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A Catholic priest, who has served in the Washington, DC Archdiocese for the past six years has been removed from ministry and ordered home to Germany to face allegations that he sexually abused teenage girls there some two decades ago. Church officials say the German Bishops’ Conference informed the Archdiocese about the allegations involving Reverend Michael Schapfel, who served as the chaplain of the 75-family German Pastoral Mission of Washington, DC from 2004 until earlier this month. All of the allegations involve young women in Germany and there are no allegations involving the priest’s work in the United States. The Diocese of Mainz in Germany learned of the allegations on March 30th, reported it to authorities and recalled Shapfel during the Easter holiday. An archdiocese spokeswoman said local church officials were not told about it until Tuesday.

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