Fr. James Gandrau, a former pastor of St. Monica church on Mercer Island, died last week. He was 80.

He was the pastor at St. Monica between 1977 and 1990.

In 2006, Fr. Gandrau was removed from ministry. His dismissal was “because of credible child sex abuse allegations against him,” according to published statements from the Archdiocese of Seattle.

He was one of five priests who were removed from ministry at the time by the church in the wake of allegations about sexual abuse.

Gandrau was assigned to five parishes in the archdiocese, beginning in 1958 and ending with his retirement in 2002.

Gandrau also served as the editor of the Catholic Northwest Progress — the Seattle Archdiocese’s newspaper — for nearly two decades, from 1960-77.

His funeral is at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Dec. 5, at Our Lady of Fatima Church in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle.