Accused Influencer Alex Jurado Restricted from Speaking at Catholic Eparchy Events Pending an Investigation
The Byzantine Catholic bishop has prohibited Catholic social media influencer and apologist Alex Jurado, known as Voice of Reason, from eparchy events pending an investigation. This is following online allegations accusing Jurado of inappropriate conduct toward a minor teenage girl several years ago. Jurado has publicly refuted the allegation and affirmed he is cooperating with an investigation.
“We will cooperate fully with any authorized investigations which may occur in this matter,” wrote the bishop. “We wish also to stress that our Safe Environment policies, which address the safeguarding and dignity of all persons, are taken most seriously and, with that in mind, I believe the action being taken is therefore warranted.”
In a February appearance on The Lila Rose Show, he said he is Byzantine Catholic, and has filmed several videos at one of the eparchy’s parishes, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Byzantine Catholic Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
According to a July 14 article by Protestia, calling itself a “polemical news site that is dedicated to providing Christian news and discernment in an age of widespread censorship,” screenshots showing a text exchange between a person alleged to be Jurado and at least one unidentified female, alleged to be a minor at the time, were leaked online.
According to the purported text exchange, the person identified as “Alex” in the exchange calls the girl “very sexy” and “my queen,” talks about seeing her as a “grown woman” and not a child, tells her “I just really want you” but indicates nothing could happen between them until after her confirmation. The person additionally identifies the girl as younger and a “catechumen,” mentioning that Life Teen girls — participants in a worldwide Roman Catholic youth ministry — are 15-16 years old. The person states that he will be the girl’s direct teacher next year as a catechist.
Protestia said the messages and pictures in the exchange dated to when Jurado “was 19-20.” Jurado, in a July 5 appearance on The Salt, an Australian Christian podcast, said he is now 30. SEE Video
In a statement posted July 15th to Voice of Reason’s Instagram account, Jurado said that “the accusation that I was having an inappropriate relationship with a 14 year old girl is a complete fabrication.”
Jurado said he was “treating an accusation of this magnitude with the seriousness that it deserves.” He added, “I have made my church aware of what is being said about me online and we have contacted the authorities.”
“I am voluntarily cooperating in an investigation that will allow the truth to come to light and that will dispel this awful and vicious rumor,” said Jurado in his statement.
Jurado also noted he was “also prepared to undergo legal action against those who have defamed me.”
Jurado added he felt it was “of great importance that I also acknowledge all of my mistakes, failures and sins,” writing he was “a wretched sinner who is in desperate need of God’s mercy as well as in need of the forgiveness of those whom I have offended and sinned against.”
Catholic Answers, who had Jurado on a few of their live shows, posted a July 15 statement on X that Jurado “has never been a staff member.”
In its online statement, Catholic Answers said that “like all our radio guests, he (Jurado) had a profile page on Catholic.com. In light of the recent serious allegations about Alex, we have removed this profile from Catholic.com. We pray that the full truth may come to light, we pray for Alex, and we pray for everyone who may have been victimized, scandalized, or disedified by these reported events.”
The Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, also appeared to have taken down a former biography webpage for Jurado, who seemed to have been a scheduled speaker for a youth conference held at one of its parishes.
According to an archived version of the page OSV News accessed via the Wayback Machine (part of the Internet Archive), the CSO biography listed Jurado as “a teenage prodigy in his local community after becoming a catechist and apologist at age 16,” and having “a teaching position at his local catholic parish” that saw him “teaching not only other teenagers but also adults in parochial faith formation.”
He told The Salt Podcast in an early July episode that prior to his current career, “I did sales, then I went to seminary, then I left the seminary, became an actor, was acting full time, and then had to go back to sales, and then started Voice of Reason,” his multiplatform media channel.
In his February appearance on The Lila Rose Show, Jurado told Rose; “I got kicked out...not kicked out. What it was, my spiritual director, he said, ‘You know what? … I think there’s something else for you that you need to do. I think God is calling you to something else, but I don’t think it’s this.’”
Source Edited OSV reprinted on https://archpitt.org/bishop-places-restrictions-on-catholic-influencer-accused-of-misconduct-pending-investigation/
Comments