CNA Staff, Aug 14, 2025 /
12:42 pm
A high-ranking priest in the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama is on leave amid allegations that years ago, he began a relationship with a young woman who was a minor at the time.
Vicar General Father Robert Sullivan, 61, went on a personal leave of absence on Aug. 4, according to an Aug. 13 letter from Bishop Steven Raica obtained by CNA.
In his letter, Raica said that per internal policy, the diocese did not initially provide a public reason for Sullivan’s leave. But the bishop said an Aug. 13 report in the Guardian made it “necessary and appropriate” to clarify why the priest had left his post.
The Guardian report alleged that Sullivan reportedly “traded financial support for ‘private companionship’” with a woman, Heather Jones, now 33, “including sex, beginning when she was 17.”
Raica confirmed that the diocese had received the allegation, describing it as a report of “a relationship that began when the woman reporting the allegation may have been under the age of 18.”
The diocese reported the allegation to the Alabama Department of Human Resources, the bishop said, though that agency found that it did not merit a state-led investigation. The age of consent for sexual activity is 16 in Alabama.
The diocese, however, opened its own investigation. Since the early 2000s, in response to the global clerical abuse scandal, the Church has classified individuals under 18 as minors and deemed any sexual contact with them as abusive.
The allegations have been provided to the diocesan review board, Raica said. A report is also being developed for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, according to Vatican protocol.
Sullivan is currently “removed from all priestly service” while the investigation continues, the bishop said.
“We do not know the time frame for completion of the work of the dicastery in Rome nor of that which will be further required within our diocese,” he said.
Raica said it was “not [his] intention” to disclose the information of the allegation prior to the results of the investigation.
“[T]he initial work of any investigation does not lend itself to a definitive determination,” he said, “and anyone accused in the Church possesses a presumption of innocence until proven otherwise, equivalent to the right granted in civil law.”
The bishop asked for “continued prayers for all involved” and called for strict adherence to diocesan youth safety guidelines.
In its Aug. 13 report, the Guardian said Jones came forward with the claims because Sullivan, as pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Homewood, Alabama, “had continued working closely with families and their children,” leaving her “fearful that ‘others may be vulnerable to the same type of manipulation and exploitation.’”
The paper said Jones alleged that Sullivan met her when she was 17 years old while working at an “adult establishment” he allegedly visited regularly and that the priest took her “shopping, dining, drinking,” and to hotels for sex.
Jones alleged that Sullivan and his attorney “eventually had her sign a nondisclosure agreement in return for $273,000,” the paper said.
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She also allegedly received around $120,000 from “a Venmo account under Sullivan’s name,” according to the Guardian.
Daniel Payne is a senior editor at Catholic News Agency. He previously worked at the College Fix and Just the News. He lives in Virginia with his family.
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