Article/Archive
Ed. Condon
Jul 15, 2025
Clergy in the Archdiocese of Denver are divided over the handling of a controversial “blood oath” ceremony involving a vice rector and seminarians during a ski trip last year.
A group of seminarians studying at Denver’s St. John Vianney Theological Seminary were taken on the trip in January 2024 by then-vice rector of the seminary, Fr. John Nepil, during which they were woken in the middle of the night and invited individually to swear a “blood oath” in a ceremony involving a dagger and a man in a yeti costume.
Credit: Video footage provided to The Pillar
During the bizarre ceremony, video of which was sent to The Pillar by multiple sources in the archdiocese, seminarians were told to scream as if in pain before returning with a bloodied cloth wrapped around their hand and their mouths taped shut, to a room where others waited for their turn to be brought in.
The Archdiocese of Denver, in a statement to The Pillar, characterized the event as a “farce” and said that “it was, however, part of a deeply imprudent and inappropriate prank,” and that a full investigation had been completed.
“The individual responsible has since been removed from his seminary leadership role and has recommitted to his ongoing personal and spiritual formation,” the archdiocese said.
The fallout of the event has divided students, faculty, and clergy in the diocese, with videos and images of the event circulating for several months.
Fr. Nepil told The Pillar he had “acknowledged [his] imprudence, apologized to the archbishop and the seminarians involved,” and said that while the event was intended as a “prank,” he took responsibility for what had happened.
While some in Denver have characterized the affair as unacceptable hijinx and imprudence, others consider the ritual spiritually troubling and deeply problematic — with video footage being forwarded to the apostolic nunciature in Washington, and some dioceses considering whether to withdraw students from study at the Denver seminary in the wake of the events.
Further division has been caused by what some local clergy call a “contradictory” and “confused” handling of the issue by the archdiocese.
But while the archdiocese said in its statement to The Pillar that Fr. Nepil “was removed from his position as a formator and house father immediately after the incident was uncovered,” he returned to his post as vice rector until the end of the 2024-25 academic year and remains on the seminary’s academic faculty as a professor.
Following an archdiocesan investigation last year, the seminary rector was also removed from his position and was replaced midway through the academic year.
—
In January of 2024, Fr. Nepil took some 15 seminarians on a ski trip to a house in the mountains, in the Crested Butte area, belonging to a Catholic family close to Fr. Nepil, according to several clergy familiar with events.
In the middle of the night, the seminarians were woken and told to sit, in silence, in the living room before being invited individually into a trailer on the house’s grounds.
When they entered the trailer, the seminarians were met by Fr. Nepil, who can be seen in the video setting up a camera to record the occasion, along with a senior seminarian and participant on the trip, and a person dressed in a yeti costume.
The “yeti” and Fr. John Nepil. Credit: Video footage provided to The Pillar.
Each seminarian was then invited to sit at a table on which there was a dagger and what appeared to be blood and a dollar bill on a piece of paper.
Dagger and “grizzly blood” on the table. Credit: Video footage provided to The Pillar.
In one video of the ritual seen by The Pillar, the seminarian is asked if he “has any ideas what’s going to happen?” to which the seminarian responds “no.”
“You’re about to enter into a sacred tradition,” he is told, “are you ready for it?”
The seminarian is also informed that “people who come up here, [and] not everyone makes it, enter into the tradition.”
“The way it works, the only way you can enter into this family, is you got to make a blood oath,” he is told in the video, while it is explained that the group started with another seminarian whom they knew “would have the balls” to go through with the initiation. “We’re hoping you have them, too.”
“If you enter into this family, there’s no going back,” the seminarian is informed.
“Now it’s not pretty, as you can see,” the seminarian is told, seated in front of the bloody surface and knife, “but if there is enough courage in there we can get through it.”
At this point, the seminarian nods his assent and Fr. Nepil can be seen leaning into the camera shot holding the dagger as the seminarian bares his left arm and places it on the table. “This is going to hurt for a second, ready?” Fr Nepil says, before counting down from three, at which point a voice says “Stop! There is another option.”
The seminarian is then told that, “having already shown your bravery,” the ritual can be completed with bear blood.
As “grizzly bear blood” is poured on his hand, the seminarian is told that “there is no going back” and is asked to make “the most guttural scream you can possibly make” to show “commitment to this tradition,” for the benefit of the others waiting to be initiated.
After he screams, Fr. Nepil and the yeti figure shake the seminarian’s hand, and he is told to “go out there, and make sure the [other] guys see you with the blood, but you don’t tell them what’s going on.”
Other images seen by The Pillar show seminarians seated on a sofa with their mouths taped closed. The Pillar has decided not to publish the video or other images of the seminarians involved out of respect for their privacy.
