TRANSCRIPT
A 60-year-old priest from the Boston archdiocese shares a million-dollar residence in Chicago with a 28-year-old young man.
Church Militant’s William Mahoney has more on the priest — who’s no longer in active ministry.
Father James Flavin took a sabbatical leave in 2019 with permission from Boston’s cardinal, Seán O’Malley. But records indicate, at the end of June, Flavin’s leave of absence was no longer with permission.
The Chicago City Wire shows, on May 21, 2020, James Flavin and Mitchell Ebenreiter purchased a home worth roughly $1 million in Chicago’s Tony near Northside.
Ebenreiter, who’s 32 years younger than Flavin, works as a director of business development and strategy at a medical management company in Chicago.
Flavin works at Loyola University, a Jesuit institution in Chicago, as a special assistant to the president, Jo Ann Rooney, the first woman to run the Jesuit institution.
Flavin is a licensed psychotherapist and board-certified counselor.
According to watchdog group Catholics4Change, sometime in 2021, Flavin began an outplacement business for men leaving the priesthood and entering secular life. The fee for his services is $15,000.
Apparently, while working as a priest at the St. John Vianney Center in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, Flavin advertised his outplacement side hustle.
This led Catholics4Change to ask, “Is there a conflict of interest if he uses his contacts at the St. John Vianney Center to obtain referrals to his new venture?”
If Flavin’s sharing a residence with Ebenreiter is what it looks like, it’s not surprising the ex-priest is currently employed by Jesuits.
Church Militant reached out to Flavin and Ebenreiter for comment but received no response as of press time.