SOUTH PORTLAND – A co-founder of the church reform group Voice of the Faithful said Roman Catholic Bishop Richard Malone’s words have minimized the actions of a priest accused of sexual misconduct in the 1980s.

The Rev. Paul Coughlin was forced to resign as pastor of Holy Cross and St. John the Evangelist because of “inappropriate physical contact.” But Malone left open the possibility for him to return to public ministry.

“Inappropriate physical contact?” said Paul Kendrick of Voice of the Faithful. “He is minimizing what happened to the child by simply calling it ‘inappropriate physical contact.'”

Coughlin was temporarily removed in August while the diocese investigated allegations that Coughlin let John Skinner Sr., a sex offender, live at St. John’s rectory in South Portland. While he lived at the rectory, Skinner was certified as a youth minister.

Skinner, who has admitted abusing young people from the 1970s through last year, is now serving a prison sentence for sexually assaulting two boys he met through church programs in Lincoln.

During an investigation, the diocese re-examined a complaint of sexual misconduct made against Coughlin in 1985. The diocese learned of the complaint through law enforcement in 2002. The church offered no details about what constituted inappropriate contact, with whom or where the incident took place, but records show Coughlin was assigned to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Bangor from 1978 to 1987.

No criminal charges were brought, but priests are held to a higher standard under church law, said Scott Ewing, who chairs the Joint Pastoral Council of Holy Cross and St. John the Evangelist.

Ewing said some parishioners of the South Portland churches, where Coughlin has been serving since 1996, were angry but he believes they will conclude that the facts support his action.

“Father Paul did a lot of good work in the last eight years in our church, so it’s very difficult for people to believe, based on their own personal experiences with him, that he would do the things that were in the bishop’s letter, so I think there’s going to be a grieving period.”

David Clohessy, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a Chicago-based organization, said Coughlin never should have a ministry again.

“Here’s a guy who, in essence, coddled and enabled a child molester. And while the bishop says there’s no evidence that any of the crimes happened recently or happened on church property, that’s little consolation.”

Clohessy said anyone who knows of any abuse by Coughlin should contact police soon.

“It’s important for their own healing, but it’s especially important because what Malone is saying, astonishingly enough, is that Coughlin may be put around children again.”