PORTLAND (ME)
WMTW
POSTED: 5:47 am EDT September 29, 2005
UPDATED: 6:32 am EDT September 29, 2005
PORTLAND, Maine -- An 80-year-old former Portland priest who was removed from the ministry due to accusations of sexually abusing minors in Maine has died in Lithuania.
The Portland Diocese said Raymond Lauzon died Monday following a brief illness. Word of his death was sent to the diocese from the Franciscan Province of St. Casimir in Lithuania.
At Lauzon's request, his funeral and burial took place in Lithuania the following day.
During the 1990s, several civil suits were brought against Lauzon alleging he abused children in the 1970s and 1980s. Church leaders, hoping to protect the church from scandal, defended him fiercely and Lauzon himself denied the allegations.
Posted by kshaw at September 29, 2005 08:34 AM