Concerns about my priest

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Dispector

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I’m not sure if any of you have experienced this issue before.

I’m “testing” a parish. A few friends I know go there and wanted me to come to mass with them. Either way, the other day while we were mulling around outside of the church the priest drove up for Mass. He had just purchased a Mercede-Benz. Does it seem strange a priest would be buying a Mercedes-Benz? I thought they had a limited income and took vows of simple living?

There are a few other things which I have found questionable about him as well, but those are mere speculations so I won’t mention them. I seem to have a gut feeling somethings a little off. I believe I will be returning to my regular church.

Does anyone have any suggestions or advice on the situation. Should I speak to someone about it? I appreciate your help.

Respectfully,
Mark
 
There are any number of reasons why a priest may be driving a Mercedes.

It could have been a gift from a parishoner. Some car dealers are Catholic, you know.

He may have come from a wealthy family.

He may have had a successful business career prior to becoming a priest.

Only priests belonging to an order take a vow of poverty. Diocesan priests do not.
 
Parish priests do not take vows of poverty. They are allowed to spend the money that they earn as they wish… Perhaps it was your priest’s dream from a young boy to own such a car. What’s it to you and what’s it to me? (With no intention of being offensive!)

We could speculate as to his spiritual state in buying an expensive car, but we have no right to do so. Let him buy what he wishes.
 
geezerbob said:
There are any number of reasons why a priest may be driving a Mercedes.

It could have been a gift from a parishoner. Some car dealers are Catholic, you know.

He may have come from a wealthy family.

He may have had a successful business career prior to becoming a priest.

Only priests belonging to an order take a vow of poverty. Diocesan priests do not.
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I suppose any of these options could be valid and I appreciate you pointing them out. However, although priests do not take a vow of poverty they do take a vow of simple living.
Vittorio23 said:
Parish priests do not take vows of poverty. They are allowed to spend the money that they earn as they wish… Perhaps it was your priest’s dream from a young boy to own such a car. What’s it to you and what’s it to me? (With no intention of being offensive!)

We could speculate as to his spiritual state in buying an expensive car, but we have no right to do so. Let him buy what he wishes.
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I see your point as well. However, I thought leading a priestly life was meant to be reflective of a simple life to better serve Jesus.

I find it ironic that a priest would find it necessary to purchase a luxury vehicle. I’m not saying he shouldn’t purchase what he likes, but as a public religious figure shouldn’t his actions be reflective of his duty to God?

I’ll admit I don’t know the full story behind the car, but I can’t deny that it strikes me as a little strange.

Respectfully,
Mark
 
My parish priest, I believe, recieves an income commensurate with what his income would be in the private sector, given his education and responsibilities. He is/was a dean at an educational institution. I don’t know what kind of car he drives but I would rather he spend his money on a trustworthy vehicle than find out he is spending it on women or gambling.
 
Mjae said:
My parish priest, I believe, recieves an income commensurate with what his income would be in the private sector, given his education and responsibilities. He is/was a dean at an educational institution. I don’t know what kind of car he drives but I would rather he spend his money on a trustworthy vehicle than find out he is spending it on women or gambling.
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Yep, I can see the point to purchasing a reliable vehicle.

I did a little snooping around on some old posts in regard to similar topics. I feel a little better after hearing some other opinions on the topic. Maybe I jumped the gun.

Respectfully,
Mark
 
Have you talked to your friends about your concerns? If they go to the parish, they should know more about the priest(s) there. A priest living in a nice parish can do relatively well, without the expenses (mortgage, insurance, utilities, etc) a lot of lay people have, especially if there are generous parishioners, who no doubt appreciate and love them. I don’t begrudge anyone driving the type of car they wish if they have the means to do it, even something as ostentatious as a mercedes.
Of course, if there are other warning signs, like a feeling that money is more important to him than anything else, I would stay away. I know a pastor of a church in a middle class neighborhood who never uses remembrance envelopes (father’s day, mother’s day, etc) where the money collected typically goes right to the priests of the parish. He said it wouldn’t be fair to priests who are in poor churches who would never be able to count on money from a collection like that, and by the way he does not drive a mercedes.
 
