AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
By JOANNE McCARTHY Sept. 10, 2014
A CATHOLIC priest who admitted having regular secret sex with a woman, despite his vow of celibacy, has been stripped of his right to minister as a priest.
Father Tom Knowles had his faculties removed after the Church acknowledged Central Coast woman Jennifer Herrick had ‘‘endured a great deal of emotional and psychological pain and suffering’’ because of the secret relationship.
‘‘This is permanent and he cannot minister publicly as a priest again, either in Melbourne or anywhere else in the Catholic Church,’’ Father Graeme Duro, the head of Father Knowles’s order, the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers, said.
The priest’s right to minister in public was withdrawn last year but only confirmed to the Newcastle Herald by the Church this week.
The action was taken by Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart after Ms Herrick complained about the devastating impact of the secret relationship on her life.
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