Video Screengrab / News 15
CV NEWS FEED // A Louisiana bishop this week informed a former deacon that he was excommunicated, months after he left Catholicism and the diaconate because his teenage son was abused by a priest.
Scott Peyton served as a deacon at St. Peter’s Church in St. Landry Parish in the diocese of Lafayette with Fr. Michael Guidry. In 2019, Guidry, 78, molested Peyton’s teenage son. Guidry was sentenced to seven years in prison after he pled guilty to the crime. The Peytons also filed a civil lawsuit against the diocese, which was settled in 2021.
In December of 2023, Peyton sent an email to Bishop John Douglas Deshotel informing him that he decided to leave the Catholic Church and the diaconate.
According to news outlet The Advocate, Peyton wrote that the decision was made after “deep reflection” and after “years of allegations of sexual abuse committed by church clergy had ‘shaken my faith.’”
Peyton continued:
The pain and suffering endured by the victims, our family, and most importantly our son, coupled with what appears to be a systemic failure in addressing and preventing such heinous acts, have left me disillusioned and unable to reconcile my commitment to the Church with my conscience.
Bishop Deshotel responded initially with an email expressing sadness about Peyton’s decision, and excommunication was not mentioned.
According to KADN News 15, Deshotel wrote, “I was sad to receive your email deciding to leave the Church and cease to exercise your vocation as Deacon. I will remember you in my prayers and masses that you be open to the gift of faith in the Catholic Church founded by Jesus Christ and built on the Apostles.”
Deshotel added, “Sacramentally you are a Deacon though you choose not to exercise your ministry.”
In mid-March, Peyton received a decree from Deshotel informing him of his excommunication.
“The censures of the Church are intended to be medicinal, perhaps as much for those who impose them as for those who are subject to them,” Deshotel wrote. “It is with this objective that I mournfully must declare them.”
“A bishop never wishes to communicate a censure to anyone,” Deshotel wrote:
I am aware that your family has suffered a trauma but the answer does not lie in leaving the Most Holy Eucharist: We are not Catholics because the Church on earth is perfect but because the Lord has entrusted us to a mystery greater than ourselves, which He established as the means to our salvation.
According to The Advocate, Deshotel’s letter also explained, “As a cleric you will likely understand that your decision has theological and canonical effects beyond your own private intentions. Whether these matters are of any more concern to you, I hope you understand that I have duties which cannot be omitted.”
Peyton told KADN News 15 that there was no indication that Guidry had been excommunicated, which he called a “hypocrisy.”
“If molesting a child is not grave enough to get excommunicated, but telling the bishop that I don’t agree with how he’s running the diocese and how the church is handling the sex abuse crisis, if that’s a grave sin, then I guess I’ll wear the badge of excommunication as an honor,” Peyton said:
I think the hypocrisy in this excommunication speaks volumes of the leadership of Bishop Deshotel. I think he should resign his leadership and those that are running this diocese behind the scenes should step down along with him.
Under current Code of Canon law, being excommunicated does not mean the person has been “kicked out of the Catholic Church,” but he or she is prohibited from receiving the sacraments, and from exercising any ecclesial responsibilities such as teaching catechesis. Excommunicated clergy members are not permitted to administer the sacraments or blessings.
For more information about the different types of excommunication, its effects, and purpose, click here. For a list of the actions that constitute an excommunication under current Code of Canon Law, click here.
