defrock

Born in 1932 in the northeastern province of Siem Reap, home to Cambodia’s famous Angkor temples, Tep Vong was first ordained as a monk in his hometown in 1952, serving until he was forced to defrock when the Khmer Rouge came to power.

Only the Pope can appoint or defrock a bishop.

The quarter-century legacy of John Paul II — then pope, now a saint — has been badly tarnished by evidence he turned a blind eye to abuse even when the Vatican had copiously well-documented cases and even when bishops in the U.S., facing mounting legal liability, begged the Vatican for fast-track ways to defrock abusers in the 1980s.

The quarter-century legacy of John Paul II — then pope, now a saint — has been badly tarnished by evidence he turned a blind eye to abuse even when the Vatican had copiously well-documented cases and even when bishops in the U.S., facing mounting legal liability, begged the Vatican for fast-track ways to defrock abusers in the 1980s.

He said the Vatican’s current legislation precluded an investigation that could have led to a harsher penalty — the most stringent church penalty is to defrock a priest, essentially making him a regular layman again.