STOCKTON – Former Lathrop priest Dean McFalls has resigned from the Stockton Diocese after telling parishioners he’s about to father a child.

McFall was the pastor at St. Mary’s Church in downtown Stockton. He arrived in Stockton in 2008 by way of Lathrop, where he held the same post at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and contributed columns for The Manteca Bulletin’s religion pages.

The Catholic Church requires its priests to be unmarried and celibate.

McFall, who will welcome a baby boy into the world, announced his resignation in a statement read during Sunday’s mass.

He has not been defrocked, according to reports in The Stockton Record, but can no longer perform the duties of priest.

 “Dear friends, I wish to express my profound sorrow that, beginning today, I will no longer be serving as your pastor. … I would have remained longer, at least until our parish festival concludes, but circumstances did not allow this to be. A child will soon be born, and I am the baby’s father.”

McFall, 58, didn’t disclose any information to about the mother his unborn child, according to a News10 report, saying only: “She’s a better person than I.”

“I assume full responsibility for my actions and will do all that I can do that my child receives the care and love that he deserves,” McFalls’ statement read. “Once he was conceived, I had no other option, as a Christian and a priest, than to do everything possible that he might have life, and have it to the full.”

News10 first reported the story.