NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WWL-TV [New Orleans LA]
November 6, 2026
By Athina Morris
The additions bring the Archdiocese’s list to 106 names, as LSU prepares to host a public archive of clergy abuse records.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans has added 27 more priests to its list of clergy credibly accused of sexually abusing children, the biggest update to the list since it was first made public in 2018.
The additions include 10 clergy members who served directly in the New Orleans Archdiocese and 17 others who belonged to religious orders or other dioceses but were accused of abuse while working in the New Orleans area.
Two of the most notable additions are priests previously exposed by WWL Investigative Reporter David Hammer and Ramon Antonio Vargas, WWL’s reporting partner at The Guardian: Father Paul Hart, a former chaplain at Brother Martin High School, and Father Joseph deWater, whom WWL tracked down in the Netherlands for an exclusive interview that included two of his alleged victims.
Hart’s addition follows years of controversy over his 2022 departure from Brother Martin. Vargas reported that leaked church records contradicted public claims that Hart retired to battle brain cancer. Instead, the records showed school leaders had asked Archbishop Gregory Aymond to remove him.
Hart did have brain cancer and died in October 2022.
The records also revealed that Hart admitted to a church review board in 2012 that he had sexual contact with a 17-year-old girl in the 1990s. The board classified it as child sexual abuse under church policy, though Aymond initially cleared Hart under older church jurisdictional rules.
The revelations also led to a lengthy legal battle involving attorney Richard Trahant, who tried to warn school leaders about Hart. Trahant was hit with a $400,000 penalty for violating confidentiality orders. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately rejected his appeal, leaving the penalty in place.
In a letter posted on the Archdiocese’s website, Archbishop Checchio said the church is releasing a complete list of clergy whose records will be included in a public archive at LSU. The archive is part of a $300 million bankruptcy settlement that requires the Archdiocese to make more information about clergy sexual abuse available to the public.
The additions bring the list to 106 names. It included 79 before Friday’s announcement and 57 when it was first released in 2018.
All 27 priests added to the list have died. Ten served in the New Orleans Archdiocese, while the other 17 belonged to religious orders such as the Dominicans and Jesuits, or served in other dioceses but were accused of abuse while working in the New Orleans area.
The 10 Archdiocesan clergy members added are:
- Sebastian Arjonilla
- Henry Bezou
- Patrick Cunningham
- Joseph DeWater
- Earl Gauthreaux
- Paul Hart
- Joseph Luminais
- Benjamin Piovan
- Gerard Poche
- Paul Richard
The other 17 clergy members belonged to religious orders or other dioceses:
- Joseph Sebastian Angers, O.P.
- Donald Dickerson, S.J.
- Warren Discon, C.M.
- Ronald Fontenot
- Gilbert Gauthe
- Gerard Hayes
- Rodney Howell
- George Landry
- Etienne LeBlanc
- Arthur Maurer, S.S.J.
- Robert Melancon
- Louis Meteye, C.M.
- Thomas Naughton, S.J.
- Austin Park, S.J.
- Joseph Thang Pham
- Sean Rooney, S.D.B.
- Leger Tremblay, J.C.
The Archdiocese said the 17 non-Archdiocesan clergy members were added because they were named in bankruptcy claims and already appeared on another diocese’s public list or a religious order’s list.
The records for the 10 Archdiocesan clergy members include allegations dating back decades. Several were accused of abuse long before the bankruptcy proceedings, while others were added after additional information surfaced through claims filed as part of the bankruptcy case.
It’s the first major update to the list under Archbishop James Checchio, who succeeded Archbishop Gregory Aymond in February, after the church’s bankruptcy case came to an end.
In a letter to the archdiocese’s roughly 500,000 Catholics, Checchio called Friday a “heavy and sad day.”
“We cannot be afraid of the truth and must work towards a process of both accountability and healing,” he wrote. “The road forward has to be connected with the telling of the truth [and] the assistance that we give to our survivors.”
Public archive to include abuse records
As part of the bankruptcy settlement, LSU will host an online archive of public records related to clergy accused of abuse.
It will include everyone on the archdiocese’s official list, as well as anyone named as an alleged perpetrator in at least three bankruptcy claims filed by survivors. Those names must be included even if the church has not separately determined whether the allegations are credible.
The announcement comes after independent bankruptcy trustee Don Massey accused the archdiocese earlier this year of delaying investigations into nearly a dozen clergy members named during the bankruptcy process.
Massey said some of those allegations had already been reviewed and deemed credible by the church’s own review board, but those clergy members had not been added to the public list.
The archdiocese said Checchio had ordered a review of deceased clergy members named in the bankruptcy claims.
Church outlines safeguarding measures
In his letter and an accompanying video, Checchio said no priests credibly accused of abuse are still serving in the church.
He also said any new allegations are immediately reported to law enforcement.
More than 40,000 clergy members, employees and volunteers have completed mandatory child safety training, he said.
The $300 million settlement also requires the archdiocese to strengthen child protection measures, improve how abuse allegations are reported and make more information about accused clergy available to the public.