Married Arkansas priest steps down following homosexual assault allegation

August 10, 2009

Father Bradley Barber, a former Episcopal Church cleric who converted to Catholicism and was ordained to the priesthood in 1994 under Pope John Paul II’s 1980 Pastoral Provision, has been removed from his Arkansas parish following allegations that he assaulted a man in his early 20s on August 4. Father Barber is married and the father of four children.

In a letter read to the parish at Sunday Mass-- “the saddest letter I ever had to write”-- Bishop Anthony Taylor wrote that “Father Barber has violated our trust” and that “it is not clear yet what criminal charges might be filed.”

The diocesan newspaper reported in 2007 that “ordaining women to the priesthood, recognizing same-sex relationships as marriages, and allowing the church to be led by openly gay pastors, those were things that troubled Father Barber in his role as an Episcopal priest.” Father Barber has led the recitation of the Rosary in front of an abortion clinic, and his parish boasts a Gregorian schola.

 

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Further information:

• Priest Asked To Step Down Amid Allegations Of Sexual Assault (Fayetteville Morning News)
• Parish welcomes new priest and his family to Fayetteville (Arkansas Catholic, 2007)
• The Pastoral Provision
• St. Joseph Catholic Church (Fayetteville, Ark.)