The resignation of a popular local priest is sending shockwaves throughout a Tri-State community.
The pastor at St. Susanna Catholic Parish in Mason has stepped down after he admitted to ordering the destruction of pornography and photos of young boys. He said they were on another priest’s computer at a different church.
Father Barry Stechschulte resigned on Monday after a groundswell of condemnation by many of the 14,000 people who attend St. Susanna in Mason. The resignation came four years after the pastor arrived.
The welcome note Father Stechschulte wrote in 2020 when he arrived at St. Susanna is in stark contrast to the note on the church’s website four years later, stating, “It has become evident to me, after much prayer and discernment, that for the good of our parish and school, I should step down as pastor.”
The resignation came two weeks later. In a letter to the St. Susanna Community, Father Stechschulte admitted to poorly handling a potentially illegal act at a previous parish. Stechschulte is referring to his time at the Holy Rosary Church in St. Mary’s, about 50 miles north of Dayton.
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