SOUTH BEND (IN)
The Observer - Student Newspaper of the University of Notre Dame [Notre Dame IN]
November 7, 2025
By William Kurtz
To the Notre Dame family,
After writing my first letter to The Observer about the ongoing investigation of alleged sexual abuse by Fr. Thomas King, I decided to do more research to see how large the problem was at Notre Dame. Were there more alleged clergy abusers than just King?
Unfortunately, I found seven other priests employed by Notre Dame who were accused of abuse of minors or ND students at some point in their priestly careers.
These findings suggest that Helen Cantwell’s investigation of King should be expanded to look at all other cases of clergy sexual abuse on campus as well. Broadening the scope of the investigation now is the perfect time for the University to do justice to all Notre Dame student victims of clergy sex abuse.
I compiled the following list using publicly available online sources, most of which were Notre Dame or Holy Cross websites. I’ve broken the accused abusers into two categories: those accused of sexually abusing Notre Dame students and those employed by Notre Dame and accused of sexually abusing minors during their priesthood.
Accused of sexually abusing Notre Dame students:
- Fr. Robert Huneke, former assistant rector of Cavanaugh Hall and rector of Grace Hall from 1975-77. He was accused of abusing at least one student at Notre Dame in the 1970s. He later admitted to abusing other victims as well.
- Fr. William Presley, former rector of St. Edward’s Hall from 1971-76. He was accused of abusing students in the 1970s. Accused of abusing minors at other places as well according to the 2018 Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report. (Sources: The Observer, July 3, 2020 and Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, 2018).
- Fr. James Burtchaell, a Notre Dame provost and prominent theologian who was accused of abusing students in the 1980s and resigned in 1991. At the time, the university did not comment on his case or answer questions about his resignation. (Source: The Observer, Dec. 3 and 10, 1991).
- Fr. Thomas King, former rector of Zahm Hall, resigned in 1997. Accused of abusing students during his tenure as rector, 1980-1997. After this, he continued teaching at Holy Cross College and given two parish assignments (Sources: ABC57, Notre Dame News, Sept. 24, 2025 and Catholic News Agency, Sept. 25, 2025). He is currently under investigation by the University.
Employed by Notre Dame and accused of sexually abusing minors during their priesthood:
- Fr. John Fitzgerald, accused of abuse in the 1970s in Illinois. (Source: Congregation of Holy Cross, List of Those Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of a Minor).
- Fr. Archibald McDowell, accused of abuse in multiple locations in the 1950s (including Indiana) (Source: Congregation of Holy Cross, List of Those Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of a Minor).
- Fr. David Verhalen, accused of abuse in the 1970s in Illinois (Source: Congregation of Holy Cross, List of Those Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of a Minor).
- Fr. Virgilio Elizondo, a prominent theology professor at Notre Dame, accused of abusing a boy in 1983 in the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas. When the accusation became known in 2015, Notre Dame, Elizondo’s then employer, declined to comment on the accusations (Sources: ABC57, National Catholic Reporter, May 29, 2015, The Observer, May 30, 2015).
The fact that so many alleged priest abusers had ties to Notre Dame strongly suggests the problem of clergy abuse on campus was much larger than just King and that it may have been a systemic issue at the University from the 1970s to the 1990s just as it was in the larger U.S. Catholic Church at the time.
Multiple victims cited in the sources above have alleged the University was slow to act on their concerns about allegedly abusive priests like Burtchaell and King. Having Cantwell conduct a more thorough and wide-ranging investigation now thus seems the appropriate way for the University to be totally transparent with the larger “Notre Dame family.”
I hope too that the larger “Notre Dame family” will speak out and support the alumni victims and demand real change, contrition and justice from University leadership. The victims, your fellow alumni, need your help and voices right now.
Sincerely,
William Kurtz, Ph.D.
Class of 2006
Nov. 3
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.