PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10
POSTED: 7:43 am EDT June 24, 2005
PHILADELPHIA -- Seven more priests removed from their duties by the Philadelphia Archdiocese in recent years for allegedly abusing minors have been defrocked by the Vatican, the archdiocese announced Thursday.
Among them, the priests had served in about 35 parishes and five Catholic high schools across the Philadelphia region over the past four decades.
The seven had been removed from their ministerial duties in the archdiocese years ago.
The Vatican's decision to laicize, or permanently remove them, is the most serious action the Roman Catholic Church can take against a priest. They are barred from ever administering sacraments or serving as priests in any capacity.