NEW YORK — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has announced the resignation of its top administrative official ahead of a media report probing his private romantic life and alleging "possible improper behavior."
Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill was the conference's general secretary, coordinating a variety of administrative matters.
According to The Pillar, Burrill was elected as the general secretary of the U.S. bishops' conference in November 2020 — in essence, the U.S.'s highest-rank clergy member who is not a bishop.
The resignation was announced shortly before The Pillar, a Catholic news outlet, published its article saying data "correlated to Burrill's mobile device" indicated he visited gay bars and private residences using a dating app popular with gay people.
The Pillar says it used "commercially available" records of app signal data that indicated Burrill was was active on the LGBTQ dating app Grindr between 2018 and 2020.
Homosexual activity is considered sinful under Roman Catholic doctrine, and priests are expected to remain celibate.
Burrill did not have any immediate public comment.