OTTAWA -- Disgraced Roman Catholic bishop Raymond Lahey, convicted in January of importing child pornography, has been dismissed from the clerical state.

The announcement came Wednesday from Lahey's former diocese in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

In a statement released to the media, the diocese explained Lahey can no longer work as a cleric or preside over religious services and sacraments following the decision by the Holy See in Rome.

It is among the most serious penalties in the Catholic Church.

"This decision reminds all of us of the serious harms that come from all forms of pornography, especially child pornography," Antigonish bishop Brian Joseph Dunn said in the statement.

Lahey was found to be in possession of child porn when his laptop and phone were checked at the Ottawa airport in the fall of 2009.

Airport officials noticed stamps on his passport for East Asian child sex haunts. They found sex toys in his carry-on bag and pornographic digital images on his computer -- 155,000 of them, mostly of adults but also one of a boy fellating men.

Lahey was sentenced to 15 months in jail and two years' probation but wasn't sent to prison due to the amount of time he had already spent in custody waiting for the trial.

He is currently serving probation and is now a registered sex offender. He had to submit a sample of his DNA and has to stay away from places where children are likely to hang out.