I can’t remember the last time I read about an incident like this, or saw it reported in the media. But here it is, one of the most serious charges a priest can face, reported in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

A Waukesha County Catholic priest has been placed on administrative leave while the Archdiocese of Milwaukee investigates an allegation that he violated the seal of confession, the first time a local priest has faced such a charge in nearly 30 years.

Archbishop Jerome Listecki relieved Father David Verhasselt of his duties as pastor at St. Catherine of Alexandria Church in the Town of Oconomowoc on Monday, based on a preliminary investigation by the archdiocese’s tribunal, according to the archdiocese.

Verhasselt could face a local or Vatican trial and excommunication if he is found to have intentionally violated the canon law provision that prohibits priests from divulging what takes place in the sacrament of confession. But Father Paul Hartmann, judicial vicar for the archdiocese, called that a worst-case scenario.

“The recommendation is always that the penalty be commensurate with the gravity and the damage done,” Hartmann said Tuesday.

Deacon David Zimprich, who is filling in at St. Catherine’s until an interim priest can be appointed, said Tuesday that parishioners were devastated by the news.

“He’s their shepherd, they love him,” said Zimprich, who serves as the archdiocese’s coordinator of deacon services. “All we can tell people to do is to keep him in their prayers, and that maybe it didn’t happen. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding.”

Archdiocese officials declined to comment on the content or circumstances surrounding the alleged breach, but Hartmann said the church had no choice but to act “when there’s the possibility of connecting a penitent with a particular sin.”

Verhasselt, 62, was ordained in 1989 and spent six years as administrator at St. Catherine’s before being named pastor in 2000. He could not be reached for comment.