Student: Jesuits falsely claimed withdrawn allegation
Did British Jesuits try to conceal a high-profile abuse allegation?
A student has accused the Jesuits in Britain of falsely stating he had withdrawn an allegation of misconduct against a former Jesuit provincial superior.
But while the Jesuit province says it handled the allegation correctly, the Oxford University graduate student said he was shocked to see a communication between the Jesuits and a diocesan safeguarding team, which claimed he had retracted the complaint.
The student told The Pillar that he never indicated he wished to withdraw his allegation, and could not explain or understand why the British Jesuit province would claim otherwise.
The alleged victim, who asked not to be named, made in July 2025 an allegation of inappropriate conduct on the part of Fr. Damian Howard, S.J., the British Jesuits’ former provincial superior, who was then serving as senior chaplain at the Oxford University Catholic Chaplaincy.
The complaint saw Howard removed from the Oxford post, on the grounds of professional misconduct. The case is subject to an ongoing police investigation and an independent review commissioned by the Jesuits.
But in October 2025, after he made a “subject access request” to the Archdiocese of Birmingham, the student discovered a document in which the Jesuit province said he had withdrawn the complaint. The student told The Pillar that claim is not true.
A subject access request is a mechanism that gives individuals access to information held on them by U.K. institutions.
After the student filed his complaint last July, the Jesuits in Britain informed the Birmingham archdiocese about the report, because the chaplaincy is situated within its territory.
But in late August, the student discovered, the Jesuits told the archdiocese that he had withdrawn the complaint.
The Jesuits also wrote that that the student had come to claim his interactions with Howard were entirely consensual, that he would deny the original allegation if approached by police, and that he felt it would be “awkward” to return to Oxford for a new academic year in the circumstances.
The alleged victim strongly denied those claims in a Jan. 23 interview with The Pillar.
He explained that in a written statement submitted to the order in early August 2025 — which The Pillar has seen — he alleged he had been groomed by Howard. The student also wrote that he considered himself to be a victim of abuse.
In October 2025, the student received a letter from the Jesuits in Britain acknowledging that Howard had overstepped the boundaries of a pastoral relationship, engaging in professional misconduct. It added that the priest had committed a “boundary violation” that was unacceptable and unprofessional.
The Pillar has learned that apart from the letter, a Jesuit representative separately indicated the order did not believe the complaint fell into the category of abuse.
But the student stressed that what troubled him most was not that the order disagreed with his assessment of Howard’s behavior. Instead, he felt that the order had twisted his own claim of abuse.
“What was most disturbing about this is that they presented this narrative as mine,” he said. “They presented it as a result of ‘recognitions’ and statements that I made during the investigation.”
The student made a report to the police about Howard in November 2025. The Thames Valley Police has said it received a report “of a sexual assault that took place in Oxford” in June 2025. It said its investigation was ongoing and no arrests had been made.
A police spokesman told The Pillar Jan. 27 that the investigation was still ongoing and there were no further updates.
In a Jan. 26 statement to The Pillar, the Jesuits’ British province defended their handling of the probe into the complaint against Howard
“We take every complaint extremely seriously and respond with care and diligence,” the statement said.
“When this complaint was received, the safeguarding team of Jesuits in Britain carried out an investigation. Based on their conclusions, immediate action was taken: Fr. Damian Howard, S.J., was asked to step down on the grounds of professional misconduct and has not been in ministry since.”
“All complaints are dealt with by following a structured process designed to ensure fairness, protection, and care. Initial assessment is followed by appropriate action, and in cases requiring independent oversight, matters are referred for external review,” the statement continued.
“In this case, the safeguarding investigation included interviews with relevant parties, as well as a careful examination of documented interactions between them. This comprehensive approach ensured that the matter was considered fully.”
“We are now awaiting the recommendations from the independent review and stand ready to take any further actions as required.”
