Joseph Hubert Hart

Joseph Hubert Hart (September 26, 1931 – August 23, 2023) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church.

Hart faced several accusations of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Cheyenne, but he was ultimately exonerated by the Vatican and prosecutors in Wyoming declined to press charges.

His brother James became a priest of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, and his sister Rosemary served as human resources director for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

[1] Hart was ordained a priest by Bishop John Cody for the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph on May 1, 1956.

[2] As an auxiliary bishop, Hart served as vicar general and pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Casper, Wyoming.

"[4] On September 26, 2001, Hart submitted his letter of resignation as Bishop of the Diocese of Cheyenne to Pope John Paul II.

[8] In 2004, Hart was named in a civil lawsuit alleging that he sexually abused three children while serving in Kansas City and Cheyenne.

[5] In August 2008, the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph approved a $10 million settlement to a group of 47 victims who cited Hart among 12 other clergymen responsible for their abuse.

However, the Congregation rebuked Hart;...for his flagrant lack of prudence as a priest and bishop for being alone with minors in his private residence and on various trips, which could have been potential occasions endangering the ‘obligation to observe continence’ and that would ‘give rise to scandal among the faithful,'[17]On January 29, 2021, Wyoming Attorney General Bridget Hill announced that her office would not pursue criminal charges against Hart.