It is not that this priest started a ministry per se -- it is that he was forbidden to engage in any public ministry due to his history of misconduct.

A priest accused of having sexual conversations with teenage boys has been excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix for starting his own ministry.

The diocese announced Monday that Monsignor Dale Fushek and another Catholic priest who helped open the ministry are now prohibited from receiving church sacraments.

Fushek was the second highest-ranking administrator in the diocese. He is awaiting trial on charges including assault and indecent exposure over conversations from the 1980s and '90s.

He had been placed on paid leave, but his salary was cut off after Fushek started the ministry in defiance of the bishop's orders.

The problem here? Defiance of the bishop's authority -- and his continuing to publicly act as a priest after suspension for sexual misconduct. The bishop has been acting to protect the faithful from a sexual predator -- and has no applied the ultimate sanction in an effort to get Fushek to comply with his authority. Too bad the Washington Post didn't do a better job of covering the situation -- but then again, there isn't as much news in the Church getting it right on sex abuse.

UPDATE: I did a little furhter checking -- it appears that there was a more fundamental reason for the excommunication. Not only was he violating the restriction upon exercising public ministry (thus violating his promise to obey his bishop taken at ordination), but the ministry he and a laicized priest set up is actually a schismatic religious congregation with teachings contrary to those of the Catholic Church. Seems to me that the only surprise here is that anyone would be surprised by the excommunication.

Posted by: Greg at 11:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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