MADISON (WI)
WMTV 15 [Madison, WI]
June 25, 2026
By Juliana Tornabene and Nicole Herzog
A Madison priest accused of child sex crimes will no longer serve or be recognized as a religious leader in the Catholic church, the Diocese of Madison announced Thursday morning.
Andrew Showers is accused of attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child, attempted child enticement and attempting to use a computer to facilitate a child sex crime. He is also accused of two counts of child pornography possession.
In a letter from Bishop Donald Hying Thursday, he explained that Showers petitioned for a dispensation from his priestly obligations. Pope Leo XIV granted that petition.
With the petition being granted, Hying said Showers has been released from all rights, duties and obligations of the clerical state.
“As Canon 292 states, ‘by the loss of the clerical state, he is deprived of all offices, functions, and any delegated power,’” Hying said.
Showers cannot be referred to as “Father” or “Reverend,” he cannot wear the Roman collar that priests wear and he cannot perform any acts of ministry. This includes Mass and the Catholic Sacraments, including baptism and anointing of the sick.
Susan Ridgely, a religious studies professor at UW-Madison, said this process is not common, but could represent a shift in the way the Catholic Church operates.
“Definitely in like the 1990s and before, the kind of custom would have been reassignment, especially if there wasn’t a criminal case,“ Ridgley said. ”And then around the ’90s and 2000s, especially with Spotlight and when the crisis kind of came to the attention in North America, you would see more still moving around, but also people being placed on sabbatical or something like that. So kind of removed from ministry, but not officially kind of having their ministry taken from them. And more recently, especially with Pope Francis kind of changing canon law around these issues, and then Pope Leo kind of taking this even more to heart, maybe we’re going to see more of these kind of consequences within the church.”
Showers was arrested in August 2025 after agreeing to meet with a minor, who was actually a Clintonville Police Department sergeant posing as a 14-year-old girl.
Diocese of Madison had announced then that Showers would be restricted from public ministry while the investigation was conducted.
This move will take that a step further.
“I think that the current pope is paying really close attention to empathy, to thinking about the consequences, the deeper consequences in people’s lives about abuse,” Ridgely said. “Hopefully we’ll get, survivors will get more attention, and also consequences for the priests, but also in facilitating legal consequences and criminal charges.”
In March, Showers was charged with child pornography after digital evidence was allegedly found on his phone.
Showers has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
A next court date for Showers is not updated in the state’s online portal.