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Pastor Removed After Greensburg Diocese Received Allegation

Matt Rourke
/
AP
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro holds hands with Judy Deaven whose son was a victim of sexual abuse by a priest as a boy, during a news conference on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018.

The Roman Catholic pastor of a southwestern Pennsylvania parish has been removed from ministry after the local diocese received what it calls a credible allegation of the sexual abuse of a minor.

Wednesday's revelation by the Greensburg Diocese comes amid growing fallout from a state grand jury report that accused a succession of church leaders of covering up abuse by 300 Catholic priests in Pennsylvania since the 1940s.

The Greensburg Diocese says the allegation against Monsignor Michael Matusak dates back almost 20 years. He's at least the third Catholic clergy member in Pennsylvania to be under investigation independently of the grand jury report.

The diocese says it relayed the allegation to state child welfare authorities and the county prosecutor.

The diocese says it's the only allegation it ever received against Matusak.

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