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Over the weekend, the Archdiocese announced that they were made aware of a settlement involving Benedictine Father Paschal Morlino dating back to 2018, when there was a complaint filed citing multiple concerns involving the priest allegedly sexually harassing a man.
"In 2018, an individual filed a complaint with the Archdiocese involving Father Morlino, citing multiple concerns," a spokesperson for the Archdiocese said. "The complaint did not include any information at all about the issues that led to the settlement mentioned above.
"The 2018 complaint centered on Father Morlino’s alleged sexual harassment of an adult man; however, at the time of the complaint the man was (dead), and therefore the third-party allegation could not be corroborated."
According to church officials, they were alerted to Morlino's reported misconduct following a probe by a Baltimore newspaper on Thursday, and within 24 hours, he was out as pastor of Saint Benedict Church in Southwest Baltimore.
Officials say that he has been stripped of any priestly faculties and jointly suspended. He is also barred from celebrating Mass or engaging in any public ministry in the Archdiocese.
He had been a part of the community for 30 years, according to the church. He also founded the Adelphoi Village non-profit and he carried the honorary title of Archimandrite of Akka, which was bestowed by the Melkite Catholic Church for his work in Israel.
The Archdiocese said that Morlino, 83, has now returned to his religious community at Saint Vincent Archabbey in Pennsylvania as the investigation into his actions continues.
Moving forward, the Archdiocese will appoint a new administrator to oversee St. Benedict, which is owned and operated by the Benedictines.
The nature of the harassment has not been released.
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