Man Sues Missouri Diocese Over Priest’s Affair With Wife

A Missouri man is suing the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese a year after learning a Roman Catholic priest fathered a child with the man’s wife half a decade ago.

The civil lawsuit filed in Cass County Circuit Court claims the church knew about the Rev. Joseph Matt’s sexual misconduct but remained silent.

The Kansas City Star reports the man who filed the suit didn’t find out he was not the biological father of one of his sons until last September.

The diocese issued a statement Monday saying that soon after the woman’s husband reported the issue to diocese officials, Matt acknowledged having an affair with the woman in 2004 and 2005.

Matt was removed from his ministerial assignment and the diocese acknowledged it was because of the affair.