PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS News
PHILADELPHIA — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia says it has resolved all but one of the cases involving allegations of child sex abuse by priests with the announcement Sunday that five more priests have been removed from ministry, CBS Philadelphia reported Sunday.
More than a year ago, Father Michael Chapman was cleared of an abuse allegation by the archdiocese’s review board and deemed suitable for ministry. But archdiocese spokesman Ken Gavin says Chapman — most recently of the Ascension of Our Lord parish — has again been removed, for a subsequent and substantiated abuse allegation.
“He had never been returned to a parish,” Gavin said. “He was placed right back on administrative leave and that’s where he remained.”
Gavin says four other priests were removed for having violated standards of ministerial behavior and boundaries, not actual abuse.
“They have done something that would not necessarily rise to the level of criminal activity, it does not rise to the level of sexual abuse of a minor,” he said. “But it is something that indicates they’re not suitable for ministry in the priesthood.”
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