Former Catholic Priest now Episcopal?!?

[AnnieMcC]

A few years ago, there was a man who i thought was a great priest in my church! He took a leave of absence for several years and we were sad to hear that he was leaving us. No one heard much about him or from him during his time away.

I came to find out this morning at church that he is a priest again - AT AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH! I also came to find out that he now also has a wife that he married during his leave of absence.

I feel so distraught by this, and i don’t know how to properly vent my frustration with the thought of this. It is like all of the masses i went to with him leading them mean less now! I feel so betrayed!!!

Anyone else ever experience this?!? Ill pray for him…

 

[MaryT777]

Interesting topic.

 

[SteveVH]

A few years ago, there was a man who i thought was a great priest in my church! He took a leave of absence for several years and we were sad to hear that he was leaving us. No one heard much about him or from him during his time away.

I came to find out this morning at church that he is a priest again - AT AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH! I also came to find out that he now also has a wife that he married during his leave of absence.

I feel so distraught by this, and i don’t know how to properly vent my frustration with the thought of this. It is like all of the masses i went to with him leading them mean less now! I feel so betrayed!!!

Anyone else ever experience this?!? Ill pray for him…

First of all, the Masses you attended were nothing “less” than if the pope had celebrated it. The validity of the sacraments is not dependent upon the worthiness of the priest.

As far as your priest leaving, this, unfortunately, is not unheard of. I have known of two priests who have run off to get married. Yes, it is quite a blow to the parish and cannot help but shake the faith of some. But that is why Christ remains with his Church and guides it by the Holy Spirit. People are weak and sinful. If God were not truly leading his Church it would have failed long ago. So don’t measure your faith by the lowest common denominator. It is Christ who makes us holy and who comes to us in the sacraments, even when less than holy people administer them.

 

[Lancer]

Understand, but I have come to believe strongly (from Father Mitch Pacwa’s spiritual guidance on his shows) that this is a… “management” situation for God and the free will of the person…this priest…and since we are in “sales”…we have to** pray** hard…with constancy for as long as it takes…and couple those prayers with fasting (meaning many and varied sacrifices/sufferings), and generous almsgiving for the poor (be it in time, talent or treasure)…give our self to others in many and varied ways. Note: these type of planned actions should always be presented to a confessor or spiritual director if it is going to be a sustained effort for a particular intention…to keep it holy and not wander off into an unholy or prideful “fetish”…do something that’s displeasing to God.

I have all discovered that my frustration, worry and dismay over situations like the priest you know…are stumbling blocks in my personal spiritual journey…and my ability to offer anything worthwhile to change the situation…I become lacking in hope and trust in God’s Goodness and Power to do whatever He wills…and my charity (in thought, heart, word or deed for the individual)…also becomes just sentimentality…and genuine charity fades to ambivalence…at best. Its like being a professional football player…very well trained for his position on the team…faithfully gets suited up for a big game…gets to the game…and just sits on the sidelines…even when the “coach” exhorts me to get into the game…I sit…and stew at what I see going wrong in the game…but I paralyze my effectiveness to contribute my skills in my one area of expertise…or something to this effect.

Here is what one Catholic woman did for her husband’s salvation…he was a pure atheist, secularist and vehemently anti-catholic…he loved her devoutly but still made her devout Catholic life less than pleasant on numerous occasions. She died in young middle age of breast cancer…after her death, he read her diary and realized she offered all her sufferings and death for his conversion. He not only converted but became a Dominican priest and live his life put in a monastery. Read what she says about suffering and souls and conversion…especially the last few words.

Spiritual Reflection of the Day – Servant of God Elizabeth Leseur
"I know by experience that in hours of trial certain graces are obtained for others that all our efforts had not previously obtained. I have thus concluded that suffering is the higher form of action, the best expression in the wonderful communion of saints. . . . Through it God consents to accomplish everything. Suffering helps Christ to save the world and souls. When I am overwhelmed by the immensity of my desires for those I love, . . . it is toward suffering that I turn. It is through suffering that I ask to be allowed to serve as an intermediary between God and souls. It is the perfect form of prayer, the only infallible form of action. "

~Servant of God Elizabeth Leseur (1866-1914)
catholicfire.blogspot.com/2006/06/spiritual-reflection-of-day-servant-of.html

Her canonization process is ongoing…her bishop has declared her Servant of God…now its in the Vatican’s hands…for declaration of a Life of Heroic Virtue…Venerable, then Beatification as a Blessed, and Canonization as a Saint…all dependent on God’s Will and the Power of His Holy Spirit. Both she and her husband (married in 1889), Father Felix Leseur (1861-1950), were both from wealthy, aristocrat, and influential Catholic families…but Felix quit the faith and as a practicing Doctor became editor of a very atheistic anti-clerical…anti-Catholic newspaper. Elizabeth was infertile so they had no children. She bore all her sufferings without questioning God’s will for her…and offered it all for the salvation of souls…especially her final illness and death for Felix.