The statement added; “While we cannot comment on individual cases while the review is underway, we are confident that our procedures ensure complaints are addressed with integrity. We remain committed to transparency, accountability, and attending to the wellbeing of all involved.”
The Birmingham archdiocese has not commented publicly on the August 2025 communication with the Jesuits in Britain.
An archdiocesan spokeswoman told The Pillar Jan. 26 that the archdiocesan safeguarding team did not have jurisdiction to investigate safeguarding concerns relating to the Jesuits. She said the responsible bodies were the Jesuits in Britain and the Religious Life Safeguarding Service, an independent organization offering safeguarding support relating to religious life in England and Wales.
Some sources have speculated the August 2025 communication could have been the result of a misunderstanding between the Jesuits in Britain and the archdiocese, with the Jesuits possibly indicating the alleged victim did not wish to make a report to the statutory authorities — the police or Local Authority Designated Officer — and the Birmingham archdiocese understanding that to mean the alleged victim had withdrawn the complaint.
But asked to comment on that suggestion, the spokeswoman for the Birmingham archdiocese reiterated that the case was under the jurisdiction of the Jesuits in Britain, who are awaiting the results of the independent review.
And for his part, the alleged victim said he found that suggested explanation of his alleged retraction both “utterly incredible” and “insulting.”
The student also made a subject access request to Oxford University, which had been informed of the complaint against Howard by the Jesuits in Britain.
In response, he received a communication from September 2025, which indicated that the university had been told he had been in a relationship with Howard but decided to end it, and was encouraged by a third party to report the relationship.
The student told The Pillar this communication also misrepresented his interactions with Howard.
The student first established contact with the priest in 2023 when he applied for financial support from the Jesuits in Britain to help cover his living costs amid his graduate studies. Howard would go on to support the student’s successful application.
The student lived in Oxford University Catholic Chaplaincy accommodation, which brought him into face-to-face contact with the priest. The pastoral relationship developed into a friendship that the alleged victim said became gradually more possessive.
The student said the intensity of the interactions increased around the time that he was plunged into turmoil by the unexpected death of his best friend. He said he perceived Howard solely as a friend, but the priest made declarations of love. The student accused Howard of initiating unwanted physical contact, such as intimate hugs and kisses, which he felt unable to refuse.
“I just dissociated from what was happening,” he said. “The only conscious thought I remember having was sort of like, this is just what my life is like now. Things just happened to me.”
The student alleged that one evening, after the student had consumed alcohol, Howard invited him to share a bed, remove items of clothing, and touched his chest.
The Jesuits did not conclude that the priest’s interactions with the student amounted to grooming and resolved that no criminal offense took place, The Pillar has confirmed.
Howard could not be reached for comment.
The priest’s departure as senior chaplain was announced publicly via a message pinned to the notice board at the Catholic chaplaincy in September 2025. It informed students that Howard had stepped down for “personal reasons.”
The senior chaplain is appointed by the Oxford and Cambridge Education Board, a body of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.
The board said in a Jan. 18 statement that Howard had been asked to step down “on the grounds of professional misconduct, following a complaint made by a student, which was investigated by the Jesuits in Britain and found to be substantiated.”
The board noted that the Jesuits in Britain had commissioned an independent review into its investigation. The review is being carried out by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency, a professional standards body with oversight of dioceses and religious communities in England and Wales.
The student has expressed concern about whether the review will cover the August 2025 communication between the Jesuits in Britain and the Birmingham archdiocese.
The Pillar asked the CSSA if it could clarify the scope of the report. It had not responded at press time.
For his part, the alleged victim told The Pillar that the Jesuits’ handling of his complaint had caused “psychological torment.”
“The suffering they’ve inflicted on me has been horrific,” he said. “I’ve been re-traumatized at a time I should have been allowed to heal.”
“And when I’ve gone to people in the Church for help, they have handed me back to the organization which has abused me and victimized me and retraumatized me at every point.”