Two priests of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are taking voluntary leaves of absence as a result of “prior misconduct which occurred many years ago,” the archdiocese announced Nov. 3.
The archdiocese reported that the two situations are unrelated but happened to occur at the same time.
The misconduct did not involve the clerical sexual abuse of minors or any parish members where the priests served.
Father David Barrett, who has been serving as an assistant priest at St. Wenceslaus in New Prague since 2009, and Father Paul Moudry, who has served as pastor at St. Margaret Mary in Golden Valley since 2001, will not perform any public ministry during the leave and will cooperate with the archdiocese’s Ministerial Standards Board, which will make recommendations as a result of a review of the priests’ actions.
Father Barrett has been under supervision by pastoral leadership and others at the archdiocese and has undergone counseling during his current and prior assignments, the statement said.