I’m 58 and I was an altar boy back in the late '50’s and early '60s. Our pastor was an elderly priest who had a chrysler imperial. It was distinctive in that it was the only car I ever rode in that had a push-button transmission.

That’s right, all the gears were accessed by buttons on the left side of the dash board.

I wasn’t impressed at that age by the luxuriousness of the car, but it may have had all the comfort built in for a car of that day.

What I was impressed by was his frequent allusion in sermons to what a push-button society we were. Anything we wanted, we just pushed a button and we got it.

I don’t believe anybody actually understood what he was referring to. Push-button technology was probably more common on the latest Maytag automatic washers. The women in the parish were probably trying to figure out what was wrong with that?

We didn’t even have hand-held calculators until a few years later.

I don’t think the priest (a monsignor) had any idea of what klutzes people were, we desparately needed a button to push, as in an elevator. Yeah, don’t do as I do, do as I say!

In our small town, about as upscale as you can get is a toyota car or truck. You have to be a pimp or doctor (or his wife) to drive a Mercedes.

I would say your next step in investigation is to steal his trash, which is public domain, as you know, so you’re not really stealing. So, I’ll want to check back in a week or two and see what your dumpster diving has produced, in the way of additional incriminating evidence.
 
I know a priest who was left a very large sum of money from a relative - he’s pretty rich. My own priest drives a truck - he has several pet dogs and has to have room for them.
 
Crumpy said:
In our small town, about as upscale as you can get is a toyota car or truck. You have to be a pimp or doctor (or his wife) to drive a Mercedes.
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Or you have to be a doctor (or her husband) to drive a Mercedes.
 
God usually works on one area of our weaknesses at a time, rather than overwhelm us with discouragement through failing in many. St. Teresa of Avila wrote of a priest that tried to correct her habits and failed in his attempts because he tried to lead her when she was not strong enough or ready. She finally met a holy servant of God who was able to direct her little by little.

It could be the same here, that God is not leading him yet into simplicity concerning material things. If you find that his liturgies are reverent, the homilies inspiring, and sense interiorly that God’s Spirit would have you remain there, let your judgment of this (which is not a sin, BTW) pass over and refuse to give the devil and opportunity to see the speck in your neighbor’s eye. 👍

That ole devil will try anything and everything to magnify the so-called failings we see in others. Show him the door!

Blessings,
Carole
 
Priests are humans. I’ve known many priest to have fancy cars, especially those who have to do alot of driving, visiting people in their homes and in the hospital. And some of them have been the most kind priests I know…for instance he was in front of a struggling young family and he paid for their weekly groceries and even bought the kids a treat. He was a very happy man and I think that having a car like that made him feel happy and secure, that he had a good financial backing. He was popular around town and had the means, through his own savings, to buy pizza for youth volunteers, to travel farther to see shut-ins and to be a figure in the community. They accepted him much better as he seemed “more human” to them.

On the other hand I’ve know a priest in the same town who gave up everything in order to server the poor. He shared one ancient car with the two retired priests in his parish. He had no new clothes and when for Christmas a parishioner presented him with new socks he was delighted, but still gave them away when a begger showed up. He was happy and those who go the chance to know him loved him. He was always quick to offer a prayer or a kind word to people. He was also a figure in the community but in a different way.

Sometimes I think we look for holiness in persons like priest #2 when the first in my example is just living his vocation to his own abilities. As the story goes both of these priest when to the seminary together, both were poor young men who knew that God’s love would create huge happinesses in their life. One felt financial stability would give him a better platform to serve, one felt poverty would…and they were correct because they were themselves!

Let your priest be himself.
 
