Priests Duesdieker Lahr Laicized
Title: Two former Diocese of Jefferson City priests dismissed
Author: Joe Gamm
Publisher: News Tribune
Date: 05JUL2020
Two men who are on the Diocese of Jefferson City’s list of priests who were credibly accused of clergy abuse have been laicized, or dismissed from being priests.
Robert Duesdieker was ordained in 1980 and Mel Lahr in 1972. The changes came at the conclusion of a canonical process that included an independent internal review of diocese files, consultation of the Diocesan Review Board and an appeal to the Holy See for a formal decision, Bishop W. Shawn McKnight said in a statement.
“These changes are the direct result of the responses to the initial publication of a list of credibly accused clergy in November 2018,” McKnight said. “Because of this transparency, survivors of clerical abuse and their families felt safe to come forward and share their pain, several for the first time in decades.”
The victims’ courage allowed McKnight to follow the church’s process and have the men permanently removed from the clerical state, he said.
“For too many survivors of sexual abuse, the pain of abuse is still present in their lives,” McKnight said. “The announcement of this updated list is another effort to assure survivors that they are being heard and that their healing is a top priority for me.”
Within the statement, McKnight said the diocese added John C. Condit to the list of credibly accused in the diocese.
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