Former Boise priest dismissed by Vatican for child pornography conviction

BOISE, Idaho (CBS 2) — The Vatican in Rome has dismissed a former Boise Catholic priest from the clerical state after hearing that he was sentenced to 25 years in prison, for possessing and distributing child pornography, Saturday morning.

Last December, William Thomas Faucher pleaded guilty to four child exploitation charges and a single count of possession of a controlled substance back in September.

The official term for the dismissal is called laicizes, a decision which the Vatican calls "serious and unappealable".

The decision came in a letter from Archbishop Giacomo Morandi, secretary to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to the Diocese of Boise Bishop Peter F. Christensen and states that Faucher’s case was presented to Pope Francis, after which the Pope decreed that Faucher is involuntarily laicized (removed) from the clerical state.

Faucher opposed the laicization, exercising his right of defense through a canonical advocate who presented his case to the Vatican, according to the Diocese of Boise.

“This news, while certainly anticipated given the overwhelming gravity of these charges, is, nevertheless deeply saddening for the Diocese of Boise, particularly for those at St. Mary’s Parish who most recently had been entrusted to his care, a trust he so egregiously violated,” Christensen said.

Christensen said he informed Faucher that he is willing to meet with him at any time at his request.