Pope Francis has dismissed a Roman Catholic priest from New Hampshire who was convicted of stealing USD 300,000 from a hospital, a bishop and a deceased priest's estate.
Monsignor Edward Arsenault, who served as the face of the church in the state during a sex abuse scandal, pleaded guilty to three theft charges in 2014 and is serving a jail sentence.
The Diocese of Manchester said today that Arsenault no longer has "faculties to act, function, or present himself as a priest."
Prosecutors said Arsenault billed the church for lavish meals and travel for himself and often a male partner.
He was convicted of writing checks from the dead priest's estate to himself and his brother and billing a hospital $250 an hour for consulting work he never did.
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