CHICAGO (IL)
The Patch [Chicago IL]
January 21, 2026
By Eric DeGrechie
An associate pastor at Buffalo Grove’s St. Mary Catholic Church has been asked to live away from parish premises.
BUFFALO GROVE, IL — An associate pastor at St. Mary Catholic Church is being accused of sexually abusing a child 60 years ago in India. According to a letter from the Archdiocese of Chicago sent last week and obtained by Patch, Cardinal Blase Cupich has withdrawn Rev. Denis Manuel Carneiro’s faculties to minister and he has been asked to live away from parish premises.
Carneiro has served as an associate pastor at St. Mary, located at 10 N. Buffalo Grove Road, on three occasions — from June 2004 to August 2004, from November 2009 to May 2013 and from June 2013 to the present.
Similar letters, also obtained by Patch, were sent out to the following area parishes where Carneiro had served in the past:https://80e196b81ebe04b2cced9812d9cb1a05.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-45/html/container.html
- Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Chicago (resident from July 1972 to May 1974, April 1979 to June 1979, July 1989 to June 1999)
- Holy Family Parish, Inverness (resident June 1999 to July 2002)
Carneiro was a chaplain at St. Alexius Hospital in Hoffman Estates from 1999 to 2002.
St. Mary told Patch the parish has no comment regarding the allegation. A link to the letter from the Archdiocese of Chicago was displayed on the church’s website as of Wednesday afternoon, but it was going to a “Page Not Found” warning. In addition, Carneiro was still listed as an associate pastor on the website’s contact page.
“While he strenuously denies the allegation, he has complied with this direction,” Cupich said of the decision to remove Carneiro for the time being.
According to Cupich, the Archdiocese of Chicago has notified the Archdiocese of Bhopal, where Carneiro had retired from, and he says is responsible for conducting the investigation into the allegation. He also noted they have reached out to the person making the allegation, as well as civil authorities, as is part of the diocese’s child protection policies.
“I want to stress that the welfare of the children entrusted to our care is our paramount
concern,” Cupich said. “The Archdiocese of Chicago takes all allegations of sexual misconduct seriously and encourages anyone who feels they have been sexually abused by a priest, deacon, religious or lay employee to come forward. They will be received with dignity and compassion.”
Complete information about reporting sexual abuse can be found on the archdiocesan website at www.archchicago.org.
By Eric DeGrechie,Patch Staff