Jon Frank in The Virginian-Pilot writes that Terrell L. Mailhiot, a lay minister of justice and peace at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in the Diocese of Richmond had been arrested on a charge of soliciting sex from an undercover police officer, and now convicted.
Before Mailhiot's sentencing, the Catholic Diocese of Richmond sent a letter to the judge presiding over his case. In that letter, the diocese said Mailhiot could keep his job if he were convicted of a misdemeanor and if the case did not become "public knowledge."
The conviction was for a felony, and so Mailhiot was fired. But the letter became public and controversial.
A Richmond attorney who represents the diocese said the letter to Circuit Judge Patricia L. West expressed a standard business practice.
At the Diocesan web site I see that the
Office of Justice & Peace assists the Bishop and the people of the Diocese in applying Catholic social teaching to today's issues by acting to meet social needs, reflecting on the underlying causes of social problems and transforming social structures to protect better human life and dignity.
Unless this would require deviation from standard business practice, I assume.
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