For Immediate Release: March 14, 2024

Deceased Priest Added to Catholic Diocese of Richmond’s Clergy List

(RICHMOND, Va.) – On Mar. 14, 2024, the Catholic Diocese of Richmond added a deceased priest, Father Paul Jenkins, to the diocesan list of clergy against whom a credible and substantiated claim of sexual abuse involving a minor has been made.

The name was added after a review was completed in consultation with the diocesan Office of Safe Environment and the Diocesan Review Board. Father Jenkins, a diocesan priest, was ordained in 1959 and died in 1997. He served at the following parishes: Church of St. Thérèse of Lisieux,** Portsmouth; St. Paul, Richmond; Church of the Holy Angels, Portsmouth; St. James, Hopewell; and Assumption parish in Keyser, W.Va.

The clergy list was first published in Feb. 2019 after a comprehensive review of clergy files. Since then, the list has been updated when necessary. The list can be found on the Richmond Diocese website at the following link: https://richmonddiocese.org/list/.

In keeping with its pledge to help victim survivors in their healing, the Catholic Diocese of Richmond remains committed to respecting the privacy of all victim survivors. As with the diocese’s previous announcements regarding its list, the diocese will not release specific details regarding the victim survivor or the abuse.

Any individual who has been sexually abused by a priest, deacon, religious, lay employee or volunteer of the diocese is urged to report abuse directly to law enforcement, including Child Protective Services (CPS) at 1-800- 552-7096. Individuals are also encouraged to contact the 24-hour confidential diocesan Victim Assistance Reporting (VAC) number at 1-877-887-9603 or email [email protected].

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**Note: Church of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, originally founded in Portsmouth, is currently located in the city of Chesapeake as Church of St. Thérèse.