Fr. Francis Mary Stone takes leave of absence to discern vocation

[AlegreFe]

I for one hold that we should ask Father Francis in his own words to please tell us what he feels should be his continuing role with EWTN in regards to these recent events. jim in San Diego

He mentioned in his letter that he needs time away from EWTN. I cannot imagine him coming back to EWTN no matter what happens. I just don’t see EWTN allowing him to come back.

 

[RachelsAlumni]

No, he can’t. Rent a priest is not correct in its teaching.

Even according to Fr. William Saunders a laicized priest can still administer the sacraments:

Even though the cleric has been laicized and no longer functions as a deacon, priest, or bishop, he still has the sacramental character of Holy Orders. Technically, if he were to perform a sacrament in accord with the norms of the Church, that sacrament would indeed be valid. However, the sacrament would be illicit, meaning he violated Church law and would be culpable for this infraction since he no longer has the faculties to function as a priest.

The Code of Canon Law makes one exception for emergency circumstances: “Even though he lacks the faculty to hear confession, any priest validly and licitly absolves from any kind of censures and sins any penitent who is in danger of death, even if an approved priest is present” (No. 976). Here the Church is recognizing the indelible spiritual character received by the priest — although now laicized — at his ordination.

catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0338.html

It may be illicit, but it’s still valid.

 

[AlegreFe]

I am shocked and saddened beyond words, the repeat of the
show will be on shortly and I was going to watch it but now I
am thinking it would be way too upsetting for me. I have always
liked LOTR and Father’s homilies. We must pray for him,
all the friars and the whole network. This all seems like a bad
dream to me.

Yes it was upsetting for me too. The second time I saw it, I cried and had a lump in my throught.

He is a priest and his bride is the Church, that is US! So in a way, we feel betrayed just as a wife would feel betrayed if her spouse had an affair on her. But I know we need to be merciful and forgive him. Of course I am jumping here because we don’t know what really happened. We don’t know how far things went or how close they got. But even a wife would feel betrayed if a man just looked at a woman with intentions we know nothing about. Since we have no idea, that is part of what makes it bad. But I guess it could be good that we don’t know and we just decide to forgive no matter what happened or didn’t happen.

 

[Padrecito]

Even according to Fr. William Saunders a laicized priest can still administer the sacraments:

It may be illicit, but it’s still valid.

Actually, it is **licit **in times of emergency. Of the several former priests I have in my parish who have been properly laicized, I’ve given them permission to use the holy oils to anoint me if I should ever keel over at the altar.

• Padrecito

 

[jimbol51]

If this is an issue of temptation, he’ll spend time in prayer and fasting under the direction of a spiritual adviser until he is able to return to full ministry. This is unlikely because they would not make the source of his temptation public, nor would he be likely to ask for forgiveness if this were the situation (temptation is not a sin). Since the letter and brisk removal seemed to imply a longer to possibly indefinite absence, this situation is possible but less likely.

 The points that you raised considering options for Father Francis have me totally fascinated.  Again I have to point out that I was basically raised as a non-practicing Jewish individual so am sorry if I do sound somewhat like a simpleton here.
 Could you straighten me out on this point please?  You state that 'temptation' is not considered a sin.  Furthermore if he was to spend time in prayer and fasting he could then return to full ministry if I am reading this correctly?  This then would be only because this woman is a widow, am I correct on this point?  If she was a married person then what would be the implications?What confuses me is where you said that this is unlikely as they have already made the source of this temptation public?  Could you explain this to me please?  Thanks, jim in San Diego

 

[cpresnell]

Somehow I doubt that very much. Even my 13 year old daughter can see right through that. Please use the brains that God gave you and think. If she wanted no part of it she would’ve stopped him a long time ago. She would’ve told him to stop coming around so much and that she could take it from here. He would have left her alone then. Satan has used a woman again to lure the man into sinning (possibly sinning since we don’t know for sure if he actually did anything with her). Satan is loving this but he shall be defeated once again.

Saint Michael the archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the
wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him we humbly pray,
And do thou O Prince of the Heavenly host,
By the Power of God, cast into hell Satan and
all the evil spirits who prowl around the world
seeking the ruin of souls. AMEN!

