Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published April 27, 2007

Detroit — Three priests of the Archdiocese of Detroit have been permanently removed from ministry and one laicized as the result of final decisions resolving the last four remaining cases of clergy sex abuse in the archdiocese.

The final resolution of the cases, in which the priests had previously been placed on administrative leave, is the result of separate canonical trials authorized by and reported to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said Msgr. Ricardo Bass, Cardinal Adam Maida’s delegate for clergy sexual abuse matters.

"In accord with the provisions of the ‘Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People’ and the ‘Essential Norms for Diocesan/Eparchial Policies Dealing with Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests or Deacons,’ the following priests have been permanently removed from ecclesiastical ministry, are prohibited from wearing clerical clothes and publicly presenting themselves as priests: Dennis Laesch, Ronald Williams and James Wysocki," Msgr. Bass advised in an April 20 letter to the priests of the archdiocese.

Regarding the fourth priest, he wrote, "Dennis Duggan has been dismissed from the clerical state in accord with the provisions of the above mentioned documents."

The three who are permanently suspended from ministry — Laesch, Williams and Wysocki — still remain priests, though they should not be identified as "Father."

In the case of Duggan, who also should no longer be identified as "Father," the dismissal from the clerical state — or laicization — means that he is removed and barred from priestly ministry, and also dispensed from the promise of celibacy and other priestly obligations.

The "decisions complete those cases of which we have been made aware and which have been addressed according to the ‘Essential Norms and the Code of Canon Law,’" he said.

Msgr. Bass, who also serves as the pastor of Prince of Peace Parish in West Bloomfield Township, added that the archdiocese in general — and Cardinal Maida in particular — continue to "work for and pray for the day when those who have been touched in any way by these tragic events will be healed of the scars which they carry within themselves." 

He concluded by asking his brother priests to keep all those affected by these events in their prayers.

Additional information on archdiocesan policy and procedures regarding clerical sexual abuse is available at www.aodonline.org; click on Promise to Protect, Pledge to Heal. To report allegations of sexual abuse by priests or any archdiocesan employees, call (866) 343-8055.