MINNESOTA
BishopAccountability.org
Summary of Case: Leonard P. Cowley was ordained for the St. Paul archdiocese in 1938. He was longtime assistant at a St. Paul parish before being assigned in 1949 as pastor of another, in Minneapolis. Cowley held numerous chancery positions. He was elevated to Auxiliary Bishop of St. Paul in January 1958. From 1963 until his death in August 1973, Cowley was pastor of St. Mary’s Co-Cathedral in Minneapolis.
Cowley’s name was among 17 made public February 11, 2015 of clergy with accusations against them of sexual abuse or misconduct with a minor in the archdiocese. A man is reported to have filed a claim that Cowley sexually abused him during a trip to northern Minnesota in 1968, when the man was a 15-year-old boy.
Ordained: June 4, 1938
Ordained Bishop: January 29, 1958
Died: August 18, 1973
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