What Father needs to do is to FAST & PRAY. Fasting is very important for Father right now. I was thinking of doing that myself for him. But I am weak too. I have fasted before so it shouldn’t be hard. So I will try.

Why don’t you people start praying for God’s Will instead of your own. In essence, you are the one’s being selfish here. Think about it. If you pray for God’s Will to be done, you can’t go wrong. Man’s thoughts are not like the thoughts of God. You have no idea what God’s plans are. You need to place it all in His hands, in His Will, and be assured by Faith that God will work it out according to His will, not yours!

 

[Michael_Patrick]

Fr Francis did the wrong thing and we should pray for him.
The widow also did the wrong thing. Why did they, on Life on The Rock not also ask us to pray for her? She is now also in a very difficult position.

They did. Fr Anthony and Fr Mark both requested prayers “for all involved.”

 

[Padrecito]

Why don’t you people start praying for God’s Will instead of your own. In essence, you are the one’s being selfish here. Think about it. If you pray for God’s Will to be done, you can’t go wrong. Man’s thoughts are not like the thoughts of God. You have no idea what God’s plans are. You need to place it all in His hands, in His Will, and be assured by Faith that God will work it out according to His will, not yours!

While I agree in general, Jesus often wanted us to be very specific in our prayers, even bold. Remember the blind man who comes to Him, and He says, “What do you want?” I chuckle every time I read it - Jesus, he’s blind! What do you think he wants? But he wanted to hear it.

• Padrecito

 

[cpresnell]

While I agree in general, Jesus often wanted us to be very specific in our prayers, even bold. Remember the blind man who comes to Him, and He says, “What do you want?” I chuckle every time I read it - Jesus, he’s blind! What do you think he wants? But he wanted to hear it.

• Padrecito

Did you hear your own quote? “what do YOU want”? Think about this. That’s a selfish prayer. No one here know’s what God’s will or plan is for this man. You don’t even know this man.We need to be praying for God’s will to be done, and trust in faith that it will.

 

[calicarol]

Well, I posted before regarding Fr. Franicis, and did not see it, maybe I was not PC enough. Usually I just listen and not comment, however this whole situation has me upset. I was on my way with my sons to a football game and turned off the radio so they wouldn’t hear the rest of the letter. I will also state that I went to Adoration and said a prayer for Fr. Francis and continue to do so. However, my feelings are my feelings, I mean lets get real, NOW he wants to discern? give me a break…lets see God or a Widow! Preisthood 101 don’t put yourself in a position to sin like it or not you are held to a higher standard. And was anyone there to tell him, buddy your stepping over the line? Not to be harsh, but I sometimes had the impression Fr. Franicis thought he was all that and then some. Well its sad, another blow. I’m a young widow too and have stuggled to raise my sons for 10 years and I would have never EVEN thought of “getting close” with my Priest! its so sick… It saddens me that as a whole the lay people of our church always say we have pray for them…YES we do, but we also need to stand up and say when things are wrong! That is way our Church is in the mess its in. May God Bless Fr. Francis and keep him a Priest, and may the Widow do what is right and bow out …

 

[AlegreFe]

I can’t help but believe that Fr. Francis is in the midst of serious spiritual crisis right now, and that his problems go far deeper than what was relayed in the letter read by Fr. Anthony.

Here is the letter in real player format.

This has become a major scandal for EWTN and for the Church in general, especially since it involves a program centering on Catholic youth. The speculation and gossip is now quite simply out of control. And I’m sure Father, EWTN and the friars now regret releasing this information into the public domain.

They need our prayers (and not our gossip).

I believe they did the right thing in reading the letter and releasing this to the public.

How in the world can he still host a program on EWTN and live with this. Then he would have to go without a word. THAT would lead to speculation and gossip. I feel they did the right thing in reading the letter.

It would be worse if it was leaked out in the future in a different way. The Church has already been attacked and accused of “hiding” the scandals. We don’t need anymore speculation and accusations of “hiding” things that should be out in the open since Fr. Francis was “out in the open” on the show LOTR. He was considered “public domain” already so he would have to let the public know somehow about why he’s not there anymore. That should not be left up to the public as to why he wouldn’t be there anymore.

 

[Lepanto]

Fr. Francis continues to deserve respect from us all, and not judgement.

