The pastor of historic Catholic parishes in Federal Hill and South Baltimore has been forced to resign for knowingly hiring a convicted sex offender as a music director, church officials said yesterday.

The Rev. Thomas R. Malia, who has been pastor of Holy Cross Church in Federal Hill and St. Mary Star of the Sea parish in South Baltimore for the last three years, will celebrate his last Masses today, said Bishop W. Francis Malooly, an auxiliary to Cardinal William H. Keeler. The parishes were "twinned" in a 1995 restructuring and share a pastor.

Malia was asked to resign last week by Bishop Gordon D. Bennett, who as urban vicar supervises the parishes in Baltimore. Church officials said they decided to take the action after they learned that Malia hired Robert Gee in 1999 as interim music director of Holy Cross, knowing that Gee had been convicted two years earlier of child sexual abuse.

"Looking back on it, [Malia] now realizes it was inappropriate," Malooly said.

Gee's 1997 conviction involved sexual contact with a student at Mount St. Joseph High School, where he was a teacher, Malooly said.

Gee, who taught drama and religion at the private boys school, pleaded guilty in October 1997 to sexual abuse and received a three-year suspended sentence and three years' probation after admitting to a three-month sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student. He was prohibited from having contact with the victim and was required to register with the police as a sexual offender.

Malooly confirmed that church officials sought Malia's resignation.

This is the first personnel action taken by the archdiocese since the U.S. bishops approved a policy at their meeting in Dallas this month banning any priest guilty of sexual abuse from ministry. Malooly said the action would have been taken against Malia even without the new policy.

"I think it's just part of what we need to do as an archdiocese, even before Dallas," he said. "Clearly, to have someone who is a convicted child abuser, or convicted of having inappropriate sexual activity with a minor, we certainly can't have someone like this in our employ or even as a volunteer. It just puts young people at risk and Father Malia clearly realizes this."

Malooly said Malia will likely be reassigned to another parish as an associate pastor. "Certainly not as a pastor," he said.

Malia could not be reached for comment last night.

Mary Frances Garland, a longtime parishioner at St. Mary Star of the Sea, said she was "devastated" by the news.

"He's the best thing that ever happened to us," she said, noting the renovations of two historic buildings and building up parish membership by reaching out to the young people moving into the Federal Hill/South Baltimore area among his accomplishments.

"I think parishioners ... will be absolutely devastated by this," Garland said. "He is a wonderful man and a very conscientious, hard-working priest."