Source: http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008 ... -wife.html
September 27, 2008 at 3:37 PM |
A west suburban man is suing a former Catholic priest for allegedly providing marriage counseling to the man and his estranged wife, then quitting the church and moving in with the wife.
Stephen Crane, 52, of Elmhurst filed the lawsuit in Will County Circuit Court Thursday against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet and Christopher Floss, a former priest at the Elmhurst Visitation Parish. The suit seeks damages relating to his divorce and the breakup of the family.
According to the suit as reported by WBBM, Stephen and Maureen Crane sought marriage counseling from Floss in the spring of 2006 at the church rectory. But in October 2006, at Floss' suggestion, Maureen Crane began individual counseling with Floss, the suit claims.
In December 2006, the church choir arranged a pilgrimage to Rome, and Floss advised the couple to take the trip, where he would renew their marriage vows, the suit claims. However, while in Rome in January 2007, Maureen Crane asked her husband for a divorce.
The suit claims that later in January 2007, Floss left the priesthood, and in February 2007, Maureen Crane, now 44, left the family home to move in with Floss at a residence in Woodridge.
Crane says he's suffered economic losses, the result of quitting his job to care for the couple's children. He is seeking at least $450,000 in damages.
Floss could not be reached to comment. A diocesan spokesperson did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.
-- Associated Press contributed to this report
