SCRANTON (PA)
The Times Tribune [Scranton, PA]
August 21, 2026
By Christine Lee
The Vatican defrocked a former priest in the Diocese of Scranton for sexually abusing a child, a move that permanently ends his time as a priest.
Christopher R. Clay, 62, was dispensed from the clerical state effective July 24 following credible accusations of sexual abuse of a minor, diocese officials announced this month.
The diocese removed him as chaplain and theology teacher at Bishop Hafey High School in Hazle Twp. in 2002, amid a criminal investigation in Monroe County of alleged sexual misconduct involving a teenage boy. At the time of the alleged incident in 1998, the priest was associated with the Newman House oratory in Mount Pocono.
The accusation arose from a federal lawsuit filed by a man who said he was sexually abused as a high school student by two other priests, Carlos Urrutigoity and Eric Ensey, who were members of the Society of St. John. The society, of which Clay was a founding member, was a traditionalist Catholic community that had a compound in Shohola Twp., Pike County. Pocono Mountain Regional Police investigated but never charged Clay, who maintained his innocence.
The diocese paid $380,000 to settle the case.
Clay went on a leave of absence in 2003 and officials removed him from ministry in 2004 after receiving a credible accusation of sexual assault of a minor, forbidding him from exercising priestly ministry and celebrating the sacraments. The diocese was unaware of his whereabouts from the time he was removed from ministry in 2004 until 2024, when they learned he tried to exercise priestly ministry in the Diocese of Forth Worth in Texas.
That same year, they learned of a second credible accusation of sexual assault of a minor. In both instances, officials said the diocese notified law enforcement and reported the findings to the Vatican. Following the second accusation, officials additionally forbade him from being present in the territory of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas.
Attempts to reach Clay for comment about the dispensation were unsuccessful.
Clay was among dozens of religious leaders named in a 2018 grand jury report that held six dioceses, including the Diocese of Scranton, accountable for covering up widespread sexual abuse. His name remains on the diocese’s list of credibly accused individuals suspected of sexually assaulting minors. He has not been charged with a crime.
Clay submitted a petition requesting dispensation to Pope Leo XIV in March. Officials say he lives privately in Dallas, Texas, and is no longer affiliated with the diocese, adding they informed the Diocese of Dallas and the Diocese of Fort Worth about the pope’s decision and his status.
In addition to his assignment at Bishop Hafey, Clay also had assignments at Notre Dame High School in East Stroudsburg and at St. Thomas More Parish in Lake Ariel.
Since 2004, the diocese said he has not possessed the faculties to preach the word of God or hear confessions. Being dispensed means Clay is no longer a member of the clergy, has any rights or responsibilities of the priesthood, cannot celebrate Mass or confer sacraments, wear clerical attire or be addressed as “Father.”