Two Boston priests laicized for molesting children

Published: 2004-05-06

BOSTON (CNS) -- The Boston Archdiocese announced May 6 that two priests suspended for allegedly molesting children have been laicized -- permanently dismissed from the clerical state -- by Pope John Paul II. They are Paul R. Shanley, 73, who is currently awaiting criminal trial in Massachusetts on multiple child sexual abuse charges, and Ronald H. Paquin, 61, who is serving a sentence of 12 to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in December 2002 to three counts of child rape and to five lesser abuse charges. Father Christopher Coyne, archdiocesan spokesman, said Shanley's dismissal from the priesthood took effect Feb. 19 and Paquin's was effective May 6. In a May 3 letter to Shanley, Boston Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley said the papal decision "is not subject to appeal or recourse." The archbishop told Shanley that his laicization means he is no longer eligible for support or benefits from the archdiocese and he may no longer perform any clerical ministry "with the exception of hearing confessions of members of the faithful in danger of death." The letter notes that as a dismissed priest "you are dispensed from the obligation of clerical celibacy."

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