At the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the general secretary has announced his resignation after reporters found evidence of serial misconduct in the man's past.
Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill, announced that he was stepping down from his role in the USCCB after reporters discovered evidence of the priest engaging in sexual misconduct while also overseeing the Catholic Church's attempts to respond to the ongoing sex abuse and misconduct cases.
The Church says that while what was shared with them did not include allegations of misconduct with minors, in order to avoid becoming a distraction to the operations and ongoing work of the Conference, Burrill resigned immediately.
The Catholic news outlet The Pillar had acquired app signal data correlated with Burrill's mobile device. After a long-term scan of both its location data and app activity, The Pillar found that the priest had consistently used the gay dating app Grindr daily between 2018 and 2020. They were also able to find evidence of him visiting several gay bars, including a trip to Las Vegas in 2018.
Burrill had served for several years on the bishop's conference. Initially hired as associate general secretary in 2016, The USCCB appointed Burrill as the coordinating authority over the US bishops' response to the Catholic Church's 2018 sexual abuse and coercion cases. The USCCB later promoted Burrill to general secretary in 2020.Being a general secretary is often considered one of the highest offices an individual can hold without being appointed as a bishop.
It remains unclear whether Burrill will face internal discipline for his conduct. However, Father Michael Fuller will fill Burrill's role until the USCCB can elect a permanent replacement.
