Roman Catholic church officials in Maine say a retired priest has been temporarily removed from ministry following a complaint of sexual abuse of a minor that allegedly occurred in the early 1980s in Massachusetts.At the time, the Rev. Maurice Lebel was a member of the Society of Jesus, Portland diocesan officials said.
In a statement from the Portland diocese, officials said that in March a report was received by the Archdiocese of Boston and that Massachusetts civil authorities and the Diocese of Portland were notified.
The Portland diocese launched its own investigation.
When the diocese shared preliminary information with Massachusetts officials in June, the diocese says it was told to suspend its investigation and make no public statements about the case until Massachusetts authorities had conducted their own probe.
The statement said that after reviewing the initial complaint and preliminary evidence, Bishop Richard Malone restricted Lebel from all ministry until a diocesan investigation could be completed.
The allegation involves an individual from Massachusetts claiming to have been assaulted and sexually abused between the ages of 15 and 17.
The statement said that after reviewing the initial complaint and preliminary evidence available in June, Bishop Richard Malone restricted Lebel from all ministry until a diocesan investigation could be completed.
"The decision to restrict Father Lebel from ministry is not to be construed as prejudging the outcome of the investigation. This action is intended to facilitate the investigation," the statement said.
The diocese said it will finish its own investigation after Massachusetts finishes its investigation.
The diocese said that although the complaint involves years when Lebel was a Jesuit priest in Massachusetts, the church investigation is being done by the Portland diocese because in 1991 Lebel left the Society of Jesus and became a priest in Maine.
A spokeswoman for the diocese could not provide information about how to reach Lebel for comment.
A telephone message left on an answering machine at St. Mary's church in Wells, where Lebel worked after retirement, was not immediately returned.
Lebel, 74, was born in Brunswick, Maine, and entered the Society of Jesus in 1959.
He taught at Cranwell Prep. School in Lenox from 1968-1971 and was rector of the Jesuit Community at Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River from 1973-1976.
He worked in various capacities in Fall River until 1986.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce