Chancellor
Keeps the diocese’s official records. Handles decrees and a lot of marriage paperwork for the chancery.
Diocese chancellor page →Right now
He has three jobs at once
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01
Pastor, Holy Rosary
Our parish at 4851 Park Avenue. The school is next door at 4841. When he became pastor, he kept his downtown diocesan jobs too.
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02
Chancellor
Works out of the Catholic Center on Shelby Oaks. Handles a lot of the diocese’s official paperwork and archives. Named under Bishop Holley; still there under Bishop Talley.
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03
Judicial Vicar
Runs the diocesan court (the tribunal). Most of that work is marriage cases. He is also listed as a judge there.
Being pastor of the parish is not the same thing as running Catholic Schools of Memphis. Those are separate offices. We keep that straight.
In order
How he got here
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Theology at Kenrick-Glennon, St. Louis. Summer 2009 Herald lists James Mercer Clark, Memphis — Ministry of Acolyte.
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B.A., Franciscan University of Steubenville. S.T.B., Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit. Years from his own CV — not confirmed in a diocesan bulletin.
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Ordained for Memphis. Bishop Steib. Kenrick: “Memphis · June 4, 2011 · Fr. James Clark.”
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We could not find his first parish jobs in the online appointment lists from those years. That is still an open question.
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J.C.L., Saint Paul University (Ottawa). M.C.L., University of Ottawa.
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Pastor, St. Mary (Savannah, TN) and Our Lady of the Lake (Counce / Pickwick).
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Bishop Holley names him chancellor after Msgr. Machado resigns — days after a Vatican visit over Holley’s governance. Judicial vicar dating matches.
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Parochial vicar, OLPH Germantown, while holding the downtown jobs. Holley removed Oct 2018. Talley installed Apr 2019. Clark stays.
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Residences: St. Ann Bartlett, then St. Francis Cordova. Boards: Clergy Personnel (priest moves — not schools), Presbyteral Council, clergy formation, Catholic Foundation of West Tennessee. Brief administrator at St. Anne Memphis, summer 2025.
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Doctoral defense, Saint Paul University. Diocese: “one of the best ever.” Bishop Talley attended.
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Appointed pastor of Holy Rosary. Keeps chancellor + JV. Same day: Fr. Poulose resigns as pastor. No reason published.
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Fr. Pesce and Fr. Sax named parochial vicars under him. Fr. Weber moves full-time to the tribunal.
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Parents told Darren Mullis “will be departing.” Papers say “leadership at Holy Rosary” — not Clark’s name on the letter. Joint parish + Catholic Schools statement: “confidential.” Faithful at Shelby Oaks.
In plain English
What those jobs mean
Judicial Vicar
Leads the church court for this diocese. Most cases people hear about are marriage cases (annulments).
Diocese tribunal page →Pastor
Leads Holy Rosary parish. Priests with him now: Fr. Joseph Sax and Fr. Felix Pesce. Deacons: Mark Romer, Greg Thomas, Mike Damore.
Parish clergy page →His assistants downtown include Vice-Chancellor Anna Lynn and executive assistant Angela “Po” Canale.
School
He wrote a doctoral thesis
The Presumption of Imputability and the Presumption of Innocence: Two Presumptions in Conflict?
He earned both a church doctorate (J.C.D.) and a civil Ph.D. for one project — that is normal for that school. The thesis is about how church law treats guilt and innocence in penal cases. It is technical. Bishop Talley went to Ottawa for the defense.
It is public writing. It is not about Darren Mullis. Please do not turn it into a slogan about “guilty until proven innocent.”
This parish
How he got to Holy Rosary
- Through Jun 2024
Fr. Patrick Gallagher, pastor.
- 1 Jul 2024
Gallagher → downtown St. Mary’s. Fr. Poulose becomes administrator. Fr. Weber joins as parochial vicar.
- 1 Jul 2025
Poulose made pastor.
- 24 Apr 2026
Poulose resigns. Clark named pastor — keeps chancellor and JV. Poulose was pastor less than ten months. No reason in the bulletin.
Why families care
What this has to do with Darren
- Diocesan school policy says a parish principal is notified in writing by the pastor if a contract is not renewed. That is the rule on paper — not proof of who wrote the August 19 letter.
- The papers said the letter came from “leadership at Holy Rosary.” They did not print Father Clark’s name as the signer.
- Two days later, Holy Rosary Parish and Catholic Schools of Memphis spoke together and called it confidential.
- We ask our pastor for a pastoral word. We ask that Darren Mullis be restored. We invent no crime.
Be honest
What we still don’t know
These are open questions — not accusations.
- Hometown, parents, birth year, childhood parish
- Where he served as a priest from 2011 to 2016
- Exact years of some of his degrees
- Why Fr. Poulose resigned on 24 April 2026
- Who wrote the 19 August school letter
- Who decided Darren would leave — no newsroom has named one person
- Any lawsuit or church case against this Father Clark — we found none
Same name, different men: other priests named James Clark appear in other dioceses’ archives. This page is only about the Memphis priest ordained in 2011.
Check our work
Where this comes from
Every claim on this page points back to something already public. Tap a source.
Independent of the parish · Independent of the diocese · Independent of the Holy See