Pittsburgh ? A priest who was accused but not convicted of child molestation has been defrocked by Pope John Paul II for disobeying orders to not serve as a priest in public.

Anthony Cipolla, 59, is in Rome to meet with a canon lawyer to discuss appealing the Pope’s order to “laicize” him and could not immediately be reached Saturday. The Vatican decree states that “the penalty is unappealable,” said the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the Pittsburgh diocese.

“I have never encountered anything like this,” Pittsburgh Bishop Donald Wuerl said. “There is sufficient evidence to indicate (Cipolla) doesn’t seem to understand the seriousness of all of this.”

Cipolla has repeatedly denied various molestation charges against him, which first surfaced in 1978. One of his accusers sued in 1988, and the Pittsburgh diocese settled the case in 1993.

Cipolla was ordained in 1972 and charged in 1978 with molesting a 9-year-old boy who went to his rectory for first Communion instruction. The boy’s mother later dropped the charges, saying she was pressured by church officials.

Wuerl said the final straw was a report that Cipolla was recognized trying to celebrate Mass at a church in Rome, although diocesan officials said Cipolla repeatedly served publicly as a priest in violation of a 1995 ban.