Cincinnati Priest Bachman Leaves Active Ministry

Several clergy members have recently stepped away from ministry amid separate controversies. In the Chicago Archdiocese, Father Samson N. Mukundi was temporarily barred from public ministry after an allegation of inappropriate physical contact and boundary violations involving an adult; the archdiocese said the allegation did not involve a minor. In Ohio, Father Martin Bachman resigned his assignment and lost his priestly faculties, though the Archdiocese of Cincinnati said his departure was not prompted by a complaint or disciplinary action; Bachman had previously acknowledged viewing adult pornography and playing inappropriate video games outside church property. In England, the Rev. Sharon Hunt left her curacy after saying she experienced racist abuse at a parish supper and that other attendees’ silence compounded the harm; the Diocese of Southwark condemned racism.