Several sources familiar with the events told The Pillar that this was the second year in which the trip, including the “blood oath” exercise, took place with Fr. Nepil, but that the previous year’s event did not lead to complaints and no footage or documentation existed.
The videos and images of the 2024 trip were uploaded to a shared drive, access to which circulated among the wider seminary community and archdiocesan clergy throughout last year.
In a statement to The Pillar, the Archdiocese of Denver said that “members of the St. John Vianney Theological Seminary (SJV) community were filmed participating in a prank, being asked to take a blood oath and other imprudent behavior.”
“Fortunately, the investigation uncovered that the event was farce, that no oath had taken place, and at no time was there risk of bodily harm,” the archdiocese said. “It was, however, part of a deeply imprudent and inappropriate prank.”
Fr. Nepil told The Pillar that “it is understandable that people are upset by this video. At the time this seemed like a prank on a skiing trip.” He stressed that none of the props used or seen in the video were real.
“I deeply regret my role in what took place, and I can assure you I will never participate in anything like this again,” he said. “It is important to emphasize that the archdiocese completed a detailed investigation and confirmed that there were no oaths taken and no one suffered any physical harm.”
Nepil offered further context for the trip, the video, and the strange images it contained, saying that the idea of this prank came from the man hosting the seminarians and the seminary staff on the ski trip, whom he confirmed was the person in the yeti costume.
“This Catholic man is well known in the town and is regularly asked to appear at events in this costume,” Nepil said. “He has done this specific prank many times with family, friends, and other guests who stay at his ski cabin. At no time was there any risk of physical harm, but in hindsight, and even though the host wanted to do this, it should have never happened.”
“It was clearly imprudent to film the event given the possibility of it being misinterpreted as more than a prank. I have apologized to the archbishop and the seminarians present on the trip for this failure of my leadership,” said Nepil.
“In the moment, we thought it was a funny activity and there was nothing wrong with the seminarians seeing the prank later as a group. It was only intended to be shared with the group that was at the skiing event.”
Asked if it was ever acceptable for a formator to participate in or allow “pranks” of this kind, especially given it involved some seminarians being photographed in their nightclothes, Nepil told The Pillar simply “No, and it never should have happened.”
“It was not a hazing event,” Nepil stressed. “This was a well-intended moment to try to be funny, and it clearly went badly wrong and never should have happened.”
Nevertheless, police were contacted after the event, The Pillar was told, and an initial complaint of “hazing” — a crime under Colorado state law — was investigated, before being dropped at the request of a seminarian who was interviewed as a potential victim.
Archdiocesan sources familiar with the events also told The Pillar that one of the seminarians refused to participate in the ceremony, according to two separate accounts.
The Pillar has since confirmed that the seminarian was subsequently placed on a “human year” sabbatical by formators. Although several sources close to the seminary all stressed that the seminarian was told his effective suspension from seminary was for unrelated reasons, others disputed this, and called the seminarian’s exclusion “creative dismissal.”
“We need to deal with the issue of justice around the seminarian who did not participate but now has been shown the door,” one member of the seminary community told The Pillar, saying the seminarian had been told to leave, secure a job, and could not identify himself as a seminarian for a period of time.
“He was kind of forced out in a very weird way by making use of this ‘human year.’ In our seminary, we have a lot of men, some men who go on ‘pastoral years,’ go out to a parish discern, maybe engage in counseling,” the cleric said.
“We've not yet used the term ‘human year;’ it’s something very ill-defined. And under the circumstances it seems strange that this man alone is the one among all the group who needs to take some time away to reflect and discern.”
Nepil told The Pillar that the two events were unrelated and that “This is not related to the ski trip incident. The formation team and corresponding decision happened independently of this event.”
Asked if the circumstances could give people reason to suspect otherwise, and raise questions about the formation process, he said: “I have acknowledged my imprudence in the moment and have apologized to all of those involved. Formation is a sacred process, and it requires exceptional discipline. This incident failed to encourage that work.”
—
Within the Archdiocese of Denver, many clergy and staff associated with the St. John Vianney Seminary have voiced concerns over the ritual — which, according to some sources, had also been practiced on a group of seminarians the previous year, during a 2023 trip to the same house.
Others, however, have pushed back on the spiritual concerns raised over the ritual, insisting that Fr. Nepil is a popular and well-regarded priest in the archdiocese, and characterizing the incident as “a prank,” “imprudent” and “immature,” but not nefarious.
Adding to concerns surrounding the affair has been the Archdiocese of Denver’s response to the events.
By May 2024, after videos and images of the ritual had begun circulating among seminary students, several concerned seminarians began to bring the matter to the attention of seminary staff, including the rector, Fr. Daniel Leonard, and other priests in the archdiocese — and eventually to one of the archdiocese’s auxiliary bishops, Bishop Jorge Humberto Rodríguez-Novelo.
