OTTAWA, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A Canadian Roman Catholic ex-bishop convicted of importing child pornography also will face disciplinary action by the Vatican, church officials said.
Raymond Lahey, 71, was free Thursday, a day after being sentenced to time served for having pornographic photos and videos on his computer following his arrest at the Ottawa airport in 2009.
While he still faces two years of probation and his computer can be searched at any time, the archbishop of St. John's, Newfoundland, where Lahey is originally from, told The (St. John's) Telegram the Vatican had been following the case for some time.
"I know ever since the initial guilty plea and even before that, the church has begun the proceedings of gathering information," Archbishop Martin Currie said. "I think they will probably proceed as quickly as possible."
Lahey was most recently the former head of the Diocese of Antigonish in Nova Scotia, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said.
Currie told the CBC the Vatican has three options.
"First would be dismissal from the clerical state altogether. Secondly, he could be sentenced to a life of prayer and penance in a monastery, which in a sense would be house arrest.
"A third would be that he may be able to celebrate Eucharist privately, but he would not be able to identify himself as a cleric by title, by address or by association," Currie said.
Currie told the broadcaster he will make a statement on the issue at next Sunday's mass.
