Fr. Arthur Cooney

Involved in the Charismatic Renewal movement. Per a 1991 bio, Cooney was “bi-lingual….engaged in the ministries of preaching, teaching, inner-healing in retreats, parish missions, 40-hours, prayer groups, etc.” He was based in Saginaw MI; his work took him around the U.S. and to countries including Nicaragua and Australia. Identified in the 6/18/2013 Capuchin audit report as a current friar with confirmed reports of the sexual abuse of minors. Cooney’s name is included on this list without any additional information on claims against him except that he was removed from public ministry and living under supervision. Included on the Saginaw diocese’s list 8/9/2019. The The Midwest Capuchin’s (Province of St. Joseph) list updated in 2021 shows that Cooney was placed on leave and sent in 1986 to the Servants of the Paraclete in Jemez Springs, NM for treatment. He returned to active ministry in Saginaw until 1990 and did “Itinerant Preaching/U.S. & International, 1990-1997,” was in Saginaw again until 2005, then was on staff at a Retreat Center in Appleton WI 2005-2009. The list in 8/2025 shows that Cooney was assigned to the St. Joseph Center Development Office in Detroit 2009 until his retirement in 2024. Included in the 6/25/2026 MI Attorney General’s Diocese of Saginaw Report. The report reveals that in 1986 two young men, ages 19 and 21, reported that Cooney had made sexual advances toward them during a “weekend Renewal.”