I suppose any of these options could be valid and I appreciate you pointing them out. However, although priests do not take a vow of poverty they do take a vow of simple living.
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What exactly is a “vow of simple living”? :confused:
 
Dispector said:
I suppose any of these options could be valid and I appreciate you pointing them out. However, although priests do not take a vow of poverty they do take a vow of simple living … I thought leading a priestly life was meant to be reflective of a simple life to better serve Jesus.
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I’m afraid you’re mistaken here; there is no “vow of simple living” that I have ever heard of. Diocesan priests are encouraged to live in a way that is consistent with Christian principles, and this includes simplicity, but they take neither a vow of poverty nor a vow of “simple living”.

Can you give us a reference to where you heard of the vow of simple living? Honestly, I’ve never heard of such a vow.
 
Dispector said:
…Either way, the other day while we were mulling around outside of the church the priest drove up for Mass. He had just purchased a Mercede-Benz. Does it seem strange a priest would be buying a Mercedes-Benz? I thought they had a limited income and took vows of simple living?..
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It was hard for us to understand why our pastor would buy a Hummer when our parish was trying to pay off the loan to build our community center so that we can build a new church.

We had to keep reminding ourselves that he is retired from a previous career and therefore has retirement income in addition to his priestly income. He also owns a ranch which a large vehicle would come in handy on. Lsstly, he has four adopted daughters, several grandchildren and a large dog for which a large vehicle would come in handy for transporting.

We now don’t worry about the fact that he owns a Hummer.
 
I have told this story before. I know a Priest who came from a large family. When their brother decided to enter the Priesthood, they all decided they would collectively provide him a car. As they became more successful and more appreciative of the service he was doing for the Church, they became increasingly generous with the car they provided such that I saw recently he was driving a new BMW. Rather than being a statement about affluence, when I saw this car I saw a statement of love of siblings toward their brother and a love of the Church.

Food for thought from teh catechism:

2477 Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. He becomes guilty:
  • of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;
  • of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another’s faults and failings to persons who did not know them;
  • of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.
2478 To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor’s thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way:
 
There are a few other things which I have found questionable about him as well, but those are mere speculations so I won’t mention them. I seem to have a gut feeling somethings a little off. I believe I will be returning to my regular church.

Does anyone have any suggestions or advice on the situation. Should I speak to someone about it? I appreciate your help.

If I were you, I would somehow find out if he was using church funds for his purchases. I don’t know how you go about doing that, but if it concerns you that much. Or, like you said, you could just go back to your old parish and forget the whole thing. There’s a lot to be said for a good and faithful parish. When my husband and I moved, we continued to go to our old parish because we liked it so much. Ain’t a darn thing wrong with that!

Tracy
 
Tracyms1974;2506048 said:
If I were you, I would somehow find out if he was using church funds for his purchases. I don’t know how you go about doing that, but if it concerns you that much. Or, like you said, you could just go back to your old parish and forget the whole thing. There’s a lot to be said for a good and faithful parish. When my husband and I moved, we continued to go to our old parish because we liked it so much. Ain’t a darn thing wrong with that!

Tracy
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All parishes are required to have a Finance Council that is canonically required to oversee the financial affairs of the parish. Failure to do their duty is potential grounds for excommunication and a grave matter. If the Pastor was inappropriately misusing parish funds, I’m absolutely confident that he would not be advertising it by showing it off in his vehicle.

The President of the Finance Council (I know as I am one) is used to getting questions about such matters and his/her name should be published in the bulletin or otherwise available. Feel free to call him/her. This person might also be able to answer your other questions you have about the Pastor. It will help put your mind at rest and probably make you feel a little guilty about your first impression (you know how that Catholic guilt works) such that you’ll be motivated to make it up to this Priest 😃 .
 
Dispector said:
I suppose any of these options could be valid and I appreciate you pointing them out. However, although priests do not take a vow of poverty they do take a vow of simple living…

Respectfully,
Mark
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No they don’t. They take a vow of chastity and obedience to their bishop, but not a vow of “simple living”.

I know a priest who drives a race car, and in fact owns a race car, he and his team. He has sponsors. This same priest- You can’t give him anything, not even food or a gift card (well, maybe ice cream), because he will give it away to somebody he considers worse off than himself!!!

We are ALL to be poor in spirit, but we do not all have to be poor.
 
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