CNA Staff, Oct 15, 2020 / 19:00 pm
A Byzantine priest in Indiana has been ordered to a life of prayer and penance two years after he was placed on administrative leave for a credible accusation of sexual abuse. The priest made headlines in 2018 when he claimed to have been attacked in his parish church; a claim the eparchy said later had been fabricated.
After a period of "appropriate due process according to canon (Church) law" Fr. Basil Hutsko has been ordered to live a life of prayer and penance by Bishop Milan Lach, S.J. of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma, the eparchy said in an Aug. 17 letter posted online, that was first reported this week by the Chicago Tribune.
"A cleric who has been ordered to live a life of prayer and penance has been permanently removed from engaging in public ministry and does not live on premises belonging to the Eparchy," the letter stated.
"He is not permitted to celebrate Divine Liturgy/Mass publicly or to administer the sacraments. He is forbidden to wear a clerical garb and present himself as a priest. He is bound in conscience to pray and offer acts of penance for those in need of healing due to the harmful actions of clergy," the letter added.