But students, staff, and archdiocesan clergy have told The Pillar that despite assurances from archdiocesan officials that the matter would be investigated and handled, the resolution to date has left lingering concerns.
After months of rumors circulating about the trip and “blood oath,” the issue was raised directly in November 2024 with Archbishop Samuel Aquila.
The archbishop, The Pillar has confirmed, ordered an canonical preliminary investigation into the situation, undertaken by the then-archdiocesan vicar for clergy, Fr. Angel Perez-Lopez, with Fr. Nepil stepping back from his roles at the seminary as it progressed.
The following month, that investigation returned a finding that no canonical delict had been committed.
In a December 2024 email announcing the conclusion of the investigation, seen by The Pillar, Fr. Perez said that he “is happy to announce that the preliminary investigation concerning Fr. John Nepil has concluded.”
“We found no crime has been committed,” the priest reported to the seminary community. “Fr. John will resume his responsibilities as professor at the seminary. He will also continue with his administrative responsibilities as Vice-Rector. However, he will temporarily step away from his role as house father and formator at St. Joseph’s Parish house.”
“I ask for the good of all you not to discuss [sic] this matter among yourselves or with others,” the email concluded.
The Denver archdiocese confirmed in a statement to The Pillar this week that, “several months” after the incident took place, “the Archdiocese was made aware of the incident and initiated a formal investigation, which included interviews with 22 individuals.”
“Fortunately, the investigation uncovered that the event was farce, that no oath had taken place, and at no time was there risk of bodily harm. It was, however, part of a deeply imprudent and inappropriate prank,” said the statement.
“Due to the scandal this has caused, the imprudence involved, and the uncharitable nature of the prank, the individual responsible was removed from his position as a formator and house father immediately after the incident was uncovered,” said the archdiocese’s statement. “Also, he has since been removed from his seminary leadership role and has recommitted to his ongoing personal and spiritual formation.”
But senior priests in the archdiocese and sources within the seminary community told The Pillar that the conclusion of the investigation created unease among those aware of the situation.
They noted that in the early months of 2025, Fr. Leonard was removed as rector before the conclusion of the 2024-25 academic year, and succeeded by Fr. Perez.
Earlier this year, Archbishop Aquila informed a meeting of senior archdiocesan clergy that, although Leonard had been slated for a new assignment, his departure had been moved up in response to his handling of the blood oath affair.
Fr. Nepil, meanwhile, was reinstated as vice rector to serve out the remainder of the academic year. While he has since been removed as vice rector, he remains on the seminary faculty as a professor of theology.
Several priests of the archdiocese, as well as members of the seminary community, told The Pillar that this appeared “backwards” — expressing concern that Nepil would remain at the seminary.
One senior archdiocesan priest told The Pillar that “it looks and feels to many of us like the real concern was not what went on, but that people talked about it.”
Fr. Nepil told The Pillar that “I was removed as a formator by the Archbishop because of the failure of judgment this incident demonstrates. I did continue as vice-rector, which was entirely for administrative purposes. This was the Archbishop’s decision, and I of course honored his instructions.”
“Anyone familiar with the life and culture of St. John Vianney Seminary knows it to be a healthy and holy environment for the formation of future priests,” Nepil insisted.
—
The official response to the events was rendered more confusing, according to local priests and seminary students, because the archdiocesan exorcist was called in by the archbishop to address the affair.
“All the seminarians [involved] were to meet with the exorcist, who prayed over them, and they made a formal renunciation of this blood oath that they had made,” one priest familiar with the events told The Pillar.
Another priest, confirming the meetings with the exorcist, said that “there was nothing explicitly occult or what-have-you in the ceremony, which looked pretty ridiculous to me in the video, but the significance of a ‘blood oath’ is what it is, even if it's supposed to be a kind of joke.”
The archdiocese confirmed to The Pillar in its statement that the investigation had included “a proactive consultation with an exorcist, out of an abundance of caution, due to potential spiritual harm from such oaths.”
Asked if the archbishop’s decision to involve the archdiocesan exorcist had caused him to re-evaluate the nature of what occurred, Nepil told The Pillar that “I respect how seriously the archbishop took this situation.”
“The archbishop was rightly focused on making sure there was no spiritual implication to the event, and the investigation concluded it had no spiritual implication for any of the men and was indeed a prank with fake objects that was intended as a farce,” said Nepil. “Again, it is deeply sad for me to have played any part in this situation, and I regret it.”
Several sources familiar with the situation highlighted their sense of incongruence between, on the one hand, Fr. Leonard’s removal as rector and the involvement of the exorcist, and — on the other hand — Fr. Nepil’s initial reinstatement as vice rector and ongoing assignment to the seminary.
