DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Pope Francis has defrocked an Iowa priest who was accused of abusing a minor years ago. Howard Fitzgerald, who worked at parishes in central and western Iowa over the last 35 years, received notice of the pope’s decision Monday. Fitzgerald had been placed on indefinite leave in June from his most recent position serving at two Indianola parishes and Simpson College.

A Des Moines Archdiocese review committee found credible evidence that Fitzgerald sexually abused a minor in a “decades-old incident.”  At the victim’s request, church officials have not released information about when and where the abuse occurred.

Bishop Richard Pates wrote in a memo to employees that he’s informed Fitzgerald that the pope “had personally granted dispensations in his case from the obligations of the priesthood and sacred celibacy.”