The Diocese of Fall River (Massachusetts) announced on September 11 that it has restricted Monsignor Roger Landry, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, from the public exercise of priestly ministry after receiving complaints from several individuals regarding possible violations of the codes of conduct for priests. The priest has led the organization since July 2024, which channels missionary cooperation in the country under the Dicastery for Evangelization, and is a priest with notable public presence in American Catholicism.
The statement from the Diocese of Fall River, signed by Bishop Edgar Moreira da Cunha, indicates that the complaints come from several individuals and concern the codes of conduct of Fall River and the Archdiocese of New York, where Landry resided and served. The note specifies that none of the accusations involve minors and adds that the priest has requested a leave of absence from his position at the Pontifical Mission Societies. The diocese also recalls that Landry has the right to the presumption of innocence while the investigation continues.
The diocese maintains that, after an initial investigation conducted by the Archdiocese of New York and after consulting with it and with canonical advisors, there is sufficient evidence to restrict Landry from the public exercise of priestly ministry while the case is resolved. The restriction does not amount to a definitive canonical sanction: it is a precautionary measure adopted during the investigation.
Landry has released his own version of the events. The priest maintains that the accusations refer to alleged breaches of prudence, pastoral boundaries, and diocesan codes of conduct with adults. According to Landry, “there are no accusations of sexual activity of any kind” nor of misconduct with minors. “I maintain my innocence of any canonical violation or crime,” he stated, in his own translation, while assuring that he is cooperating with the investigation.
The Archdiocese of New York had previously opened an inquiry into the accusations. Landry states that he has been informed that the investigation and ecclesiastical procedure could last several months. The priest is 55 years old.
Landry was ordained a priest in 1999 for the Diocese of Fall River. He studied at Harvard and the Pontifical North American College in Rome, served from 2015 to 2022 as an attaché to the Mission of the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations, and has served as a university chaplain at Columbia. He is a regular contributor to EWTN and a frequent speaker on American Catholic circuits. His appointment to head the Pontifical Mission Societies in 2024 was reported by the Fides agency and by Vatican News, which at the time highlighted his role in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.
The case also affects a structure of pontifical scope. The Pontifical Mission Societies do not depend on the Diocese of Fall River: after the leave requested by Landry, its council appointed Douglas Culp, previously responsible for operations of the organization, as interim director, with the approval of Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization.
The measure is being taken in a year in which several U.S. dioceses have applied precautionary restrictions on priests for complaints that do not involve minors, an area in which diocesan codes of conduct may cover behaviors that do not necessarily correspond to offenses reserved to the Holy See. The investigation will now determine the canonical course to be taken in the case and whether there are grounds to maintain the restriction.