PENNSYLVANIA
The Express-Times
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
By JENNA PORTNOY
The Express-Times
Allentown Diocese priests who abused children will be sent to a Schuylkill County facility for "prayer and penance," the diocese announced Tuesday.
Two priests and a clergyman appointed to monitor priests removed from ministry are living in a restricted access wing of St. Francis Center in Orwigsburg.
The wing can hold up to eight people and another one or two could be sent to live there in the next month, diocese spokesman Matt Kerr said.
The diocese would not release the names of priests found in violation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People adopted by U.S. Bishops in 2002.
"This answers a spiritual need for them," Kerr said. "And again, it's called for by the charter. That's where the genesis of this came from."