Father John Varno was accused of abuse in a January lawsuit. He continued to serve parishoners in 3 local churches for seven months

ALBANY — Late on Friday afternoon, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany announced that the Rev. John Varno had “voluntarily withdrawn” from ministry after being accused of sexual abuse in a Child Victims Act lawsuit. 

There’s more to the story than that. You see, some parishioners at Our Lady of Grace in Ballston Lake, one of three parishes where Varno had been serving as a sacramental minister, demanded he be removed after learning about an accusation that the diocese hadn’t mentioned to them. 

“We didn’t want him to have access to our children until this is worked out,” said John McIntyre, who is one of the parishioners. “They’ve got to protect our kids.”

McIntyre is the publisher of Spotlight Newspapers. He had discovered Varno’s name in a database of…