MAINE
Portland Press Herald
BY EDWARD D. MURPHY STAFF WRITER
emurphy@pressherald.com | 207-791-6465
A Catholic priest who was disciplined in 2000 for running a sexually explicit website for gay clergy has been removed from the priesthood after Maine church officials said they substantiated an allegation that he had sexually abused a minor in the early 1980s.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland said it got word from the Vatican on Friday that its findings against John E. Harris had been upheld and the former priest was “dismissed … from the clerical state.”
Harris, now 59, voluntarily separated himself from a public ministry in 2003 after having served in five Maine parishes over 19 years, said Dave Guthro, the diocese’s spokesman. Guthro said Harris, who now lives in Canada, had waived his right to challenge the accusation of abuse.
The Vatican finding can’t be appealed, Guthro said.
In 2000, Harris was disciplined by the church for setting up the website as part of a gay priests’ online discussion group. The site included photos of the discussion group’s members and pictures of naked men.
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