Friday, April 08, 2011

Two Melbourne priests removed

Melbourne Vicar-General Bishop Les Tomlinson has confirmed that two priests Melbourne priests guilty of sexual abuse have been removed from the priesthood, reports the Age.

One priest, Paul Pavlou, formerly of Healesville, was defrocked by the Vatican, while the other, Barry Whelan, was laicised - made a layman - at his own request, reportedly so he could get married.

In the Magistrates Court two years ago, Pavlou admitted indecent acts against a 14-year-old boy and possessing child pornography, and was given an 18-month suspended jail sentence.

In Whelan's case, the Melbourne Archdiocese has compensated at least three vulnerable women whom it agreed Whelan took advantage of or abused. 

One woman bore him a child.

Bishop Tomlinson said neither had been acting as a priest in Melbourne for a long time. ''When serious allegations are made against a priest, especially if they involve charges by the police, the priest is stood down,'' he said.

Advocate Helen Last, of In Good Faith, who has worked with some Whelan victims, said: ''This is an important decision. Victims have been calling for the defrocking of their clerical offenders for a long time."