St. Jude relic tour halted over ‘incident’ involving students, visiting priest

A tour of a relic of St. Jude conducted by Father Carlos Martins, a priest with the Companions of the Cross order known for hosting “The Exorcist Files” podcast, was halted Nov. 21 following an alleged “incident” involving students, according to a statement from Queen of Apostles Church in the Diocese of Joliet, Ill., and from the diocese.

The statement did not provide details of the incident, and the diocese told OSV News via email Nov. 24 that beyond the initial statement they “have no further details to provide as the investigation is still ongoing,” but they “can confirm the Order priest visiting our parish and accompanying the relic of St. Jude was Fr. Carlos Martins.”

“On Thursday, November 21, Queen of Apostles hosted the visit of the relic of St. Jude for public veneration,” read the statement from Father Michael Lane, parish moderator, and Father Gregory Alberts, parochial vicar. “A non-profit, outside ministry called ‘Treasures of the Church’, was responsible for hosting the relic in the United States. The relic has been on a national pilgrimage in the United States for over a year. The tour and the relic were overseen by a priest with the Companions of the Cross, an Order of priests in Canada.”

“During the course of the day’s veneration in Queen of Apostles Church, an incident with the priest and some students was reported to have happened in our church,” they continued. “We immediately contacted the police. A police investigation is still on-going. The priest was confronted with the information. We informed the priest that he must depart from our parish and out of our Diocese. In an abundance of caution, we decided that the remainder of the veneration of the relic and evening mass would be cancelled.”

They wrote that these decisions and actions were “in accordance with our Diocesan Safe Environment Policies and our Standards of Behavior” and the incident was “also immediately reported to Bishop Ronald Hicks of the Diocese of Joliet, who supported our decision to cancel the remainder of the event and on the evening of November 21.”

The bishop also canceled the tour at two more parishes in the diocese scheduled for this week and “informed the Superior of the Companions of the Cross Order of priests.”

The statement added that “all involved in this incident are safe.”

OSV News reached out to the Joliet Police Department and to Father Carlos Martins for comment regarding the incident, but has not yet received a response.

Father Martins was “the church-appointed custodian of the relic,” directing the “Apostle of the Impossible” tour of what are believed to be bone fragments of St. Jude’s arm in a reliquary through churches and schools across the country. The tour began in September 2023, but its website now lists all remaining stops through December 2024 as “cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.” The same language was used on social media posts by Indiana dioceses of Gary and Fort Wayne-South Bend, which were the next two scheduled dioceses on the relic tour. Comments on the posts reflected dismay and disappointment over the cancellation of the tour.

Originally from Ontario, Canada and a convert from atheism, Father Martins hosts “The Exorcist Files” podcast along with Ryan Bethea, which features firsthand accounts of cases from Father Martins’ time as an exorcist.

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