Diocese places St. Cyril pastor on leave

SUGAR CREEK (CO)
The Examiner

Posted Jan 25, 2012

Sugar Creek, MO —

A Sugar Creek pastor has been placed on administrative leave.

The Rev. Matthew Bartulica had served as pastor for St. Cyril Parish in Sugar Creek for about six months before the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph placed him on administrative leave earlier this week.

On Wednesday, the diocese said in a press release that information came to the Ombudsman that prompted Bishop Robert Finn and the Independent Review Board to “invoke a strict application of all diocesan policies and procedures.”

In the wake of the church’s recent sex scandal, Finn appointed the ombudsman as an independent public liaison to field and investigate any reports of suspicious or inappropriate behavior. The church said it would not comment about the nature of the information involving Bartulica until more facts were known.

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