Vatican upholds excommunication of Louisiana deacon whose son was abused by a priest

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has confirmed the excommunication of Scott Peyton, an American permanent deacon, rejecting the appeal he had filed with Rome. The decree was signed on May 22, 2026 by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández and Archbishop John Joseph Kennedy, and took almost two and a half years to reach him. Peyton received it on October 16. The priest who sexually abused Peyton's son is still a priest.

Background: the abuse and the decision to leave

Peyton was ordained a permanent deacon in 2012 and served at St. Peter Parish in Morrow, in the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana. In 2018 his son Oliver said that the pastor, Michael Guidry, had sexually assaulted him in 2015. Guidry, now 83, pleaded guilty in 2019 to abusing a minor and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with three suspended. He remains in prison.

In December 2023 Peyton told Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel of Lafayette that he intended to leave the Catholic Church and the diaconal ministry. In January 2024 he and his family were formally received into Trinity Anglican Church. After Peyton announced the move on social media, Deshotel said in March 2024 that the deacon had incurred latae sententiae excommunication for schism under canon 751 of the Code of Canon Law.

The priest who abused his son remains a priest

The dicastery's decree turns on the distinction between occasionally attending worship in another denomination and the formal, public act of joining another ecclesial community. It concluded that Peyton's reception into the Anglican church, together with his announcement on social media, showed a deliberate break with Catholic communion. The dicastery described the circumstances the family lived through as "truly tragic" and said Peyton's wish to preserve his family's Christian faith reflected "noble desires," but it concluded that those motives are not enough to justify a formal separation from the Church.

Dawn Eden Goldstein, the canon lawyer representing the Peytons without charge, said that at their October 16 meeting Deshotel acknowledged having recommended to Rome that Guidry keep the priesthood rather than be dismissed from the clerical state, citing the priest's age. Goldstein confronted the bishop directly: "You have chosen to show mercy to the priest who sexually abused your deacon's son and have chosen not to impose a penalty commensurate with that most grave crime, while imposing the most severe sanction on your own deacon. Both are clerics."

The Diocese of Lafayette has not said publicly whether Guidry has been dismissed from the clerical state, and it did not respond to requests for comment from the National Catholic Reporter.

Canonical procedure and next steps

The decree states that remitting the excommunication falls to the diocesan bishop, while lifting the impediment to exercising the holy orders Peyton received is reserved to the dicastery itself. Goldstein said Deshotel told Peyton he would lift the penalty only if Peyton repented of the schism.

Peyton has 60 days from notification to file a new appeal, and his lawyer confirmed that he intends to. The family has also said the diocese released information that allowed Oliver to be identified in their small community and did not protect them from the hostility they faced after the report. A civil suit the Peytons brought against Guidry and the diocese was settled in 2021.

Peyton's reaction

Peyton summed up his reaction in a single sentence: "Although I am disappointed, I am not surprised." He said that in Deshotel's judgment, looking for a faith community where his family could worship without reliving the trauma is a greater scandal for the diocese than the sexual abuse of a child. He called that "deeply troubling." He also pointed to the gap between the criminal sentence imposed on Guidry and the disciplinary treatment he himself has received.

Deshotel turns 75 on January 6, the age at which bishops are required to submit their resignation to the pope.