Michel Joseph Mulloy (born May 20, 1954) is an American

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He was bishop-elect of the Diocese of Duluth from June 2020 to September 2020 when he resigned his posts and ceased exercising his ministry following an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor. He previously served in the dioceses of

Sioux Falls Sioux Falls ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into northern Lincoln County. The population was 192 ...

and

Rapid City Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed. It is the second-mo ...

. He was

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

of the latter from 2017 to 2020.

Early life

Mulloy was born in

Mobridge, South Dakota Mobridge, also known as Kȟowákataŋ Otȟúŋwahe (Lakota: ''Kȟowákataŋ Otȟúŋwahe''; lit. "Over-the-River Town"), is a city in Walworth County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 3,261 according to the 2020 census. History ...

, on May 20, 1954. He completed his primary education there and studied at Mobridge High School, before moving to

and attending

O'Gorman Catholic High School O'Gorman High School is a Catholic high school in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The school was founded in 1961 and named after Thomas O'Gorman. O'Gorman is located in the Diocese of Sioux Falls. History The school opened in 1961, and high school s ...

. He went on to study at Saint Mary's University in

Winona, Minnesota Winona ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, Minnesota, United States. Located in bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf (Winona, Minnesota), Sugar Loaf. The population was 2 ...

, obtaining a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in classical humanities from that institution. He subsequently attended

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

at the

Saint Paul Seminary The Saint Paul Seminary (SPS) is a Catholic Church, Catholic major seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. A part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, SPS prepares men to enter th ...

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

. On June 8, 1979, Mulloy was ordained to the Catholic priesthood for the Diocese of Sioux Falls.

Presbyteral ministry

Mulloy's first pastoral assignment was as a ''fidei donum'' priest (i.e. sent to a mission territory) to the Diocese of Rapid City, where he was assistant parish priest at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. He was then transferred to Christ the King Parish (Sioux Falls) as an assistant two years later, before becoming the administrator of St. Joseph's Parish (

Faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

) in 1983. He was consequently

incardinated Incardination is the formal term in the Catholic Church for a clergyman being under a bishop or other ecclesiastical superior. It is also sometimes used to refer to laity who may transfer to another part of the church. Examples include transfers ...

in Rapid City on a permanent basis and served in that diocese for over three decades beginning in 1986. In May 2017, he became vicar general of Rapid City. As such, he was deputy to the diocesan

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, Robert D. Gruss, and became

diocesan administrator A diocesan administrator (also known as archdiocesan administrator, archiepiscopal administrator and eparchial administrator for the case, respectively, of an archdiocese, archeparchy, and eparchy) is a provisional ordinary of a Catholic partic ...

when Gruss was installed as Bishop of Saginaw in July 2019. He served as administrator until the ordination of Peter Michael Muhich as bishop of Rapid City in July 2020.

Episcopal ministry

Mulloy was appointed Bishop of Duluth on June 19, 2020. His consecration and installation as bishop was scheduled for October 1, 2020. But before he could be ordained

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

accepted his resignation on September 7, 2020. On August 7, the Rapid City Diocese had received an allegation that Mulloy sexually abused a minor in the 1980s. The Diocese informed law enforcement officials and ordered Mulloy to "refrain from engaging in ministry". In March 2023, the Vatican determined that it could not prove the allegation against Mulloy; however, he was not returned to public ministry.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Rapid City Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulloy, Michel 1954 births Living people People from Mobridge, South Dakota 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests 21st-century American Roman Catholic priests