Gregory Ingels, A Former Priest Credibly Accused of Abuse, Still Works for Catholic Tribunals
Gregory Ingels is a former priest who has been credibly accused of molesting a 15-year-old boy in California, a scandal that led to his departure from public ministry in 2002. His story is fairly well known within Church circles. What’s not publicly known is that Ingels continues to work for the Church. I found this out by simply calling him up at his home in Minnesota.
He does “occasional” work on tribunals, he admitted to me. A long-time canon lawyer, he says dioceses call him up from time to time to seek his counsel. I asked him if he gets paid for some of this work. He said he does. But he insisted that he is “basically retired.”
That a credibly accused abuser still works for Catholic tribunals contradicts the “zero tolerance” message sent by the U.S. bishops. It is also an obvious violation of canon law, which requires that those who work on tribunals be upstanding members of the faith.
It would appear that the same culture of cronyism that protected Theodore McCarrick for so long has also protected Ingels, who once lived with the checkered San Francisco archbishop John Quinn. They shared a mansion together on the grounds of St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California, an arrangement that appalled James Jenkins, a psychologist who served on the San Francisco archdiocese’s abuse review board. Ron Russell of the San Francisco Weekly wrote in 2005,
At about the time Ingels was arraigned on criminal charges, Jenkins and other members of the review panel learned that he was living with former San Francisco Archbishop John R. Quinn at Quinn’s residence on the campus of St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park. Quinn moved to the century-old mansion on the seminary grounds after his unexpected retirement as archbishop in 1995. Ingels has been liv...
Winter Appeal 2023
To our friends,
2023 has been a long year with many ups and downs for us all. As we close out the year, we at SNAP hope that you are feeling like you are on your way to being healthy, fulfilled, and happy. This past year has brought both successes and challenges. Thanks to the support you have shown in the past, we’ve been able to celebrate the good days and weather the stormy ones. Now, we are once again asking for your support as we work to support survivors new and old as we ‘Move SNAP Forward.’
At SNAP we are proud to have hosted a very well-attended conference in August 2023. This event allowed us to gather friends, survivors, advocates, and allies for a weekend of camaraderie and connection. We were so happy to be able to welcome many first-time attendees to gather in person and are already looking forward to the next conference.
To strengthen our movement for justice, healing, and prevention, SNAP will be expanding our peer support and providing more volunteer opportunities in the coming year. Through this great work, we are ensuring survivor voices are represented as we work for significant change that will benefit children and survivors.
Right now, survivors worldwide are getting the help they need from SNAP, and more and more reach out to us daily, but we need your help to keep those programs going and get our volunteers the training they need to thrive.
Your tax-deductible gift to SNAP can help offset the cost of our important mission. If you are not in a position to contribute, you can still support us by sharing this letter with those who can. As we continue to fight for survivors across the globe, your donation or sharing the great work SNAP does will help us continue our work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and prevent abuse.
Your donation ensures SNAP will be there for those who need us more than ever!
Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director
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