A Missouri Catholic priest was discovered responsible by the church of soliciting intercourse from an grownup throughout a confession, church officers introduced.
Father Ignazio Medina, a priest with the Diocese of Jefferson Metropolis, is barred from holding any church workplace, celebrating mass to the general public and listening to confessions from parishioners efficient instantly after the church tribunal discovered him responsible.
Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson Metropolis launched an investigation into Medina after receiving a report by way of the diocese’s abuse hotline in April 2022, the diocese mentioned.
On Nov. 27, 2023, Medina, a priest at Our Girl of the Lake Parish in Lake Ozark, was discovered responsible by decree by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Religion in Rome. Medina didn’t attraction the choice.
“I need to be clear that sexual solicitation throughout confession is a sacrilege, a criminal offense in our Church, and a grave type of abuse; it can’t be tolerated,” Bishop McKnight mentioned in a press release. “With God’s assist we should work to proceed to eradicate abuse from all corners of our Church.
The Bishop mentioned he’s met and spoken to Medina “to specific my considerations and knowledgeable him he won’t be allowed to have fun or concelebrate Mass publicly.” Nonetheless he’ll nonetheless have the ability to carry out funeral lots for his speedy household, attend the gathering of clergymen at their annual convention and the Chrism Mass, a mass celebrated by bishops for his or her clergymen.
Medina stays a priest of the Diocese of Jefferson Metropolis and continues to obtain help as a retired priest, the diocese mentioned.
“I thank the sufferer on this case for stepping ahead, and I pray for therapeutic,” Bishop McKnight mentioned.
“As we transfer ahead collectively, I search the renewal of our Church by dealing with the terrible actuality of abuse with the hope and beauty of the Gospel which supplies the therapeutic all of us want,” he added.
