Ryan Priestly Faculties Removed
The notorious paedophile priest Vincent Gerard Ryan will no longer be permitted to celebrate the sacraments or dress as a priest, after a decision to remove his priestly faculties.
Key points:
- The 82-year-old can no longer dress in clerical garb or identify himself as a priest
- Victim advocates say it does not go far enough, arguing instead that Ryan should be defrocked
- In the ABC’s Revelation program, Ryan was seen performing mass in his home
The 82-year-old walked free on parole last month; he had served less than half of a three-year sentence relating to two altar boys.
Ryan had previously spent 14 years in prison for abusing more than 30 boys.
The Catholic Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle, Bill Wright, had been pressed to reveal what steps he had taken to ask Pope Francis to remove Ryan from the priesthood.
At the time he was paroled, Ryan was still listed as a priest on the diocese website.
The ABC can reveal that his status has now changed and his faculties have been permanently removed.