“Why do you move the rector out in a hurry because of his response to something the vice rector did, but leave the vice rector in place?” one senior archdiocesan priest asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“It’s the same thing with bringing in the exorcist,” another member of the seminary community said.
“Either what happened was a stupid prank or stunt but nothing malicious, or it was spiritually dangerous to the students — objectively or subjectively, whatever. If it’s just a prank you don’t need an exorcist, if you do something that needs an exorcist, even as a precaution, should you be on the faculty of the seminary?”
Asked about the decision to leave Fr. Nepil in post as vice rector for the remainder of the academic year and to accelerate the departure of Fr. Leonard as rector, the archdiocesan statement said: “It should be noted that the previous rector of the seminary, Fr. Daniel Leonard, was granted a scheduled sabbatical earlier this year. His departure was in process prior to the Archdiocese learning of the incident.”
Several clergy noted that Fr. Nepil was “something of a local celebrity” in the archdiocese, the author of a book, and widely regarded as a charismatic preacher and gifted formator.
“In the moment, all I thought was that it would be a time of humor and levity for all the participants,” Nepil told The Pillar. “I have acknowledged my imprudence and have taken responsibility for my actions.”
But despite his repeated statements of responsibility and regret to The Pillar, some in Denver charge that the priest had refused to take responsibility locally for the incident at Crested Butte, or to recognize it as seriously problematic.
“[After the investigation] the rector had asked [Fr.] John, when he was reinstated, to make an apology about the whole matter and about the incident and about the video,” one recalled. “So [Fr.] John celebrates Mass the first week the seminarians get back [from Christmas] and — I think there is a recording of it — the whole sermon was centered around him being falsely accused, and his fear about being falsely accused, and that it had finally happened in his own life.”
“So he didn't take responsibility or ownership for anything, but [said] he was just falsely accused and that he had gone through a really rough time in that whole Christmas season. I’m not sure exactly what he was supposed to have been falsely accused of, the video of him holding a knife over a seminarian’s arm isn’t open to that much interpretation.”
Another senior cleric also noted to The Pillar that the seminary is in the midst of a multi-million dollar capital campaign.
“I’m not asserting as fact that those are related issues,” the priest said. “But if the real concern of the archdiocese is for people to stop talking about this, and to leave as much undisturbed around the seminary as possible while this campaign is going on, that would make a kind of sense in a situation where not a lot makes sense.”
The archdiocese told The Pillar in its statement that “this incident does not represent the values or standards of priestly formation at SJV.”
“We are grateful to those who have brought these matters forward, and the Archdiocese remains fully committed to the faithful, rigorous formation of future priests.”
—
While the archdiocese and seminary leadership wish to contain and move past the strange yeti-themed events of the 2024 trip, the spread of photos and videos of the event has seen concern over the details of what occurred spread beyond the archdiocese.
The Pillar has confirmed that the images were forwarded to the apostolic nunciature in Washington, D.C., on at least two separate occasions, though it is not clear if, or to which Vatican dicastery, the matter was passed on by the nuncio.
The Pillar has also learned that some dioceses and religious orders have reviewed their affiliation with St. John Vianney over the events, and considered withdrawing students. The Archdiocese of Denver told The Pillar that “the current rector has been actively meeting with sending dioceses to listen and address any concerns.”
One senior cleric in a diocese which sends its seminarians to the Denver seminary told The Pillar that his diocese had been reassured by steps taken by the Denver archdiocese, and by what they had been told about the internal response to events.
“We had a lot of red flags when we heard about what went on,” the priest said. “And the simple description of what went on is very alarming.”
“Our sense of things wasn’t that this was necessarily meant to be spiritual or something occult, and that it was more a kind of very dumb prank or gag,” he said.
“But the thing is, we are forming these men to take their promises [of obedience and celibacy as clerics] seriously. So, this sort of thing is either cutting directly against that, at worst, or it's teaching them to take the whole idea of solemn promises as a joke, at best — and it is pretty bad either way.”
But, the priest said, the appointment of Fr. Perez as rector had allayed some of the concerns.
“It helped that Fr. Angel [Perez] was appointed rector having conducted the investigation,” he said. “He was able to reassure us of how seriously the situation was being taken internally, and we know him to be a good priest and formator, so there’s a lot of confidence in him.”
“It helped, too,” the priest said, “to have some of the context explained to us — that this was something that seems to have originated with the host of the weekend, rather than Fr. John. That doesn’t make it good or acceptable, but there’s a difference between going along with something stupid and a vice rector dreaming up and yeti blood brotherhoods on his own.”
“It didn’t get rid of the red flags, but it brought a few of them down to half mast,” the priest said.
