MAINE
Bangor Daily News
PORTLAND, Maine — The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican has dismissed John E. Harris from the priesthood permanently for a substantiated claim of sexual abuse of a minor in the early 1980s, Maine Bishop Robert P. Deeley announced on Friday.
Harris, who has not been in active ministry since 2003, can no longer function or present himself as a priest, and the Vatican’s decision is final, without an option for appeal, according to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.
The complaint was received from an individual in March 2013, according to the diocese.
Disciplined in 2000 for his involvement in an adult-content website, Harris returned to ministry until August 2003, when he requested a leave of absence. A month later, Harris became the focus of a new investigation involving inappropriate behavior with a minor that had taken place approximately 20 years earlier and did not involve sexual contact, the diocese detailed in its statement.
Harris never returned to active ministry. The diocese notified civil authorities and released the results of its investigation to the media and to parishioners. The diocese publicly asked for anyone with information about the case to come forward. The later report to the diocese in 2013 marked the first time a complainant had accused Harris of sexual abuse.
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