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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Ramon Antonio Vargas

Alabama priest leaves clergy after woman alleges ‘private companionship’ beginning when she was 17

Robert Sullivan Heather Jones Alabama Leo XIV United States Birmingham
Robert Sullivan told his congregation he was taking a leave of absence on 3 August 2025.
Robert Sullivan told his congregation he was taking a leave of absence on 3 August 2025. Photograph: Youtube

A longtime Roman Catholic priest in Alabama has voluntarily left the clergy after a woman alleged to his superiors that he provided her financial support in exchange for “private companionship” including sex beginning when she was 17.

Robert Sullivan’s self-imposed removal from the priesthood – known as laicization – was announced Wednesday, the day before the US holiday of Thanksgiving, in a public statement from Birmingham, Alabama, by Bishop Steven Raica.

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