By Matters India Reporter

Toronto, Dec 31, 2025: Police in Canada have arrested a Catholic priest from India, who has been serving the archdiocese of Toronto for alleged sexual misconduct.

The archdiocese has removed Father James Cherical from pastoral ministry. “As with any accused in our Canadian legal system, he is considered innocent until proven guilty and entitled to due process,” the archdiocese said in a December 20 statement.

The statement said the archdiocese’s move came after it learned of the allegation of misconduct against Cherical, who was serving as pastor of St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Brampton, a Canadian city in Ontario’s Greater Toronto Area.

Two days earlier, Peel Regional Police charged the 60-year-old priest from Kerala’s Thamarassery Syro-Malabar diocese with one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference, under a term which, in Canadian law, refers to sexual crimes committed against children under 16 years of age.

The archdiocese said it looked upon any accusation of misconduct as an urgent matter that serious attention. “We pray for all those who are affected by this painful situation,” it added.

Matters India sources in Canada said the priest had come to that country 30 years ago and started serving the Latin archdiocese.

The archdiocesan statement said Father Cherical had served the following parishes: St. Patrick, Mississauga (1997-2004), St. Joseph, Mississauga (2004-2005), Precious Blood, Scarborough (2005-2006, 2010-2012), St. Mary, Brampton (2006-2010), St. Thomas Syro Malabar Mission (2010-2010), St. Anne, Brampton (2012-2018), St. Francis Xavier, Mississauga (2018-2024), St. Jerome, Brampton (2024-present).

Church sources in Kochi said that Father Cherical belonged to the Syro-Malabar diocese of Thamarassery and had been deputed to work in various parishes under the Archdiocese of Toronto for nearly three decades.

The archdiocese has forbidden the priest from celebrating Mass between December 25 and January 3, 2026.

Father Cherical is among those from Kerala who have filled priestly vacancies overseas. Many priests work with the Syro-Malabar churches in Canada, the UK and Australia, where a large number of Catholic families from the southern Indian state are settled.