NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WVUE - Fox 8 [New Orleans LA]
January 3, 2026
By Ken Daley
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans and outgoing Archbishop Gregory Aymond on Saturday (Jan. 3) released a public letter of apology to “all claimants of child sexual abuse.”
The public letter, to be printed Sunday in area newspapers and other media outlets, will be distributed in coming days and weeks in various media markets. It is required of the archdiocese as part of its bankruptcy settlement approved by a federal judge on Dec. 8, 2025.
In the letter, Aymond expresses “profound regret over the tragic and inexcusable harm” child sexual abuse survivors suffered.
“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 wrote.
Aymond described the 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,” Aymond continued. “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.”
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The complete text of the letter can be found online at the archdiocesan website nolacatholic.org. It is also posted online at clarionherald.org and will be in print in the upcoming edition of the Clarion Herald, the church’s news outlet.
The letter also will be printed in its entirety in the Times-Picayune (New Orleans), the Shreveport Times, the Hammond Daily Star, the Lafayette Daily Advertiser, the Monroe News Star, the Alexandria Town Talk and the Houma Courier.
It also will be published in the Lake Charles American Press, the Jennings Daily News, the Daily Iberian (New Iberia), the Houston Chronicle, the Clarion Ledger (Jackson, Miss.), the Daily Review (Morgan City), the Minden Press Herald, the Crowley Post Signal, the Abbeville Meridonial, the Opelousas Daily World, the Plaquemines Gazette (Plaquemines Parish), the St. Bernard Voice (St. Bernard Parish), L’Observateur (serving the River Parishes), the St. Charles Herald-Guide (St. Charles Parish), the Lutcher News Examiner (St. James Parish), the Tangi Times (Tangipahoa Parish), and the Bogalusa Daily News.
The letter also will appear in print in the Bayou Catholic, the official paper of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, in its next available edition in February 2026.