OHIO
TheIndyChannel
[with video]
Maxim Alter
The Vatican permanently removed three priests in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati Tuesday due to allegations of improper behavior involving minors.
The three priests – Thomas Kuhn, Thomas Feldhaus and Ronald Cooper – have each been on administrative leave for more than a decade. They were dismissed Tuesday from the clerical state by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) at the Vatican.
Kuhn, Feldhaus and Cooper were permanently removed from both the rights and the obligations of the priesthood after a canonical process. A panel of three judges made the decision, which was affirmed by the CDF.
The decision constitutes the Catholic Church’s “ultimate penalty” and is commonly referred to as being “defrocked,” Archbishop of Cincinnati Rev. Dennis M. Schnurr said.
Barbara Dorris, outreach director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said she is thankful the three priests were “ousted,” but wishes more could be done.
She said the ultimate punishment is “excommunication,” not defrocking. She said defrocking is less about safeguarding children and more about “damage control.”
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