Former Kettering Priest Disciplined for Child Abuse

By Jill Drury
WDTN
February 21, 2014

http://wdtn.com/2014/02/21/former-kettering-priest-disciplined-for-child-abuse/

Daniel Pater permanently removed from ministry. (WDTN Photo)

The Vatican took action Friday in the cases of two local priests of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

Both were accused of child abuse.

The Vatican’s Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith permanently removed Daniel Prater from the priesthood.

The archdiocese says Pater was put on administrative leave in 2003 after admitting to sexually abusing a teenaged girl in the 1980s and 1990s.

It say although Pater remains a priest, he can never again celebrate a public Mass, administer other sacraments, wear clerical clothes or present himself as a priest.

“I hope that this decision will bring some measure of closure and healing to all those harmed by Daniel Pater’s actions,” said the Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr, Archbishop of Cincinnati. “As Archbishop, I deeply regret that any representative of the local Church has ever harmed a child under our care. One of our most important priorities in the Archdiocese is to provide a safe environment for our children.”

Pater was associate pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Kettering from 1979 to 1982.

The Vatican restored Reverend David Reilly to active ministry. He was accused of inappropriate behavior in the 1970s, but the Church found there was not found guilty of committing any offenses.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati says a status of clerics “credibly accused of child abuse is detailed on the Achdiocesan web site.