Andrew J. Showers, a 38-year-old former priest of the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, has been formally dismissed from the clerical state following his arrest and multiple felony charges related to child sexual exploitation. Bishop Donald J. Hying announced the laicization in a letter to the faithful dated June 25, 2026, after Pope Leo XIV granted Showers’ petition for a dispensation from his clerical obligations.

Arrest and Criminal Charges

Showers was arrested in August 2025 after traveling approximately 120 miles north of his parish in an attempt to meet someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl named “Abby.” The encounter was in fact a law enforcement sting: Showers had exchanged sexually explicit messages and images with an undercover sergeant over Reddit and Telegram before making the drive.

At the time of his arrest, Showers served as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Madison and as director of the diocese’s Office of Worship. He had been ordained for the Madison diocese in 2017.

The August 2025 charges — child enticement, use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, and attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child — are all felonies carrying maximum sentences ranging from 20 to 40 years and fines between $50,000 and $100,000. A separate digital device investigation led to two additional felony counts of possession of child pornography, filed in March 2026. The two cases are proceeding independently. At an April court appearance, Showers waived his preliminary hearing and entered a not guilty plea; a status conference in both cases is scheduled for July 29.

Showers remains free on a $10,000 cash bond.

Diocese Removes Showers from Ministry

Following the laicization, Bishop Hying directed that Showers is barred from exercising any priestly ministry, prohibited from wearing clerical attire, and must no longer be addressed by clerical titles. In the letter to the faithful, Hying wrote that “he is not to wear clerical attire, including the Roman collar, and should no longer be addressed as ‘Father’ or ‘Reverend.'”

Laicization — formally known as dismissal from the clerical state — is among the most serious canonical penalties available to the Church. It does not affect a man’s sacramental ordination in a theological sense, but it strips him of all rights and duties attached to the clerical state and removes him entirely from public ministry.

Earlier Complaints and the Diocese’s Response

The 2025 arrest was not the first time questions had been raised about Showers’ conduct. In December 2021, a parent reported to Lodi, Wisconsin police that Showers had posed troubling pastoral questions to a male middle-school student during the sacrament of confession. Police at the time determined the incident did not meet the threshold for criminal charges. Bishop Hying addressed that earlier complaint in a message to the faithful dated August 27, 2025, shortly after the arrest became public.

A separate allegation involves Patricia Moriarty, who publicly identified herself on September 4, 2025, at a press conference, stating she had been groped by Showers at a public event in September 2024. The diocese issued statements on September 5 and 6, 2025, maintaining that it would have acted immediately had the identity of the priest in Moriarty’s account been known at the time. Diocesan officials indicated that Moriarty’s father, who had contacted the diocese after the alleged incident, did not provide the information necessary to identify Showers as the accused.

A Grave Failure and an Ongoing Reckoning

The case represents one of the starkest recent failures of priestly integrity in the American Church, involving a man who simultaneously held a position of liturgical leadership in his diocese and, according to prosecutors, was actively seeking to exploit children. Catholic social teaching holds the protection of the vulnerable — and especially children — as among the most fundamental duties of any institution. The abuse crisis has compelled the Church to strengthen safeguarding structures, though cases like this one demonstrate the persistent difficulty of detecting predatory behavior before harm is done.

The Diocese of Madison has not announced further institutional review measures in connection with this case. The two criminal cases against Showers are expected to develop further after the July 29 status conference.

Category: Bishops