Announcement of the retirement of Father William Graham

DULUTH—The Rev. William Graham, the pastor of St. Michael Parish, 4901 E. Superior Street in Duluth, has announced his retirement after a long and fruitful service to the people of God in the diocese and beyond. The Diocese of Duluth has accepted his retirement as of July 1, 2024.

Ordained as a priest of the diocese in 1976, Father Graham, who turns 75 early next year, first served as an associate pastor at St. John’s and then as pastor of St. Margaret Mary’s, both in Duluth. He also served as chaplain at Cathedral High School for seven years, from 1975-1982. In 1982 he began the first of what would eventually turn out to be two different terms of service at St. Michael’s Parish, the first from 1982-1990, and the second from 2014 until the present.

Beyond his service at area parishes, Father Bill was also a noted author, teacher, speaker, broadcaster, and retreat master. Author and editor of over twenty books and dozens of articles, Father Bill was a frequent contributor to periodicals such as America, National Catholic Reporter, Religion and Intellectual Life, Cross Currents, Today’s Parish, Priest, Catholic Bulletin, and Catholic New York. He earned several academic degrees and honors, including a Ph.D. in Historical Theology at Fordham University in New York in 1993, an M.A. in Liturgy from the University of Notre Dame in 1983, an M.A. in Theology from St. John’s University in Collegeville in 1974, and a B.A. in Journalism from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul in 1972. Father also served for over a decade as Professor and Director of the Catholic Studies Program in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, from 2004-2013.

Father Graham waged an eight-year long battle to defend his reputation after a Duluth man in 2016 accused Father Graham of sexually abusing him as a teenager in the 1970s. From the start, Graham denied the allegation and passed a lie detector test. Civil authorities never brought criminal charges. Graham then sued his accuser in St. Louis County District Court, and in 2018, a Duluth jury awarded Graham $13,500, finding that his accuser had interfered with Graham’s contractual duties and ability to earn a living as a priest. In 2019, the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the verdict.

After a church legal process, the Dicastery of the Doctrine of Faith, the Vatican department that oversees church discipline, “decided that there was not sufficient evidence presented to arrive at moral certainty that Father Graham was guilty of the accusation made against him, and therefore he was acquitted with a decree of absolution,” the Duluth Diocese announced on its website in April. The diocese added: “As a result of this decree, Bishop Daniel Felton has been directed by the Dicastery of the Doctrine of Faith to take steps to restore Father Graham’s reputation and his ability to exercise his priestly ministry.”

Graham returned in May of this year to St. Michael’s, where he received a warm welcome from parishioners who had stood by him for eight years. Throughout his long absence, Graham remained on leave as the canonical pastor of the parish, his home for most of his priestly life and a place that he says he will dearly miss in retirement. Graham had been invited by Bishop Felton to transfer to two parishes in a different part of the diocese as part of the diocesan-wide clustering plan, but Father Graham decided to opt for retirement instead. Family considerations also played a role in his decision.

Bishop Felton wishes to thank Father Graham for his years of faithful service to the Diocese and wishes him well in retirement. He regrets the suffering that Father Graham, the parishioners of St. Michael’s and all those impacted by these proceedings have endured and expresses the hope for healing for all. Despite his disagreements with the Diocese over the way his case was handled, Father Graham remains grateful for his time serving the faithful of the Diocese of Duluth and wishes them all the best in the future.

(Here is a downloadable copy of this document.)