Taken from....
http://66.218.71.225/search/cache?p=can+priests+be+fired&toggle=1&ei=UTF-8&u=www.snapnetwork.org/news/calif/Calif_News_BackPage_2.htm&d=58DBF74F98&icp=1&.intl=us
"....The Catholic Church has been dogged for decades by sporadic complaints of child molestation. But the magnitude of the Boston case and several high-profile settlements of civil suits by the church have drawn unusual attention.
In Boston, the archdiocese was found to have known for years about, but failed to act against, a priest who had been accused of molesting 130 children.
As that scandal mushroomed, Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston reluctantly turned over to law enforcement officials the names of 80 priests who had been accused of abusing children during the last 40 years. Boston's action was soon followed by similar disclosures in Philadelphia."
Note the phrase "reluctantly turned over" to the law.
The Bible teaches that sin of this sort should be exposed and dealt with swiftly.
The Catholic Church should not expect men to be able to live without physical relations, this is what causes the problem from the beginning.
Not one verse in the Bible indicates that this is necessary, a matter of fact, it states that elders of the Church should be married (of one wife).
One reason for the reluctance is that the Catholic Church has to endure a lot of blackmail attempts over this.