OHIO
Dayton Daily News
By Tom Beyerlein
Dayton Daily News
Lawrence Strittmatter, who lost his post as associate pastor of St. Albert the Great Catholic Church in Kettering amid allegations he sexually abused boys years earlier in Cincinnati, has been permanently removed from the priesthood by Pope Benedict XVI, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati said Wednesday.
Strittmatter was one of 15 archdiocesan priests who have been placed on leave after having been found by the archdiocese to have sexually abused minors. The pope granted his laicization, or defrocking, Jan. 20, according to archdiocese spokesman Dan Andriacco.
Ten area priests are on leave awaiting possible defrocking for child sexual abuse, while five have been defrocked or otherwise stripped of ministry.
A priest since 1957, Strittmatter allegedly abused dozens of youths while serving as principal of Elder High School and Cincinnati parishes in the 1970s and 1980s.