Parishioners at Santa María de la Paz Catholic Community in south Santa Fe cried while others sat in stunned silence when Archbishop John C. Wester delivered the devastating news at the start of each Sunday Mass a year ago.

The head of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe informed churchgoers the Rev. Daniel Balizan, a charismatic pastor and their shepherd for the past decade, had been removed from his post amid an investigation into alleged misconduct.