A fired Wisconsin pastoral associate, Ruth Kolpack, has been notified she will not be reinstated to her old job. That much was predictable.
Less predictable, perhaps, is that she was also told she cannot serve in any leadership position - even voluntary - in her Beloit parish.
The diocesan explanation: Bishop Robert Morlino simply cannot trust her. Trust, once broken, is not easily repaired.
The lost of the bishop's trust has to do with Kolpack's failure to uphold official Catholic teachings, according to the diocese.
Kolpack's supporters say she has been a faithful church servant and an true Christian witness.