Dupre said that he has banned the five from any work as priests in accordance with zero-tolerance guidelines recently approved by U.S. bishops.

The bishop confirmed the names of four of the priests, but declined to identify the fifth.

The four are Kennedy, Richard F. Meehan, Alfred C. Graves and Donald V. Dube.

Kennedy and Meehan had resumed limited duties, living and working as chaplains at the church-run Providence Place retirement home in Holyoke. The other priests had not been doing any church work, Dupre said.

Kennedy had been treated in a church-run psychiatric center following his resignation as pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church in Northampton in 1991, the newspaper said. Meehan had also undergone psychiatric treatment after being removed from his parish duties in Agawam eight years ago, according to his lawyer, Daniel Kelly.

The diocese established a misconduct commission composed of lay people a decade ago following an earlier child-abuse scandal.