Robert Sullivan—until recently the vicar general, or second-ranking official, of the Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama—has been dispensed from the obligations of the clerical state at his own request.
Sullivan began a leave of absence last summer following the publication of a report that he carried on a sexual relationship with a young woman beginning when she was 17.
The woman “detailed years of sexual encounters, travel, financial support and a nondisclosure agreement for $273,000,” according to a local media report. Bishop Steven Raica said that “a diocesan financial review, initiated at my request due to the significant payments alleged to have been made by then-Father Sullivan, was recently completed and found no link between the allegations and any diocesan, parish, or school funds.”