Fr. Leonard R. Chambers

Ordained: 1965
Status: Accused

Diocese: Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau MO

Bernard Law, then Bishop of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau diocese, responded to a 1981 allegation against Chambers by sending him for extended treatment and then reassigning him to two other parishes. Chambers was placed on restrictions in the mid-1990s by Bishop Leibrecht. Permanently removed from ministry in 1998 after violating the order forbidding him to be alone with any child. He had worked in a total of 22 parishes. Not indexed in the Official Catholic Directory after 2002, and is last known to have been living in Joplin. Per the diocese’s list in 11/2018, Chambers was laicized in 2006. Its updated list in 4/2021 shows his laicization to have been on 12/9/05. Named in a federal lawsuit in 9/2024.


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