Here is a link on Servant Leseur and her incredibly beautiful diary. shop.sophiainstitute.com/client/COL_ads/COL_bkst_diary.html

All for your consideration.
Pax Christi

 

[Nicea325]

A few years ago, there was a man who i thought was a great priest in my church! He took a leave of absence for several years and we were sad to hear that he was leaving us. No one heard much about him or from him during his time away.

I came to find out this morning at church that he is a priest again - AT AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH! I also came to find out that he now also has a wife that he married during his leave of absence.

I feel so distraught by this, and i don’t know how to properly vent my frustration with the thought of this. It is like all of the masses i went to with him leading them mean less now! I feel so betrayed!!!

Anyone else ever experience this?!? Ill pray for him…

Are you referring to the former Catholic priiest called Fr.Alberto Cutie from Florida? He is old news.

 

[cheezey]

A few years ago, there was a man who i thought was a great priest in my church! He took a leave of absence for several years and we were sad to hear that he was leaving us. No one heard much about him or from him during his time away.

I came to find out this morning at church that he is a priest again - AT AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH! I also came to find out that he now also has a wife that he married during his leave of absence.

I feel so distraught by this, and i don’t know how to properly vent my frustration with the thought of this. It is like all of the masses i went to with him leading them mean less now! I feel so betrayed!!!

Anyone else ever experience this?!? Ill pray for him…

You might feel a bit of “bait and switch”, which is understandable and jaw dropping. I understand that.

I know of a few cases in each direction. I will watch this thread and also, when you mention vent, do you mean as in directing your frustration to someone?

He may have been distraught over the decision to remain and recognise the calling he first had with another calling that came to him later in life that made him leave. He may have struggled greatly with his own betrayal to that first calling and ultimately decided to honor both.
I can only imagine that since a married Episcopal priest, who later finds Catholicism and can then join with special dispensation, then it is feasible that a Catholic priest could later find the Episcopalian Church for having fallen in love and answering that call as well.
I know it’s not the same. The former was married anyway, the latter left to marry. And I am not saying it is right or wrong. This is between God and him. But, yes, I’d be “say what?” but then try to let my confusion go. After all, his confusion and ultimate decision must have been more difficult to reconcile.
If he truly loves God and his calling, and then fell in love, his masses were probably heartfelt and genuine. That doesn’t change. He may have endured a lot of soul searching and turmoil to make such a decision. This is the scenario I know better.
If he became a priest for the wrong reason(s), I could understand a greater sense of betrayal, as if he presented a false persona. But I’d err on the side that he loves God and feels he could serve both callings to the best of his knowledge and ability.
Again, I am not saying whether this is right or wrong; it is not up to me.

 

[oneGODoneCHURCH]

Remember that Jusas was with the Lord for many years and still left the upper room and turned him over to the be crusifed. It did not lead the the others away form Christ.
I am not equating the priest that leave to the betrayal of Judas just tring to piint out it is not the preist to whom we place our faith. They are human and will stumble and fall from time to time just as all of us do. Pray for him and all the Clergy that God’s grace hold them up when the temptations come to them. For of all to who we pray for our preist are the ones that most often need our prayers the most and are often the one that get them the least.

 

[ffg]

That path we are to follow is full of attractive views on both horizons.

It’s human to stray, it takes more than human help to get back on the path.

Priests are the most fiercely targeted with temptation and distraction. They need a lot of prayer warriors.

 

[ComeHome2Rome]

A few years ago, there was a man who i thought was a great priest in my church! He took a leave of absence for several years and we were sad to hear that he was leaving us. No one heard much about him or from him during his time away.

I came to find out this morning at church that he is a priest again - AT AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH! I also came to find out that he now also has a wife that he married during his leave of absence.

I feel so distraught by this, and i don’t know how to properly vent my frustration with the thought of this. It is like all of the masses i went to with him leading them mean less now! I feel so betrayed!!!

Anyone else ever experience this?!? Ill pray for him…

I’m sorry to hear that. I understand how you must feel though, I still feel awful about Fr. John Corapi. Prayer is definitely needed.

