Man who died in Warren crash is defrocked priest

WARREN

Anthony Cipolla, 73, who died of a heart attack Aug. 30 just before his car crashed into a tree along Elm Road, was the same man who made headlines in Pittsburgh for being defrocked in 2002 by Pope John Paul II.

Sources have confirmed the connection, which was reported recently by Pittsburgh media.

Cipolla, who became a priest in 1972, was charged in 1978 with molesting a 9-year-old boy who went to Cipolla’s rectory for first communion instruction, according to the Associated Press. The boy’s mother later dropped the charges.

In 1988, another male who was then 33, sued, claiming that Cipolla began molesting him when he was 12. The man said the abuse continued until he was 17, the AP reported.

That same year, Bishop Donald Wuerl of the Pittsburgh Diocese removed Cipolla from public ministry.

But Cipolla appealed to the Vatican’s highest court. In 1993, the court ordered Bishop Wuerl to return Cipolla to the ministry. But Bishop Wuerl sought reconsideration, providing the court with additional facts.

In 1995, the court reversed its earlier decision and upheld Cipolla’s ban. It became a precedent-setting case, giving bishops more leeway to remove alleged abusers, according to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

The diocese settled the 1988 case over Cipolla’s objections in 1993, but Cipolla was never convicted of child molestation, the AP said.

Read more of the story in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.