Ed. Condon
Jul 15, 2025
Clergy in the Archdiocese of Denver are divided over the handling of a controversial “blood oath” ceremony involving a vice rector and seminarians during a ski trip last year.
A group of seminarians studying at Denver’s St. John Vianney Theological Seminary were taken on the trip in January 2024 by then-vice rector of the seminary, Fr. John Nepil, during which they were woken in the middle of the night and invited individually to swear a “blood oath” in a ceremony involving a dagger and a man in a yeti costume.
Credit: Video footage provided to The Pillar
During the bizarre ceremony, video of which was sent to The Pillar by multiple sources in the archdiocese, seminarians were told to scream as if in pain before returning with a bloodied cloth wrapped around their hand and their mouths taped shut, to a room where others waited for their turn to be brought in.
The Archdiocese of Denver, in a statement to The Pillar, characterized the event as a “farce” and said that “it was, however, part of a deeply imprudent and inappropriate prank,” and that a full investigation had been completed.
“The individual responsible has since been removed from his seminary leadership role and has recommitted to his ongoing personal and spiritual formation,” the archdiocese said.
The fallout of the event has divided students, faculty, and clergy in the diocese, with videos and images of the event circulating for several months.
Fr. Nepil told The Pillar he had “acknowledged [his] imprudence, apologized to the archbishop and the seminarians involved,” and said that while the event was intended as a “prank,” he took responsibility for what had happened.
While some in Denver have characterized the affair as unacceptable hijinx and imprudence, others consider the ritual spiritually troubling and deeply problematic — with video footage being forwarded to the apostolic nunciature in Washington, and some dioceses considering whether to withdraw students from study at the Denver seminary in the wake of the events.
Further division has been caused by what some local clergy call a “contradictory” and “confused” handling of the issue by the archdiocese.
But while the archdiocese said in its statement to The Pillar that Fr. Nepil “was removed from his position as a formator and house father immediately after the incident was uncovered,” he returned to his post as vice rector until the end of the 2024-25 academic year and remains on the seminary’s academic faculty as a professor.
Following an archdiocesan investigation last year, the seminary rector was also removed from his position and was replaced midway through the academic year.
—
In January of 2024, Fr. Nepil took some 15 seminarians on a ski trip to a house in the mountains, in the Crested Butte area, belonging to a Catholic family close to Fr. Nepil, according to several clergy familiar with events.
In the middle of the night, the seminarians were woken and told to sit, in silence, in the living room before being invited individually into a trailer on the house’s grounds.
When they entered the trailer, the seminarians were met by Fr. Nepil, who can be seen in the video setting up a camera to record the occasion, along with a senior seminarian and participant on the trip, and a person dressed in a yeti costume.
The “yeti” and Fr. John Nepil. Credit: Video footage provided to The Pillar.
Each seminarian was then invited to sit at a table on which there was a dagger and what appeared to be blood and a dollar bill on a piece of paper.
Dagger and “grizzly blood” on the table. Credit: Video footage provided to The Pillar.
In one video of the ritual seen by The Pillar, the seminarian is asked if he “has any ideas what’s going to happen?” to which the seminarian responds “no.”
“You’re about to enter into a sacred tradition,” he is told, “are you ready for it?”
The seminarian is also informed that “people who come up here, [and] not everyone makes it, enter into the tradition.”
“The way it works, the only way you can enter into this family, is you got to make a blood oath,” he is told in the video, while it is explained that the group started with another seminarian whom they knew “would have the balls” to go through with the initiation. “We’re hoping you have them, too.”
“If you enter into this family, there’s no going back,” the seminarian is informed.
“Now it’s not pretty, as you can see,” the seminarian is told, seated in front of the bloody surface and knife, “but if there is enough courage in there we can get through it.”
At this point, the seminarian nods his assent and Fr. Nepil can be seen leaning into the camera shot holding the dagger as the seminarian bares his left arm and places it on the table. “This is going to hurt for a second, ready?” Fr Nepil says, before counting down from three, at which point a voice says “Stop! There is another option.”
The seminarian is then told that, “having already shown your bravery,” the ritual can be completed with bear blood.
As “grizzly bear blood” is poured on his hand, the seminarian is told that “there is no going back” and is asked to make “the most guttural scream you can possibly make” to show “commitment to this tradition,” for the benefit of the others waiting to be initiated.
After he screams, Fr. Nepil and the yeti figure shake the seminarian’s hand, and he is told to “go out there, and make sure the [other] guys see you with the blood, but you don’t tell them what’s going on.”
Other images seen by The Pillar show seminarians seated on a sofa with their mouths taped closed. The Pillar has decided not to publish the video or other images of the seminarians involved out of respect for their privacy.
