Rev. C. John McCloskey III is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest of the Prelature of

Opus Dei Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work an ...

and member of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross. He is the former director of the Catholic Information Center of the

Archdiocese of Washington The Archdiocese of Washington is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its territorial remit encompasses the District of Columbia and the counties of Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, P ...

. He worked on Wall Street at

Citibank Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...

and

Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...

for a number of years before becoming a priest. He was ordained in 1981 by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray.

Indecent assault allegations

McCloskey was credibly accused of groping a woman who had sought spiritual direction from him in 2002. He was subsequently removed from his position as the director of the Catholic Information Center, and a $977,000 settlement with the woman was reached in 2005. Opus Dei received a special contribution from an anonymous donor to pay the settlement, and stated they were investigating other allegations of misconduct by McCloskey.

Conversions

McCloskey was previously known for having helped convert a number of people to Catholicism, including

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...

, Sam Brownback,

Lawrence Kudlow Lawrence Alan Kudlow (born August 20, 1947) is an American conservative television personality and financial program host for the Fox network who served as the Director of the National Economic Council during the Trump Administration from 2018 ...

, Robert Novak, and Bernard Nathanson, an

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

activist who was converted from being a pro-choice

NARAL Pro-Choice America NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...

founder in his earlier years as a doctor, where he performed abortions.

Education

*BA (1975) in Economics,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

*seminary work, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross *Doctorate in Sacred Theology (STD),

University of Navarra , image = UNAV.svg , latin_name = Universitas Studiorum Navarrensis , established = 17 October 1952 , type = Private, Roman Catholic , chancellor = Fernando Ocáriz Braña , president = María Iraburu Eliz ...

Books

* (2010) ''The Essential Belloc - A Prophet for Our Times'', TAN Books
Essential Belloc"
''TAN Books'', publication_date. 2-Sept-2010.

References

External links

John McCloskey's Popular Lifetime Reading Plan

Page of Links to Articles by Father McCloskey
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCloskey, C. John Living people American Roman Catholic priests Opus Dei members Merrill (company) people Citigroup people American investment bankers Columbia College (New York) alumni Pontifical University of the Holy Cross alumni University of Navarra alumni Year of birth missing (living people)