The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond and the head of Commonwealth Catholic Charities knew in advance that a 16-year-old girl under the diocese's care was planning to have an abortion.

Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo and the Commonwealth Catholic Charities Executive Director Joanne Nattrass knew beforehand that the girl was getting an abortion in January, according to a diocese spokesman.

Nattrass told the bishop there was nothing they could do to stop the teen from aborting her pregnancy, said Catholic Diocese of Richmond's spokesman Stephen S. Neill.

Four people were fired in March on the basis that they violated Catholic teaching when they enabled the teen to have the abortion. One of the people fired signed a consent form for the abortion, and a Commonwealth Catholic Charities volunteer drove the teen to the abortion clinic.

The U.S. Health and Human Services, which contracts with U.S. Catholic Conference of Catholic Bishops to provide care for unaccompanied minors from other countries, including refugees, those seeking asylum and victims of human trafficking, is investigating whether former staff violated Virginia law by signing a consent form.

Stay with inRich.com and read tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch for more details.

-- Juan Antonio Lizama