A SYDNEY Catholic priest who revealed he has been married for a year has been removed from his post by church officials.

Father Kevin Lee, a priest at Padre Pio parish in Glenmore Park, told Channel Seven last night he married his wife, whom he met in the Philippines, in secret last year.

''I've fallen in love and I've got married and it's outside of most people's awareness,'' he said. ''But I'm sure people within the church could have had a suspicion.''

He said his public admission was motivated by the fact that many priests led a double life. ''I think celibacy has to go,'' he said.

The head of the Diocese of Parramatta, Anthony Fisher OP, denied Father Lee's claims that most priests lived double lives and that the church knew about the priest's marriage.