345: C. John McCloskey

C. John McCloskey is a Catholic priest of Opus Dei, the controversial Catholic organization, who was a sort of celebrity converter. He was known for converting several prominent conservative politicians to Catholicism including Newt Gingrich, Sam Brownback, Bob Novak, Larry Kudlow, and Bernard Nathanson, a co-founder of NARAL who became an anti-choice activist. In 2005, Opus Dei paid a $977,000 settlement to a woman who claimed he groped her several times in 2002 when she sought help for marital issues and depression.

At least two other women came forward with allegations. When Opus Dei began investigating when the woman reported the misconduct they removed McCloskey from his leadership of the Catholic Information Center and limited his contact to confessionals where there is a screen between him and the other person. Opus Dei went public with this information in 2019 at the request of the woman who first reported his misconduct.

• Washington Post: Opus Dei paid $977,000 to settle sexual misconduct claim against prominent Catholic priest
• Opus Dei: Statements Regarding Father C. John McCloskey
• The American Conservative: Celebrity Priest Was a Groper