A civil lawsuit claims that former Vatican diplomat and auxiliary bishop of Detroit, Archbishop Paul Russell, sexually abused a minor more than 30 years ago while serving as a priest in Massachusetts.
According to a statement released on Tuesday by the Archdiocese of Detroit, Russell, 63, denies the accusations. Russell would abstain from public ministry until further notice from the Vatican, according to the statement.
Russell was chosen to serve as the auxiliary bishop of Detroit in May, and on July 7 he was installed. Despite being a supporter, he still goes by the title of archbishop.
In Boston’s Suffolk County Superior Court, the lawsuit was submitted on August 1. The Detroit Free Press first reported it on Tuesday.
According to the lawsuit, the unnamed plaintiff first encountered Russell, who was then a priest assigned to St. Mary of the Sacred Heart Parish in Lynn, Massachusetts, at the parish’s food bank when he was 12 years old. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff was sexually abused 25 times in 1989 and 1990.
“The sexual assaults began with hugging and kissing, then genital fondling, and proceeded to mutual masturbation, forced oral copulation, and then anal penetration,” the lawsuit states. The lawsuit also names the “Archbishop of Boston” and Ronald J. Gariboldi, identified as the pastor of St. Mary of the Sacred Heart Parish at the time of the alleged assaults.
In response to the lawsuit, the Archdiocese of Detroit released a statement on Tuesday.
“Archbishop Russell is shocked and saddened by the claims that have been made, and states that they are without merit. He holds in prayer all those who have ever been victimized by a member of the clergy,” the statement said.
“Effective immediately, Archbishop Russell is refraining from all public ministry, and will continue until further directed by the Holy See,” the statement continued, adding that the guidelines of canon law “are being followed.”
The Detroit Archdiocese noted that it “was not aware of any allegation of misconduct against Archbishop Russell until it was contacted by media Monday, August 1.”
Greenfield, Massachusetts, is the place of Russell’s birth. He received a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University after attending Saint John’s Seminary in Boston to further his education.
On June 20, 1987, he was ordained as a priest for the Boston Archdiocese. According to the Detroit Catholic newspaper, Russell joined the Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston’s priest-secretary after five years as associate pastor at St. Mary of the Sacred Heart.
Russell joined the diplomatic service of the Vatican in 1997 and worked in the Secretariat of State’s Section for General Affairs as well as in Ethiopia, Turkey, Switzerland, and Nigeria. He also served as the chief of the diplomatic mission to Taiwan.
He was appointed a bishop and served as the apostolic nuncio to Turkey and Turkmenistan in 2016.
In 2018, he was also named as the apostolic nuncio to Azerbaijan.
In 2021, Russell left the nunciatures.