Four priests, previously suspended, are laicized

Four suspended priests of the archdiocese have been dismissed from the priesthood, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke has announced.

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has laicized, or permanently dismissed from the clerical state, James A. Funke, James L. Gummersbach, Bryan M. Kuchar and Michael L. Seidel. All four men had what was determined to be credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor against them.

Their priestly faculties had been suspended by the archdiocese and they were forbidden to function or represent themselves as priests.

A statement from the archdiocese noted that Archbishop Burke, after a careful examination of the allegations against the men, asked that the proceedings be undertaken to return the men to the lay state.

Dismissal from the clerical state, which is given with the approval of the pope, means that a priest is dispensed from all obligations that he assumed by way of sacred orders and that the archdiocese no longer has responsibility for his support.