A recently ordained priest in Chicago is denying accusations from Illinois state officials that he molested a child during a recent penance service that allegedly took place at a youth retreat.
A letter from Chicago archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich to St. Josaphat Parish, posted this month to the Archdiocese of Chicago’s website, said the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) “has opened an investigation into allegations they termed child exploitation and child molestation” allegedly committed by Father Martin Nyberg.
The incident allegedly occurred during a “public penance service,” according to the archbishop.
Father Nyberg has served as an associate pastor at St. Josaphat in the city’s Sheffield neighborhood since July of this year, the prelate said.
The 28-year-old priest “strenuously denies the allegations,” Cardinal Cupich wrote, though the archdiocese “reported the allegations to civil authorities and offered assistance to the accusers” in accordance with archdiocesan policy.
“I asked Father Nyberg to step aside from ministry until civil authorities have completed their investigations and our Independent Review Board has presented its recommendations to me,” Cardinal Cupich wrote.
“Father Nyberg agreed to cooperate fully with this process, and we will provide him with pastoral assistance as he awaits its outcome.”
The archbishop sent a similar letter to members of St. Paul of the Cross Parish, where Father Nyberg served as a deacon from 2023 to 2024.
The Archdiocese of Chicago did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday regarding the timeline of the independent review board’s investigation as well as a query about the nature of the “public penance service.”
But CBS News Chicago reported that the alleged incident reportedly took place at an “eighth-grade confirmation retreat” in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, in late August.
Students allegedly “said they were asked inappropriate sexual questions at the aforementioned confession service during the two-day overnight retreat,” while some said they were “touched inappropriately by Nyberg.”
DCFS spokeswoman Heather Tarczan, meanwhile, told CNA on Thursday that the department’s investigation “just started and we are working with local law enforcement.”
“At this time, we cannot say exactly how long it will take,” she said.
According to the Chicago Catholic, Nyberg was born in Chicago and attended The Catholic University of America and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary.
He was ordained on May 18 of this year and celebrated his first Mass at St. Edward Parish in Chicago.