George Augustus Stallings Jr.

Stallings was born in 1948 in New Bern, North Carolina, to George Augustus Stallings Sr., and Dorothy Smith. His grandmother, Bessie Taylor, introduced him as a boy to worship in a black Baptist church. He enjoyed the service so much that he said he wanted to be a minister. During his high school years, he began expressing "Afrocentric" sentiments, insisting on his right to wear a mustache, despite school rules, as a reflection of black identity.[1]

To prepare for the priesthood, he attended St. Pius X Seminary in Kentucky and received a BA degree in philosophy in 1970. Sent by his bishop to the Pontifical North American College in Rome, he earned three degrees from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas between 1970 and 1975: the Bachelor of Sacred Theology (S.T.B.), a master's degree in pastoral theology, and a Licentiate of Sacred Theology (S.T.L.).

Stallings was ordained a priest in 1974. His first assignment was as an associate pastor at Our Lady of Peace Church, Washington, D.C. In 1976, at the age of 28 and two years after ordination, he was named a pastor of St. Teresa of Avila parish in Washington.[2] He was the pastor of this church for 14 years. During Stallings' pastorate, the parish become known for its integration of African-American culture and gospel music in the Mass. He was active in the Black Catholic Movement and promoted the integration of African American culture into Catholicism.

In 1985, Stallings secretly bought a private home in Anacostia in violation of the archdiocese rule requiring priests to live in the parish rectory. The Washington Post reported that Stallings had allegedly misused parish funds to renovate his Anacostia house.[2] In 1988, he was transferred to a new position as a diocesan evangelist.

In the late 1980s, Stallings made numerous appearances in the news media. He was interviewed on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, The Phil Donahue Show and The Diane Rehm Show.[1] By 1989, Stallings had announced he was leaving to found a new ministry, the Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation. He stated that he left because the Roman Catholic Church did not serve the African American community or recognize talent.[3]

In 1989, The Washington Post reported that a former altar boy at St. Teresa of Avila Church accused Stallings of sexual misconduct over a period of several months in 1977. Stallings said "I am innocent", declining to answer questions.[3] In a follow-up series of three articles in 1990, Post reporters Bill Dedman and Laura Sessions Stepp reported that concerns about Stallings' association with teenage boys had contributed to his split from the Roman Catholic Church.[4][5][6] Stallings' former pastoral assistant, who was 22 at the time, spoke publicly about having a two-year sexual relationship with him.[7]

In January 1990, Stallings announced on The Phil Donahue Show that he was breaking with papal authority and giving up Roman Catholic teaching on abortion, contraception, homosexuality, and divorce. Thirteen days prior, Archbishop James Hickey of Washington had ordered him to seek psychiatric treatment, following incidents of insubordination, allegations of sexual abuse of children and homosexual relationships.[5] Additionally, Hickey saw Stallings' lifestyle as extravagant and possibly funded by donations to the church.[8] Following the founding of Imani Temple, Hickey excommunicated Stallings and any Roman Catholics remaining in the Imani Temple movement.

Stallings was consecrated a bishop in May 1990 by Richard Bridges, a bishop of the Independent Old Catholic Church (not in communion with the Holy See). In 1991, Bridges's group conferred upon Stallings the title of archbishop.[1][8]

In 2009 the archdiocese reached a $125,000 settlement with Gamal Awad, who said he was sexually abused at the age of 14 by Stallings and a seminarian in 1984.[7]