A Belleville Catholic Diocese parish in southeastern Illinois is
without a priest following a controversy involving a church laptop
computer that was found to have pornography on it, according to a parish
leader.
The Rev. Bernardine Nganzi, who is originally from
Uganda, has not been at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Lawrenceville
for several months, parishioners said.
The computer was removed
from the priest’s office in the church rectory, or living quarters, by
local church officials as part of an investigation, according to Larry
Pulleyblank, president of the St. Lawrence Catholic Church parish
council. Pulleyblank said he was told by a representative of Bishop
Edward K. Braxton that the investigation of the computer turned up no
child-related sexual images. It was turned over to the diocese and
examined by the FBI in October or November.
,,,
This is the second recent controversy involving a Catholic priest from another country in the Belleville Diocese.
Another
Belleville Diocese priest, the Rev. Peter Balili, was removed recently
and sent home to the Philippines, according to a U.S. Conference of
Bishops notice and the Associated Press.
Balili was the former
pastor of St. Andrew Catholic Church in Christopher and St. Mary
Catholic Church in Sesser, near Rend Lake. The diocese has declined to
say why he was removed. Before arriving in Illinois, he was dismissed
from a parish in Northern California over improper Facebook contact with
students.
Belleville Diocese parish is without priest after porn found on computer | Belleville News-Democrat
No comments:
Post a Comment