ST. LOUIS (MO)
OSV News [Huntington IN]
January 8, 2026
By Gina Christian
(OSV News) — The Archdiocese of St. Louis filed a Dec. 23 motion seeking to have several counts dismissed in a lawsuit alleging “decades” of sexual abuse against minors by clergy, men and women religious, archdiocesan employees and other affiliated persons.
Judge Christopher E. McGraugh of the 22nd Judicial Court in St. Louis has granted a request to continue the case until March 26, with his order noting that “the parties are in the early stages of discovery.”
Lisa Shea, director of community and media engagement for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, told OSV News, “We are unable to provide additional information or comments regarding ongoing legal proceedings.”
Details of the suit
The initial suit was brought in July 2024 by 25 plaintiffs, identified only by their initials, who were all minor residents of Missouri at the time of the alleged abuse.
Named as defendants in that suit were the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski and “John Doe I,” identified as a priest known as “Father Joe” who served at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in St. Louis.
Several of the plaintiffs indicated that they expected to learn the true identity of their abusers — often recalled only by first or religious names — during the case’s discovery phase.
The suit specified that Archbishop Rozanski was sued “solely in his capacity as an officer, director and/or chief executive officer of the Archdiocese of St. Louis,” with the term “Archbishop” in court documents encompassing “all Archbishops who officially supervised or failed to supervise the employee abusers set forth herein.”