STEUBENVILLE (OH)
The Intellegencer
October 30, 2018
A priest who served multiple areas of East Ohio is suspended from the ministry after he admitted to sexual contact with and abuse of a minor, according to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville.
Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton revoked all ministerial faculties from the Rev. Christopher Foxhoven, 45, and suspended him from priestly ministry on Saturday. The diocese said Monforton took the action as soon as he learned Foxhoven had admitted the offenses.
Foxhoven most recently served as pastor of St. Mary of the Hills Parish in Buchtel, Ohio, and of Holy Cross Parish in Glouster, Ohio. Glouster is located in Athens County, while Buchtel is situated in both Athens and Hocking counties. Published reports indicate that at other points during Foxhoven’s career, he served Catholics in Belmont, Jefferson, Harrison and Monroe counties. He is listed as the celebrant for funerals that occurred in the St. Clairsville area in 2006 and 2007. He also participated in religious rites in Amsterdam in Jefferson County in 2009 and in Wintersville in 2010.
Past newspaper reports list him as the parochial vicar of the Basilica of St. Mary in Marietta, Ohio, in 2013. A parochial vicar is a priest who serves as an agent of or assistant to the parish pastor. The pastor, from the Latin for shepherd, is the priest who is the main spiritual leader of a parish.
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