Several sources familiar with the events told The Pillar that this was the second year in which the trip, including the “blood oath” exercise, took place with Fr. Nepil, but that the previous year’s event did not lead to complaints and no footage or documentation existed.
The videos and images of the 2024 trip were uploaded to a shared drive, access to which circulated among the wider seminary community and archdiocesan clergy throughout last year.
In a statement to The Pillar, the Archdiocese of Denver said that “members of the St. John Vianney Theological Seminary (SJV) community were filmed participating in a prank, being asked to take a blood oath and other imprudent behavior.”
“Fortunately, the investigation uncovered that the event was farce, that no oath had taken place, and at no time was there risk of bodily harm,” the archdiocese said. “It was, however, part of a deeply imprudent and inappropriate prank.”
Fr. Nepil told The Pillar that “it is understandable that people are upset by this video. At the time this seemed like a prank on a skiing trip.” He stressed that none of the props used or seen in the video were real.
“I deeply regret my role in what took place, and I can assure you I will never participate in anything like this again,” he said. “It is important to emphasize that the archdiocese completed a detailed investigation and confirmed that there were no oaths taken and no one suffered any physical harm.”
Nepil offered further context for the trip, the video, and the strange images it contained, saying that the idea of this prank came from the man hosting the seminarians and the seminary staff on the ski trip, whom he confirmed was the person in the yeti costume.
“This Catholic man is well known in the town and is regularly asked to appear at events in this costume,” Nepil said. “He has done this specific prank many times with family, friends, and other guests who stay at his ski cabin. At no time was there any risk of physical harm, but in hindsight, and even though the host wanted to do this, it should have never happened.”
“It was clearly imprudent to film the event given the possibility of it being misinterpreted as more than a prank. I have apologized to the archbishop and the seminarians present on the trip for this failure of my leadership,” said Nepil.
“In the moment, we thought it was a funny activity and there was nothing wrong with the seminarians seeing the prank later as a group. It was only intended to be shared with the group that was at the skiing event.”
Asked if it was ever acceptable for a formator to participate in or allow “pranks” of this kind, especially given it involved some seminarians being photographed in their nightclothes, Nepil told The Pillar simply “No, and it never should have happened.”
“It was not a hazing event,” Nepil stressed. “This was a well-intended moment to try to be funny, and it clearly went badly wrong and never should have happened.”
Nevertheless, police were contacted after the event, The Pillar was told, and an initial complaint of “hazing” — a crime under Colorado state law — was investigated, before being dropped at the request of a seminarian who was interviewed as a potential victim.
Archdiocesan sources familiar with the events also told The Pillar that one of the seminarians refused to participate in the ceremony, according to two separate accounts.
The Pillar has since confirmed that the seminarian was subsequently placed on a “human year” sabbatical by formators. Although several sources close to the seminary all stressed that the seminarian was told his effective suspension from seminary was for unrelated reasons, others disputed this, and called the seminarian’s exclusion “creative dismissal.”
“We need to deal with the issue of justice around the seminarian who did not participate but now has been shown the door,” one member of the seminary community told The Pillar, saying the seminarian had been told to leave, secure a job, and could not identify himself as a seminarian for a period of time.
“He was kind of forced out in a very weird way by making use of this ‘human year.’ In our seminary, we have a lot of men, some men who go on ‘pastoral years,’ go out to a parish discern, maybe engage in counseling,” the cleric said.
“We've not yet used the term ‘human year;’ it’s something very ill-defined. And under the circumstances it seems strange that this man alone is the one among all the group who needs to take some time away to reflect and discern.”
Nepil told The Pillar that the two events were unrelated and that “This is not related to the ski trip incident. The formation team and corresponding decision happened independently of this event.”
Asked if the circumstances could give people reason to suspect otherwise, and raise questions about the formation process, he said: “I have acknowledged my imprudence in the moment and have apologized to all of those involved. Formation is a sacred process, and it requires exceptional discipline. This incident failed to encourage that work.”
—
Within the Archdiocese of Denver, many clergy and staff associated with the St. John Vianney Seminary have voiced concerns over the ritual — which, according to some sources, had also been practiced on a group of seminarians the previous year, during a 2023 trip to the same house.
Others, however, have pushed back on the spiritual concerns raised over the ritual, insisting that Fr. Nepil is a popular and well-regarded priest in the archdiocese, and characterizing the incident as “a prank,” “imprudent” and “immature,” but not nefarious.
Adding to concerns surrounding the affair has been the Archdiocese of Denver’s response to the events.
By May 2024, after videos and images of the ritual had begun circulating among seminary students, several concerned seminarians began to bring the matter to the attention of seminary staff, including the rector, Fr. Daniel Leonard, and other priests in the archdiocese — and eventually to one of the archdiocese’s auxiliary bishops, Bishop Jorge Humberto Rodríguez-Novelo.
