SEATTLE (WA)
KOMO
July 11, 2005
By KOMO Staff & News Services
SEATTLE - A once-prominent Seattle priest who retired in 2002 has been removed from ministry because of credible child sex abuse allegations against him, Catholic Archbishop Alexander Brunett announced Monday.
No details about the allegations have been made public.
James Gandrau, 72, whose name has not previously surfaced in connection with sex abuse allegations, served as the editor of the Catholic Northwest Progress - the Seattle Archdiocese's newspaper - for nearly two decades, from 1960-77. He was also a close friend of Archbishop Thomas Connolly, who died in 1991.
Brunett said Monday that the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith had approved his decision to remove Gandrau from ministry, making it final. Gandrau is the fifth priest in the archdiocese to be removed from ministry over child sex abuse accusations, Brunett said. Brunett has recommended the removal of five others, but is waiting to hear back from the Vatican on those cases.