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Last month, Morlino was suspended amid a settlement over sexual misconduct allegations, and this week, the Archdiocese announced that it will largely be shutting down one of the city's Catholic churches.
Church officials announced that a pastor will not be named for Saint Benedict Church in Baltimore due to the limited number of clergy that is currently available for the ministry following Morlino's suspension.
As of Wednesday, Nov. 15, Mass, the Sacraments, sacramental preparation, and worship services will no longer continue at the church, which will provide an outreach team for parishioners to help them link up with other Catholic services in the area, including:
- Transfiguration Catholic Community;
- St. Joseph’s Monastery Parish;
- St. William of York Catholic Church;
- Our Lady of Victory Parish;
- St. Edward Church.
"The abuse allegedly occurred in or about 1993 while Father Morlino was serving as pastor at St. Benedict Church," officials said late last week. "This matter is in an early stage of investigation, and thus no determination of credibility has been made by the Archdiocese at this time.
"However, the Archdiocese is making this communication in order to solicit any relevant information as part of its investigation and in order to fulfill its commitment to open communication with affected communities."
St. Benedict is owned and operated by Saint Vincent Archabbey in Pennsylvania, the oldest Benedictine monastery in the country
The church will not completely be shutting down; however, with several community programs still planned to continue.
"The Benedictines of Saint Vincent Archabbey have engaged the parish’s dedicated volunteers and have formulated a plan to continue various community outreach programs at the Benedictine-owned campus, including Benedict’s Pantry, WVTO Radio, Saint Philomena Homeschool, Lumina Theatre Evangelization, Head Start, and the basketball camp as well as providing meeting space for AA, NA, Southwestern District Police, the Mill Hill Neighborhood Association and Violetville Senior Bingo," officials said.
"Please pray for the parishioners of St. Benedict during this difficult time."
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