EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION: How U.S. Military Hid 140 Pedophile Priests – And the MASSIVE Cover-Up to Keep Shameful History of Abuse Secret
U.S. military secretly protected 140 pedophile priests, sparking a massive clergy abuse cover-up scandal.
April 21 2025, Published 7:00 a.m. ET
Over three decades after the Catholic Church's disgraceful history of sexual abuse exploded into public scandal, at least 140 Catholic predator priests served in the military among the brave men and women who risk their lives to safeguard democracy here and abroad.
A shocking investigation ripped the lid off the discredited clerics who have worked over the years in the sprawling Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS), the arm of the Catholic Church ministering to the U.S. Armed Forces, Veterans Affairs hospitals and federal employees serving outside the country.
"For decades, the Catholic hierarchy in America used the military as a dumping ground for problem priests," said David Clohessy, a leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). "It's tragic and horrible."
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul exposed Rev. Alvin Campbell's decades of child abuse cover-ups.
Among the roughly 140 abusers to shamefully serve in uniform was the Rev. Alvin Campbell, who was an Army chaplain between 1963 and 1977 before moving to the Diocese of Springfield, Ill.
According to a 2023 report from Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Campbell went on to sexually assault at least 33 kids while working in seven different Illinois parishes.
The lurid allegations included a variety of unspeakable sex acts as well as photographing the abuse.
Raoul's report claimed ranking Catholic priests in the military knew Campbell was a predator, and they did nothing to stop the detestable pervert from ministering in civilian life.
David Clohessy of SNAP slammed the military for sheltering predator priests like disgraced chaplain Campbell.
"Prior to Campbell's arrival [in Springfield], a senior Army chaplain telephoned the diocese" and informed church officials there that "Campbell has a moral problem with boys/young men and this was being brought against him," the report states.
It wasn't until 1985 that the law finally caught up with Campbell, and he pleaded guilty, but mentally ill, to sexually assaulting innocent and defenseless children.
Although the sex creep was sentenced to 14 years in prison, he was never defrocked.
In 1989, a local bishop petitioned then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who would later become Pope Benedict XVI, to remove Campbell from the priesthood, but Campbell died in 2002, still wearing his collar.
A local bishop asked Pope Benedict XVI to remove Campbell, but the latter died in 2002 still wearing his collar.
Critics point out that the AMS is only one of three archdioceses in the U.S. to not publish a public list of predator priests who have served in its ranks.
A spokesman for the AMS' Vatican-appointed leader, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, blames the apparent cover-up on a matter of protocol and circumstance.
He said the overwhelming number of Catholic priests who serve in the military – reportedly 533, including 212 on active duty – are on loan from other dioceses throughout the U.S. The spokesman insists the borrowed priests technically remain under the authority of their original diocese's bishop, and the practices of publishing a list of credibly accused clerics vary among dioceses.
Then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was urged to defrock Campbell, but the convicted abuser died still a priest.
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He added none of the eight priests directly under the authority of the AMS have been credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor.
SNAP's Clohessy called that explanation "irresponsible hairsplitting."
"It doesn't matter to a 7-year-old rape victim what diocese his abuser comes from," Clohessy told RadarOnline.com. "He or she just wants the truth and the ability to heal after carrying the unspeakable for so many, many years."
