Excommunicated Catholic deacon still waiting on overdue appeal outcome after his son was molested by priest

Scott Peyton, a Louisiana deacon who resigned from the Catholic Church after a priest admitted to abusing his son, has been waiting over a year for the Vatican to rule on his appeal of his excommunication by the local bishop. Peyton's attorney has now written to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith—the Vatican office responsible for clerical discipline—requesting an update on the delayed decision, characterizing the case as "nuanced and requiring careful consideration." The excommunication came months after Peyton left the Lafayette diocese once the priest's abuse of his son was acknowledged. Peyton's appeal challenges the bishop's decision to remove him from the church, even as the priest who committed the abuse remained a member of the clergy. The case underscores the tension between accountability for abuse victims' families and the institutional church's handling of both perpetrators and those who speak out against them.