Baltimore Archdiocese has removed Msgr Thomas Bevan from his parish as it investigates allegations that the former executive director of the USCCB Secretariat for Priestly Life and Ministry sexually abused a minor in the 1970s.Monsignor Bevan, pastor of St Patrick Church since 1997, has denied the allegations, The Baltimore Sun reports.
Representatives of the archdiocese met with parishioners and staff at St. Patrick on Sunday to inform them of the allegations and to answer questions, according to the archdiocese. Counseling assistance has been offered to all those affected, according to the archdiocese.
The individual alleging the abuse says it occurred on a number of separate occasions in the mid-1970s while he was a student at the parish school of St John Catholic Church in Frederick, according to the archdiocese.
The archdiocese said it learned of the allegations in June, and immediately reported them to civil authorities in Frederick County, who instructed the archdiocese not to take any further action, including continuing its own investigation or making contact with Bevan.
The archdiocese said it received permission from the authorities Tuesday to resume its investigation, and representatives of the archdiocese met with Bevan on Wednesday. Bevan denied the allegation, according to the archdiocese. However, he was removed from ministry, and his faculties to function as a priest were revoked, pending an archdiocesan investigation.
This is the second time Bevan has been the target of abuse charges, according to the archdiocese.
Sean Caine, spokesman for the archdiocese, said Sunday that the two cases are not related but that "there are some similarities."
Because of those similarities, the archdiocese is interested in talking with anyone who might have information about the 2005 charges who didn't come forward at the time, the Baltimore Sun says.
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