CONCORD (NH)
Concord Monitor
By LISA ARSENAULT
Monitor staff
August 13. 2005 8:00AM
Father Paul Aube, a New Hampshire priest repeatedly accused of sexual abuse dating back to the early 1970s, has been defrocked by Pope Benedict XVI.
Aube, 64, is only the second New Hampshire priest to be defrocked since the clergy sexual abuse scandal was uncovered in early 2002. The decision by the Pope is the highest form of punishment for priests, completely removing Aube from the priesthood and stripping him of both his right to minister to people and any financial support from the church.
The Archdiocese of Manchester announced Aube's defrocking yesterday, nearly three months after the Pope made the decision on May 20.
"By virtue of this decree, Paul Aube is no longer bound to the obligations of the sacred priesthood, has no faculties to act as a priest, and has been returned to the lay state," according to a two-sentence press release put out yesterday by the Archdiocese of Manchester.
The Archdiocese declined to comment further. Aube does not have a listed telephone number and could not be reached for comment yesterday.