But students, staff, and archdiocesan clergy have told The Pillar that despite assurances from archdiocesan officials that the matter would be investigated and handled, the resolution to date has left lingering concerns.
After months of rumors circulating about the trip and “blood oath,” the issue was raised directly in November 2024 with Archbishop Samuel Aquila.
The archbishop, The Pillar has confirmed, ordered an canonical preliminary investigation into the situation, undertaken by the then-archdiocesan vicar for clergy, Fr. Angel Perez-Lopez, with Fr. Nepil stepping back from his roles at the seminary as it progressed.
The following month, that investigation returned a finding that no canonical delict had been committed.
In a December 2024 email announcing the conclusion of the investigation, seen by The Pillar, Fr. Perez said that he “is happy to announce that the preliminary investigation concerning Fr. John Nepil has concluded.”
“We found no crime has been committed,” the priest reported to the seminary community. “Fr. John will resume his responsibilities as professor at the seminary. He will also continue with his administrative responsibilities as Vice-Rector. However, he will temporarily step away from his role as house father and formator at St. Joseph’s Parish house.”
“I ask for the good of all you not to discuss [sic] this matter among yourselves or with others,” the email concluded.
The Denver archdiocese confirmed in a statement to The Pillar this week that, “several months” after the incident took place, “the Archdiocese was made aware of the incident and initiated a formal investigation, which included interviews with 22 individuals.”
“Fortunately, the investigation uncovered that the event was farce, that no oath had taken place, and at no time was there risk of bodily harm. It was, however, part of a deeply imprudent and inappropriate prank,” said the statement.
“Due to the scandal this has caused, the imprudence involved, and the uncharitable nature of the prank, the individual responsible was removed from his position as a formator and house father immediately after the incident was uncovered,” said the archdiocese’s statement. “Also, he has since been removed from his seminary leadership role and has recommitted to his ongoing personal and spiritual formation.”
But senior priests in the archdiocese and sources within the seminary community told The Pillar that the conclusion of the investigation created unease among those aware of the situation.
They noted that in the early months of 2025, Fr. Leonard was removed as rector before the conclusion of the 2024-25 academic year, and succeeded by Fr. Perez.
Earlier this year, Archbishop Aquila informed a meeting of senior archdiocesan clergy that, although Leonard had been slated for a new assignment, his departure had been moved up in response to his handling of the blood oath affair.
Fr. Nepil, meanwhile, was reinstated as vice rector to serve out the remainder of the academic year. While he has since been removed as vice rector, he remains on the seminary faculty as a professor of theology.
Several priests of the archdiocese, as well as members of the seminary community, told The Pillar that this appeared “backwards” — expressing concern that Nepil would remain at the seminary.
One senior archdiocesan priest told The Pillar that “it looks and feels to many of us like the real concern was not what went on, but that people talked about it.”
Fr. Nepil told The Pillar that “I was removed as a formator by the Archbishop because of the failure of judgment this incident demonstrates. I did continue as vice-rector, which was entirely for administrative purposes. This was the Archbishop’s decision, and I of course honored his instructions.”
“Anyone familiar with the life and culture of St. John Vianney Seminary knows it to be a healthy and holy environment for the formation of future priests,” Nepil insisted.
—
The official response to the events was rendered more confusing, according to local priests and seminary students, because the archdiocesan exorcist was called in by the archbishop to address the affair.
“All the seminarians [involved] were to meet with the exorcist, who prayed over them, and they made a formal renunciation of this blood oath that they had made,” one priest familiar with the events told The Pillar.
Another priest, confirming the meetings with the exorcist, said that “there was nothing explicitly occult or what-have-you in the ceremony, which looked pretty ridiculous to me in the video, but the significance of a ‘blood oath’ is what it is, even if it's supposed to be a kind of joke.”
The archdiocese confirmed to The Pillar in its statement that the investigation had included “a proactive consultation with an exorcist, out of an abundance of caution, due to potential spiritual harm from such oaths.”
Asked if the archbishop’s decision to involve the archdiocesan exorcist had caused him to re-evaluate the nature of what occurred, Nepil told The Pillar that “I respect how seriously the archbishop took this situation.”
“The archbishop was rightly focused on making sure there was no spiritual implication to the event, and the investigation concluded it had no spiritual implication for any of the men and was indeed a prank with fake objects that was intended as a farce,” said Nepil. “Again, it is deeply sad for me to have played any part in this situation, and I regret it.”
Several sources familiar with the situation highlighted their sense of incongruence between, on the one hand, Fr. Leonard’s removal as rector and the involvement of the exorcist, and — on the other hand — Fr. Nepil’s initial reinstatement as vice rector and ongoing assignment to the seminary.
