Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo and the executive director of Commonwealth Catholic Charities knew beforehand that a teenager in a foster-care program run by the agency was planning to have an abortion.

"We were notified at the 11th hour" on Jan. 17, the day before the abortion occurred, said Joanne D. Nattrass, executive director of Commonwealth Catholic Charities. "We were provided with erroneous information, and that information included that there was nothing Catholic Charities and the [Catholic] Diocese of Richmond could do to affect the outcome."

Nattrass would not elaborate yesterday on what incorrect information staff members provided.

Diocese spokesman Stephen S. Neill said Nattrass told the bishop about the planned abortion.

"'I forbid this to happen,'" the bishop told Nattrass, according to Neill, who added that the bishop told him, "I said this very explicitly."

Nattrass told the bishop that there was nothing they could do to stop it, Neill said.

"The bishop has not taken this lightly," he said. "It was very distressful. He's agonized over it."

The 16-year-old Guatemalan girl already had one child and wanted to terminate her second pregnancy. According to a statement from Nattrass, two months before the abortion, some staff members helped the teenager in the implantation of a contraceptive device.

Staff members also assisted the teenager in preparing for the abortion, Nattrass said. One employee signed a consent form, and a volunteer drove the teen to and from the abortion facility, according to Neill.

Four staff members were fired in March in connection with the incident.

"The four people were deliberately flouting Catholic church teachings," Neill said. "The church teaches [that] abortion is wrong."

In an April letter to the Commonwealth Catholic Charities board of directors, one of the fired staff members said that when the staffers learned in January that the girl planned to have an abortion, they sought guidance from the agency's senior management and informed the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which contracts with the federal government to provide support services for undocumented minors in federal custody. She said the staff members also contacted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement. The writer of the letter asked that she not be identified because of an agreement she signed with Commonwealth Catholic Charities.

"We met with the young woman and her foster family," the letter states. "We insisted that the young woman learn about all the other options available to her -- including meeting with CCC's adoption staff and learning about resources to help her if she decided to keep the child."

The former staff member wrote that Nattrass instructed the staff on the day before the abortion that they "could not provide any material support for the abortion . . . could not pay for it or provide transportation." The letter continued, "We complied with these orders, and sadly, the young woman made her own decision the following day and the pregnancy was terminated."

Commonwealth Catholic Charities board chairman James K. Dill declined to comment yesterday, a woman who answered the phone at his home said.

Another board member who received the staff member's letter said the board will investigate the matter.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched an investigation last month to find out whether Virginia law was violated when a staff member signed a consent form for the teenager to get an abortion. Virginia law requires that an authorized person -- a parent, legal guardian or custodian -- is notified and signs a consent form for a minor to have an abortion.

Catholic blogs around the country have posted comments about the controversy, some calling for the bishop to resign. Neill said DiLorenzo also has gotten letters about it.

"He's feeling like he's being made the bad guy," Neill said. "He's fought abortion all his life."

In a statement released to The Catholic Virginian newspaper last week, DiLorenzo wrote, "I express my profound apology for the loss of the life of one of the most vulnerable among us, and I apologize for the profound embarrassment this has caused the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, and Catholics throughout the United States."
Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or jlizama@timesdispatch.com.