (Abbeville, LA), Opelousas Daily World (Opelousas, LA), Plaquemines Gazette (serving Plaquemines Parish, LA), St. Bernard Voice (serving St. Bernard Parish, LA), L’Observateur (serving the River Parishes, LA), St. Charles Herald-Guide (serving St. Charles Parish), Lutcher News Examiner (serving St. James Parish), the Tangi Times (serving Tangipahoa Parish), and Bogalusa Daily News (Bogalusa, LA). The letter will also be in print in the Bayou Catholic, the official paper of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, in its next available edition in February 2026.