St. Jude relic tour halted over 'incident' involving students, visiting priest

(OSV NEWS) -- A tour of a relic of St. Jude conducted by Father Carlos Martins, a priest of the Companions of the Cross religious community known for hosting "The Exorcist Files" podcast, was halted Nov. 21 following an alleged "incident" involving students, according to a statement from Queen of Apostles Church in the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, and from the diocese. The priest has been temporarily suspended from ministry pending an ongoing police investigation.

The incident allegedly involved the priest touching a female student's long hair during a presentation as he was joking with about 200 students gathered to venerate the relic, according to a Nov. 25 letter from Father Martins' attorney describing the incident.

The three-page letter from Marcella Burke at the Houston-based Burke Law Group addressed to the editors of The Pillar, a Catholic news site, was obtained by OSV News. The letter explained it was the student's father who heard the story and later called for a police investigation.

It provided a detailed overview of the incident, saying that Queen of Apostles Parish had invited its school's students to attend a public veneration event of the St. Jude relic, and more than 200 students were attending the event, held at the parish's St. Paul church.

"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," the letter stated. "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," the letter stated. "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 attorney added in her letter.

Father Martins' attorney alleged in her letter that The Pillar's initial reporting was "defamatory and entirely irresponsible," and she demanded a retraction of, or supplementary updates to, the outlet's initial Nov. 23 article which broke the news of the incident. The Pillar quoted from the letter's narrative in its Nov. 25 update.

The Diocese of Joliet reportedly told The Pillar Nov. 25 that the attorney's narrative was "accurate but incomplete" and said there were "additional facts," but did not elaborate on what those might be.

"According to our policies, these were boundary issues, not sexual misconduct," the diocese told The Pillar and said the police investigation "may indicate something more but that remains to be seen."

The Companions of the Cross announced Nov. 25 that Father 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 diocese told OSV News Nov. 25 that they did not wish to impede the ongoing police investigation and "under the Diocese's Standards of Behavior (posted on our website under Safe Environment), our Diocese would consider the entirety of the reported situation to be considered 'boundary violations."

The parish's Nov. 21 statement did not provide details of the incident, and the diocese told OSV News via email Nov. 24 that beyond the initial statement they "have no further details to provide as the investigation is still ongoing," but they "can confirm the Order priest visiting our parish and accompanying the relic of St. Jude was Fr. Carlos Martins."

"On Thursday, November 21, Queen of Apostles hosted the visit of the relic of St. Jude for public veneration," read the Nov. 21 statement from Father Michael Lane, parish moderator, and Father Gregory Alberts, parochial vicar. "A non-profit, outside ministry called 'Treasures of the Church', was responsible for hosting the relic in the United States. The relic has been on a national pilgrimage in the United States for over a year. The tour and the relic were overseen by a priest with the Companions of the Cross, an Order of priests in Canada."

"During the course of the day's veneration in Queen of Apostles Church, an incident with the priest and some students was reported to have happened in our church," they continued. "We immediately contacted the police. A police investigation is still on-going. The priest was confronted with the information. We informed the priest that he must depart from our parish and out of our Diocese. In an abundance of caution, we decided that the remainder of the veneration of the relic and evening mass would be cancelled."

They wrote that these decisions and actions were "in accordance with our Diocesan Safe Environment Policies and our Standards of Behavior" and the incident was "also immediately reported to Bishop Ronald Hicks of the Diocese of Joliet, who supported our decision to cancel the remainder of the event and on the evening of November 21."

The bishop also canceled the tour at two more parishes in the diocese scheduled for this week and "informed the Superior of the Companions of the Cross Order of priests."

The statement added that "all involved in this incident are safe."

OSV News reached out to the Joliet Police Department and to Father Carlos Martins for comment regarding the incident, but has not yet received a response.

Father Martins was "the church-appointed custodian of the relic," directing the "Apostle of the Impossible" tour of what are believed to be bone fragments of St. Jude's arm in a reliquary through churches and schools across the country. The tour began in September 2023, but its website now lists all remaining stops through December 2024 as "cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances."

The same language was used on social media posts by Indiana dioceses of Gary and Fort Wayne-South Bend, which were the next two scheduled dioceses on the relic tour. Comments on the posts reflected dismay and disappointment over the cancellation of the tour.

Originally from Ontario, Canada, and a convert from atheism, Father Martins hosts "The Exorcist Files" podcast along with Ryan Bethea, which features firsthand accounts of cases from Father Martins' time as an exorcist.