Photo credit: Kansas City Archdiocese

One of the leaders of the Holy Spirit Catholic Church, and a member of the Kansas City, Kansas Diocese, has been arrested and formally charged with new accusations including pedophilia and sexual assault of a minor child.

The Holy Spirit Catholic Church, located at 11300 W 103rd Street in Overland Park, claims that they've temporarily removed Fr. Scott Kallal from his Associate leadership position over the allegations that he's had inappropriate sexual conduct with an underage member of the Church.

<strong>What's becoming all too familiar in the Catholic church is that once again the Archdiocese does not mention that the Priest is being removed for sexual relations with a child, seemingly to try and sweep this matter under the rug, as if this is now standard operating procedure.</strong>

Catholic faithful from the Church however report that an announcement about Fr. Scott Kallal's removal was made this past weekend at the end of the weekly services, and the Archdiocese does provide information for reporting sexual abuse by Priests on their website now.

Fr. Scott Kallal, 35, is also a Member of the Apostles of the Interior Life, an Order of Priests whose primary ministry is to provide spiritual direction and help young children discern their vocations.

Law enforcement reports that Kallal is originally from Jerseyville, Illinois.

Tuesday afternoon, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas released the following statement:

<i>”The Archdiocese has received allegations from two separate sources concerning boundary violations by one of its priests, Father Scott Kallal, AVI. A preliminary investigation into the allegations by the Archdiocese revealed violations of some of the Archdiocese’s safe environment guidelines which all clerics, employees and volunteers are asked to observe when interacting with young people. Because one of the allegations involved a minor, the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) has been notified. The investigation is ongoing. The Independent Review Board has been asked to review the matter and make recommendations.”</i>

<i>“Father Kallal has been suspended from the exercise of his public priestly ministry pending the outcome of the DCF and the Archdiocesan investigations and the recommendation of the Independent Review Board. Father Kallal denies any moral misconduct or malicious intent and has agreed to undergo evaluation and counseling. The Archbishop asks for prayers for all involved in this situation and reminds Catholics of the presumption of innocence unless proof indicates otherwise.”</i>

<i>“ The Archdiocese takes very seriously any allegations made against employees, clerics or volunteers who serve in the Archdiocese. Anyone who has knowledge of inappropriate conduct by any priest, deacon, employee or volunteer is encouraged to contact the confidential report line at (913) 647-3051 to make a report to archdiocesan report investigator Jan Saylor. To report sexual misconduct or criminal behavior, call the above number, go to www.archkck.org/reportabuse to report online or call the DCF or local law enforcement directly.”</i>

A description in his bio states the following:

<i>”Fr. Scott Kallal is one of the first Apostle of the Interior Life priests whose ministry primarily consists of spiritual direction and helping young people discern their vocations. After studying bioengineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was a FOCUS student leader, he got his STB from the Pontifical University of the Lateran and his STL from the Pontifical Institute of Spirituality Teresianum. When he's not out dominating the ultimate frisbee field or hanging with his brother Apostles, he is on a mission to lead men to glory.”</i>

<a href="http://ezinearticles.com/expert/Scott_Kallal/1239318#more-information">There are dozens of online blog posts by Fr. Scott Kallal listed here.</a>

Included in his online blog posts eerily enough is one which Scott Kallal wrote titled: <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Everyone-Says-Im-Supposed-to-Have-a-Spiritual-Director,-But-How-Do-I-Choose-a-Good-One?&id=7435023

">Everyone Says I'm Supposed To Have a Spiritual Director But How Do I Choose A Good One</a>

Source:

http://www.kctv5.com/story/35966393/overland-park-catholic-priest-charged-with-child-sex-crimes