Relic priest responds to ‘incident’ allegation

Lawyers for a priest accused of an “incident” which halted a nationwide relic tour say that Fr. Carlos Martins touched a student’s hair last week to build “rapport,” and that Illinois police are investigating the matter only at the insistence of an “outraged father.”  

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Joliet told The Pillar Monday that Martins’ attorneys gave an “incomplete” account of a Nov. 21 incident at Queen of Apostles Parish in Joliet, Illinois, adding that the diocese regarded the allegation as a matter of potential “boundary issues,” but “not sexual misconduct.”

A relic of St. Jude on display at Queen of Apostles parish in Joliet, Illinois. Courtesy photo.

Martins’ attorneys contacted The Pillar after a Queen of Apostles announcement this weekend, which stated that the parish had canceled public veneration of a relic and a connected Mass, after receiving reports of “an incident with [Martins] and some students, [which] was reported to have happened in our church.”

While the priest’s attorney told The Pillar that a police complaint was filed by a parent, the parish announcement said parish priests had called the police in response to the reports — “in accordance with our Diocesan Safe Environment Policies and our Standards of Behavior” —though it is unclear if multiple reports were filed.  

The parish statement added that Joliet’s Bishop Ron Hicks had decided to cancel the relic tour at two other Joliet parishes after he was informed of the situation.

“A police investigation is still on-going,” the parish statement said, adding that Martins himself was directed to “depart from our parish and out of our diocese.”

Martins, a member of the Companions of the Cross, a Canadian religious institute, has since last year been the organizer of a nationwide tour of a first-class relic of St. Jude, on loan from St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The priest leads a ministry called Treasures of the Church, which regularly brings relics to Catholic parishes across North America.

He is also the host of “The Exorcist Files,” a podcast which dramatizes Martin’s reported experiences of ministry as an exorcist.

As of Monday, his religious community indicated that his priestly ministry has been “temporarily suspended.”

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While Martins did not respond over the weekend to requests from The Pillar for comment — and declined comment to other media outlets — his attorneys contacted The Pillar Monday to offer the priest’s perspective on the allegations against him, and to raise complaints about The Pillar’s news coverage of the parish statement. 

The attorneys’ letter said that “on November 21, 2024, Queen of Apostles Parish in the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, hosted Fr. Martins to share the relic of St. Jude for public veneration. The parish invited its school to attend. Over 200 students attended the event, which was hosted in St. Paul church. All the facts surrounding The Pillar’s reporting happened in front of a large group of people encompassing multiple grades.” 

“As he always does, Fr. Martins began his interaction with the attendees in ‘chit-chat’ dialogue. He is bald and apt to joke about it as a conversation starter. During his conversation with the older students, he made a comment to a student about her long hair, remarking, ‘You and I have almost the same hair style,’ a comment met with giggles. He then remarked that he also once had long hair like hers, and he joked he would ‘floss my teeth with it.’ Again, his comment was met with laughter. He then asked the student, ‘Have you ever flossed with your hair?’ Laughing, she shook her head, no. He then said, ‘Well, you have the perfect length for it,’ as he lifted up a lock from her shoulders to show her its length.”

“She giggled along with the others. He was building rapport. The student came home and told her father the story. He, apparently, became infuriated by what he heard, calling the police. The police arrived at the parish during the event and, after questioning the students, left without making any arrests or filing charges. It was only after the outraged father called the police a second time, insisting that they charge Fr. Martins with battery, that the police agreed to further investigate.”

“There is no indication that there is any new evidence that would further implicate my client of any wrongdoing. To date, no charges have been filed,” the lawyers added.

While Martins’ attorneys said that an “outraged father called the police,” the diocese told The Pillar that priests at the parish themselves made a police report, in response to “a report received about behavior of the priest.” 

Martins’ attorneys also charged in their Nov. 25 letter that The Pillar’s Saturday coverage of the priest was defamatory in nature. 

Martins himself declined comment or did not respond over the weekend to several media outlets including The Pillar, and no police report has been released in the case. However, the priest’s attorneys charged that the Martins’ account of the matter — or any account beyond the parish announcement — was “readily ascertainable.” 

The Diocese of Joliet told The Pillar Monday that the lawyers’ narrative was an “accurate but incomplete” rendering of the situation, and said there were “additional facts” not recounted by Martins’ lawyers.

“According to our policies, these were boundary issues, not sexual misconduct,” a diocesan spokesperson told The Pillar by email, but did not elaborate on the alleged “additional facts.”

“The police investigation may indicate something more but that remains to be seen,” the spokesperson wrote.  

According to the Companions of the Cross website, the community is awaiting the results of that investigation.

“The ministry of Fr. Carlos Martins has been temporarily suspended pending an ongoing police investigation into a recent complaint at one of his relic expositions that took place in the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois,” the order said.

The Joliet police have not yet responded to a request for comment.

This story is developing and has been updated.