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	Priest Accused of Fathering Child with Married Woman By Rob Low Fox 4 September 26, 2011 http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wdaf-priest-accused-of-fathering-child-with-married-woman-20110926,0,7444425.story [with video] A Cass County man says his youngest son was fathered by a Catholic priest. It's the latest lawsuit against the Diocese of St. Joseph-Kansas City. The man involved says the affair destroyed his marriage and is now filing for divorce. The victim says he's furious that the local diocese has decided to allow the priest to keep preaching at his Independence parish. "My wife had relations with our priest," the man suing said. "She let me know about it a year ago." FOX 4 has agreed to protect the identity of the man suing, but the father of three says his youngest son was fathered by Father Joseph Matt. Matt even paid for the paternity test that proves paternity with a 99 percent certainty. "She actually worked for the church," he said. "She lost her job and I suggested for her to go get counseling through this, through our priest." He never guessed the counseling in 2004 would lead to an affair, let alone a child. He thought the child was his until about a year ago. "You know, to raise a kid for that many years and then to find out he's not your actual blood, pretty hurtful," he said. It was also hurtful when he confronted Father Matt. "Joe Matt told me it was not love, it was just sex," he said. "That's all it was about." After the child's birth, Father Matt was transferred to St. Joseph the Worker Church in Independence. The Diocese removed Matt when it says it learned of the affair in 2010. "In February 2011, Bishop Finn came to an agreement with Father Matt about expectations for his return to ministry at St. Joseph the Worker, where he continues to serve," he said. "We actually had a meeting with Bishop Finn, all he did was tell me all the good things that Joe Matt had done, never once bad things." Barbara Dorris is with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests or SNAP. The group is dedicated to exposing sex crimes within the Catholic church. "Everything we know about a predator like this says they will repeat the pattern throughout their lifetime," Dorris said. "He exploited this trust, he exploited this position of power. If the two people are not equal, if one has power over the other, it cannot be an affair because there is no ability to consent." Since 2004, Father Matt has served on the Diocesan Tribunal which rules on questions of marriage and divorce. The man suing says Matt shouldn't serve in any capacity and says he wants to see Bishop Robert Finn step down as well.
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