NEW HAMPSHIRE
WMUR
KC Downey
Digital Media Manager
MANCHESTER, N.H. —
Pope Francis ordered that a former Manchester priest sentenced to prison for stealing from a hospital and parishioners be dismissed from the clerical state.
In the decree dated Feb. 28, Pope Francis released Edward Arsenault from all obligations to sacred ordination, including celibacy.
“By virtue of this decree, Edward J. Arsenault has no faculties to act, function, or present himself as a priest,” the decree read.
Arsenault was sentenced to four years in prison in 2014 and ordered to pay $300,000 in restitution.
He pleaded guilty to stealing $185,000 from Catholic Medical Center, the estate of a dead priest and the Diocese of Manchester.
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