BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Questions remain about the removal of a priest recruited from the Philippines by the Catholic Diocese of Belleville to replace a cleric arrested for theft.

(Credit: diego_cervo)
(Credit: diego_cervo)

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that parishioners in two small towns near southern Illinois’ Rend Lake weren’t told why the Rev. Peter Balili was removed in 2014.

A U.S. Conference of Bishops’ notice that Balili was dismissed over “inappropriate conduct regarding certain of his parishioners” doesn’t appear to have been released by the Belleville diocese to its members. The notice did not specify the nature of that conduct or the age of the parishioners.

The San Francisco archdiocese says that prior to coming to Belleville, Balili was dismissed from a northern California parish over improper Facebook contact with students.