US priest shot by 'abuse victim'

A Roman Catholic priest has been shot and seriously wounded by a man who had accused him of abusing him during his youth.

Reverend Maurice Blackwell, who was put on a permanent leave of absence by the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1998 after he admitted having an inappropriate relationship with a minor, was shot outside his Baltimore home on Monday evening.

He is in a serious, but stable, condition at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

Police spokeswoman Ragina Averella said that Dontee Stokes, 26, surrendered on the same day and admitted shooting Reverend Blackwell. He has now been charged with attempted murder and assault.

Local media reports quoted witnesses as saying that Reverend Blackwell had been outside his home and talking to an acquaintance when he was shot.

Teenage boy

Reverend Blackwell, 56, was pastor of Baltimore's St Edward Roman Catholic Church from 1979 until October 1998, when he was placed on leave of absence after acknowledging he had had a relationship with a teenage boy before his 1974 ordination.

He has subsequently been working as a drug treatment counsellor in Washington DC.

Mr Stokes accused Reverend Blackwell of molesting him in 1993, prompting Church officials to suspend the priest's ministry.

Reverend Blackwell underwent a psychological evaluation at a Church-run treatment centre in Connecticut and was allowed to return to his duties when police dropped the investigation on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

A panel set up by Baltimore Cardinal William Keeler to review the archdiocese's handling of sex abuse cases later criticised the decision to allow him to return to the ministry.

Growing scandal

Cardinal Keeler was among the US cardinals who met Pope John Paul II at the Vatican last month for an unprecedented meeting on sexual abuse in the US Church.

The cardinals returned with a set of proposed standards that would remove priests from active ministry after one credible accusation. The proposal will be submitted to a meeting of US bishops next month in Dallas, Texas.

The scandal has caused several Catholic dioceses to expel priests previously accused of child sex abuse.