BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — He had an endearing habit, parishioners recalled, of popping a grape-flavored Jolly Rancher into his mouth before entering the dim nave of St. Augustine’s Cathedral on his way to conduct Mass. He laced his sermons with jokes, they said, but knew when to be serious, too, while leading his parishioners in prayer.

These days, it is the priest, Msgr. Kevin Wallin, whose soul his parishioners are praying for.

“This is all the work of evil,” Elizabeth Badjan, a longtime parishioner, said on Sunday as she left the 8:30 a.m. Mass at the church. “He was not close enough to God. He was tempted by the devil.”

It was just days after the news that Monsignor Wallin had been indicted on charges that he had been part of a cross-country drug ring, sold crystal meth and possibly laundered the profits through an adult sex toy and video shop he owned.

“He needs our prayers,” Ms. Badjan said, holy water still visible on her forehead.

Monsignor Wallin stepped down as St. Augustine’s pastor in June 2011, telling parishioners he needed time to deal with personal and health problems, and the Diocese of Bridgeport granted him a sabbatical. Since then, according to a grand jury indictment filed on Jan. 15, he developed partnerships with crystal meth suppliers in California and sold thousands of dollars worth of the drug a month. He was arrested on Jan. 3, though the case did not become widely known until last week.