 

[Usbek_de_Perse]

Let’s be honest. The road between Rome and Canterbury is travelled both ways. I know of several Roman Catholic priests who are now Episcopal priests. And I know of more than a few Episcopal priests who have gone over to Rome.

Like it or not, it goes both ways and for any number of reasons.

Are you referring to the former Catholic priiest called Fr.Alberto Cutie from Florida? He is old news.

 

[SteveVH]

Let’s be honest. The road between Rome and Canterbury is travelled both ways. I know of several Roman Catholic priests who are now Episcopal priests. And I know of more than a few Episcopal priests who have gone over to Rome.

Like it or not, it goes both ways and for any number of reasons.

Unfortunately, most priests who leave the Catholic Church do so because they have broken their vows and are unrepentant and find acceptance of their actions in another faith tradition. I don’t know of any priest who has left to join another faith because he was convinced of its doctrinal, theological or moral superiority to the Catholic Church.

 

[FrancisBenedict]

He must have felt very torn for some time.

Is it true that celibacy in the priesthood is a church law that could in theory be revoked sometime?
I understand some Anglican priests who are married have joined the Roman Catholic Church and have stayed married.

Yes it’s God who transforms the host into Christs’s body during the prayers of the priest.

Pax Vobiscum.

 

[cheezey]

He must have felt very torn for some time.

Is it true that celibacy in the priesthood is a church law that could in theory be revoked sometime?
I understand some Anglican priests who are married have joined the Roman Catholic Church and have stayed married.

Yes it’s God who transforms the host into Christs’s body during the prayers of the priest.

Pax Vobiscum.

Yes, but with special dispensation.

 

[Jessie5000]

I say good for him. Some men join the priesthood to discover they are not called to the celibate life and want to have a family. It appears that man really wanted to serve God so he joined another denomination. Apparently there are many priests who do not maintain their vows of celibacy and rather than being honest, they try to keep it a secret. It appears the priest of which you speak was honest, straight forward and was granted a leave to meditate on what he would do.

The earlier masses he celebrated for you are fine.

Often it is easier for us to judge such priest instead of considering how painful this must have been for him.

 

[SteveVH]

He must have felt very torn for some time.

Is it true that celibacy in the priesthood is a church law that could in theory be revoked sometime?
I understand some Anglican priests who are married have joined the Roman Catholic Church and have stayed married.

Yes it’s God who transforms the host into Christs’s body during the prayers of the priest.

Pax Vobiscum.

Celibacy is a discipline, not a doctrine. Therefore it is possible, however very unlikely, that celibacy could be lifted. Don’t hold your breath. It is a good discipline and there is no reason to change it and no indication that it is even being considered. Even St. Paul preferred his companions to remain celibate. Their entire life can then be devoted to Christ’s Church without the cares and responsibilities of marriage and parenthood.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Unfortunately, most priests who leave the Catholic Church do so because they have broken their vows and are unrepentant and find acceptance of their actions in another faith tradition. I don’t know of any priest who has left to join another faith because he was convinced of its doctrinal, theological or moral superiority to the Catholic Church.

Diocesan priests have no vows, FYI

 

[ConstantineTG]

Let’s be honest. The road between Rome and Canterbury is travelled both ways. I know of several Roman Catholic priests who are now Episcopal priests. And I know of more than a few Episcopal priests who have gone over to Rome.

Like it or not, it goes both ways and for any number of reasons.

Not just the Anglican Church, but anywhere. My priest made that comment when he said why do other churches/denominations/etc. are offended when people leave their group but they expect everyone to join their group. They should understand it is a two way street. For various reasons people will come and people will go.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Yes, but with special dispensation.

Just to be clear, the dispensation was to ordain them, not to stay married.

 

[cheezey]

I say good for him. Some men join the priesthood to discover they are not called to the celibate life and want to have a family. It appears that man really wanted to serve God so he joined another denomination. Apparently there are many priests who do not maintain their vows of celibacy and rather than being honest, they try to keep it a secret. It appears the priest of which you speak was honest, straight forward and was granted a leave to meditate on what he would do.

The earlier masses he celebrated for you are fine.

Often it is easier for us to judge such priest instead of considering how painful this must have been for him.

 

[SteveVH]

Diocesan priests have no vows, FYI

Did he not take a vow of obedience to his bishop, and therefore to the Church when he was ordained?

edit: Sorry, you are correct. They make a promise of obedience rather than a vow. Nevertheless, my point remains whether they have broken a vow or a promise, they migrate to where their behavior is accepted.