Last Tuesday, a Missouri man filed a lawsuit in Cass County Circuit Court accusing a priest of the diocese of Kansas City-City Joseph of fathering a child with his wife.

According to the suit, the affair took place in 2004 and 2005 after the man's wife had begun counseling with the priest after she lost her job with the diocese. She and her family had been parishioners at the priest's parish during that time. In late 2010, the man learned through a paternity test that the priest had fathered his seven year-old son.

The diocese apparently became aware that the priest may have fathered the child in September of 2010. Shortly after, Bishop Robert Finn suspended him from active ministry, apologized to the family, and offered to pay for counseling.

Sources said Bishop Finn and the priest came to an agreement in February concerning his return to active ministry, and the priest is now serving at St. Joseph the Worker in Independence, and currently sits on the Diocesan Tribunal, which handles annulments.

In the suit, the man and his three children ask for an unspecified amount of damages against the priest and the diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

Under Missouri law, a paternity action may be brought at any time by a child, the child's natural mother, a man presumed to be the child's father, a man claiming to be a father, any individual who has had legal custody of a child for more than sixty days, and the Family Support Division of Missouri Social Services.

Source: Reuters, "Lawsuit claims Missouri priest fathered parishoner's child," Jevin Murphy, Sep 27, 2011.