Rev. Paschal Morlino removed by Archdiocese of Baltimore as allegations of secret $200K settlement surfaces

BALTIMORE - Rev. Pascal Morlino, who has led the parish at St. Benedict Church in Southwest Baltimore for more than 30 years, was removed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

This comes after our media partners at The Baltimore Banner reported that Morlino quietly paid $200,000 to settle allegations of fraud and sexual assault.

According to the Banner, a small number of parishioners heard a statement from the archdiocese read during Saturday's Mass. However, those attending Sunday's Mass at St. Benedict appeared to have been unaware.

The Banner reports that Morlino, 85, was not named in a recent attorney general's report on the history of sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, which details reports of on the history of sex abuse from 158 clergy, teachers, seminarians and deacons within the Archdiocese. The report alleges abuse of more than 600 children going back to the 1940s. 

In an interview Thursday with The Banner, he denied the allegations. He confirmed he had paid the man who had accused him of rape and fraud five years ago "to be rid of him."

"My conscience is clear," Morlino told The Banner. "It's all stuff that he made up."

The Archdiocese of Baltimore said in a statement that they took action as soon it learned of the settlement.

"The Archdiocese immediately engaged in an internal investigation and within 24 hours, a decision was made to remove Father Morlino as pastor of Saint Benedict Church in Southwest Baltimore by the Archdiocese and the Benedictines and his priestly faculties were jointly suspended," the Archdiocese of Baltimore said.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore said that in 2018, a person filed a complaint with the Archdiocese involving Father Morlino, "citing multiple concerns."

The archdiocese said the complaint did not include any information about the issues that led to the settlement. The 2018 complaint, according to the archdiocese, centered on Father Morlino's alleged sexual harassment of an adult man, "however, at the time of the complaint the man was deceased, and therefore the third-party allegation could not be corroborated," the archdiocese said.

The Archdiocese is appointing a new administrator to oversee Saint Benedict Church, which is owned and operated by the Benedictines. 

Rev. Morlino is no longer allowed to celebrate Mass or engage in public ministry in the Archdiocese.