Holy Father Pope Francis ordered the dismissal of a parish priest in the Diocese of Borongan due to alleged sexual abuse involving underage.
Fr. James Abella, chancellor of the Diocese of Borongan, announced the Pope's decision in an Informationis Causa or notice posted on the diocese's Facebook page on Sunday, Sept. 17.
"Notice is hereby given that the Holy Father Pope Francis has dismissed from the clerical state PIO CULTURA ACLON of the Diocese of Borongan," he said.
The chancellor said Aclon is "no longer a cleric and cannot exercise his priestly ministry in the church."
Diocese of Borongan Most Rev. Crispin Varquez also mandated the said dismissal.
In a news release on the same day, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said the notice was read in all parish churches, chaplaincies, and chapels of the Diocese of Borongan.
The group then assured that cases involving the clergy, particularly on the matters of sexual abuse, would not be concealed.
CBCP said it had formed an office charged with protect minors from alleged sexual abuses by the clergy and developed a system in each parish for handling the reported sexual abuse or misconduct.
According to the Catholic organizational assembly, the dismissed priest last served at a minor seminary in Borongan City prior to his suspension.