“Why do you move the rector out in a hurry because of his response to something the vice rector did, but leave the vice rector in place?” one senior archdiocesan priest asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“It’s the same thing with bringing in the exorcist,” another member of the seminary community said.
“Either what happened was a stupid prank or stunt but nothing malicious, or it was spiritually dangerous to the students — objectively or subjectively, whatever. If it’s just a prank you don’t need an exorcist, if you do something that needs an exorcist, even as a precaution, should you be on the faculty of the seminary?”
Asked about the decision to leave Fr. Nepil in post as vice rector for the remainder of the academic year and to accelerate the departure of Fr. Leonard as rector, the archdiocesan statement said: “It should be noted that the previous rector of the seminary, Fr. Daniel Leonard, was granted a scheduled sabbatical earlier this year. His departure was in process prior to the Archdiocese learning of the incident.”
Several clergy noted that Fr. Nepil was “something of a local celebrity” in the archdiocese, the author of a book, and widely regarded as a charismatic preacher and gifted formator.
“In the moment, all I thought was that it would be a time of humor and levity for all the participants,” Nepil told The Pillar. “I have acknowledged my imprudence and have taken responsibility for my actions.”
But despite his repeated statements of responsibility and regret to The Pillar, some in Denver charge that the priest had refused to take responsibility locally for the incident at Crested Butte, or to recognize it as seriously problematic.
“[After the investigation] the rector had asked [Fr.] John, when he was reinstated, to make an apology about the whole matter and about the incident and about the video,” one recalled. “So [Fr.] John celebrates Mass the first week the seminarians get back [from Christmas] and — I think there is a recording of it — the whole sermon was centered around him being falsely accused, and his fear about being falsely accused, and that it had finally happened in his own life.”
“So he didn't take responsibility or ownership for anything, but [said] he was just falsely accused and that he had gone through a really rough time in that whole Christmas season. I’m not sure exactly what he was supposed to have been falsely accused of, the video of him holding a knife over a seminarian’s arm isn’t open to that much interpretation.”
Another senior cleric also noted to The Pillar that the seminary is in the midst of a multi-million dollar capital campaign.
“I’m not asserting as fact that those are related issues,” the priest said. “But if the real concern of the archdiocese is for people to stop talking about this, and to leave as much undisturbed around the seminary as possible while this campaign is going on, that would make a kind of sense in a situation where not a lot makes sense.”
The archdiocese told The Pillar in its statement that “this incident does not represent the values or standards of priestly formation at SJV.”
“We are grateful to those who have brought these matters forward, and the Archdiocese remains fully committed to the faithful, rigorous formation of future priests.”
—
While the archdiocese and seminary leadership wish to contain and move past the strange yeti-themed events of the 2024 trip, the spread of photos and videos of the event has seen concern over the details of what occurred spread beyond the archdiocese.
The Pillar has confirmed that the images were forwarded to the apostolic nunciature in Washington, D.C., on at least two separate occasions, though it is not clear if, or to which Vatican dicastery, the matter was passed on by the nuncio.
The Pillar has also learned that some dioceses and religious orders have reviewed their affiliation with St. John Vianney over the events, and considered withdrawing students. The Archdiocese of Denver told The Pillar that “the current rector has been actively meeting with sending dioceses to listen and address any concerns.”
One senior cleric in a diocese which sends its seminarians to the Denver seminary told The Pillar that his diocese had been reassured by steps taken by the Denver archdiocese, and by what they had been told about the internal response to events.
“We had a lot of red flags when we heard about what went on,” the priest said. “And the simple description of what went on is very alarming.”
“Our sense of things wasn’t that this was necessarily meant to be spiritual or something occult, and that it was more a kind of very dumb prank or gag,” he said.
“But the thing is, we are forming these men to take their promises [of obedience and celibacy as clerics] seriously. So, this sort of thing is either cutting directly against that, at worst, or it's teaching them to take the whole idea of solemn promises as a joke, at best — and it is pretty bad either way.”
But, the priest said, the appointment of Fr. Perez as rector had allayed some of the concerns.
“It helped that Fr. Angel [Perez] was appointed rector having conducted the investigation,” he said. “He was able to reassure us of how seriously the situation was being taken internally, and we know him to be a good priest and formator, so there’s a lot of confidence in him.”
“It helped, too,” the priest said, “to have some of the context explained to us — that this was something that seems to have originated with the host of the weekend, rather than Fr. John. That doesn’t make it good or acceptable, but there’s a difference between going along with something stupid and a vice rector dreaming up and yeti blood brotherhoods on his own.”
“It didn’t get rid of the red flags, but it brought a few of them down to half mast,” the priest said.