I don’t think anybody is judging his character, just his decision.

A priest leaving the priesthood is tantamount to a married man leaving his wife for another woman.Would some be as understanding and sympatheric of the unfaithful married man’s decision?

As a priest, Fr. Francis is married to the Church, so the ONLY right thing is for him to repent and return. That said, we must keep praying for him.

 

[Padrecito]

Did you hear your own quote? “what do YOU want”? Think about this. That’s a selfish prayer. No one here know’s what God’s will or plan is for this man. You don’t even know this man.We need to be praying for God’s will to be done, and trust in faith that it will.

That was a quote from Jesus, who asked the blind man what he wanted. When he replied, “I want to see”, he praised his faith. Read Luke 18:41 and get back to me.

I think it’s perfectly OK to pray, “Lord, help Fr. Francis Mary stay a priest.” If he turns out leaving, we won’t know till Heaven whether it was God’s Will and either way, our prayer would not have been fruitless or selfish or faithless.

• Padrecito

 

[crystalbay]

Please pray for Fr. Francis, for the widow and her children, and for all the EWTN employees and for all the EWTN viewers, especially those who were very influenced by Life on the Rock.

The employees of EWTN must be suffering greatly. Remember that most of them are there for the mission of the network. They are in shock and in tremendous pain.

Fr. Francis is also in tremendous pain as is the widow and her children. What started out as “helping” has resulted in great “harm” for the universal church.

I am now afraid that my husband, who vowed to be faithful to me for the rest of my life, will come home and tell me that he needs to take some time off to discern his vocation. I am afraid that he will tell me that in the process of helping someone, he was now reconsidered our marriage.

Fr. Francis made a vow to be the spouse of the church. We are his children. The widow and her kids are his children. We need not to be abandoned by our spiritual dad.

Please pray for all priests all over the world. The temptations must be great and the comforts small for many. How many have been tempted to find comfort in the arms of another woman, beside the arms of the Holy Catholic Church? We will never know. Most likely there are hundreds of holy catholic priests who silently and humbly refuse the temptations. They are the ones who may seem distant sometimes or aloof. We don’t know what temptations they may be fighting.

May this serve as a lesson for all priests and for all of us.

We must pray, pray, pray.

 

[GraceBeMine]

He is discerning. He has not left the priesthood. I know of a priest who did the same thing but in the end chose his priestly vocation over the woman.
Father Mary Francis Stone needs our prayers now more then ever.

 

[BRD]

I am a devote Roman Catholic man in my mid 40s, just about the same age as Father Francis. My wife and I are blessed with a healthy marriage for 23 years and 3 beautiful daughters.Like everyone else with a successful marriage, it takes Hard Work to strive and remember our Holy Vows.We hvave been on a number of pilgramages to Irondale, and plan to make another shortly.We have had the honor of meting Father Francis on a number of occasions.He had left a very nice impression not only on myself but also with my family.
I know he was involved with a personal relationship prior to his ministry.Outside of the priesthood, life comes to no surprise to him.It upsets me greatly that consciously he was on the pulpit Tuesday,than left on Thursday.Something like this dos not happen overnight.We have to look deeply to see what kind of a message this event is sending.Look at the yong men at the monastery.I am aware there are two sides to every story,but Francis had taken his vows some years ago.I am sure he was very well aware of this great sacrifice. What a grand God given privilege he has given up.Please let us pray for the network and the clergy of EWTN.I believe down deep in my heart THEY are the ones that need our thoughts and prayers at this time.

 

[chewchoo]

let he who has not sinned cast the first stone.

 

[AlegreFe]

I have children close to your age Fr Francis.

If I were your mother, this would be my letter to you:

Dear Son,

I am so proud you are my son. I will always love you and will always pray for you. In fact, I have doubled my rosaries since you told me your sad news. I think I will also ask Bishop Sheen to intercede for your soul. I will ask all my friends to ask Bishop Sheen for a “miracle” to bring you back to loving the priesthood more than a widow.
Let me tell you a story about a widow. Her name was Elizabeth Taylor. When her husband died, Eddie Fisher lent her his shoulder to cry on. Eddie Fisher was married to my favorite actress at that time, Debbie Reynolds. A woman in mourning can become extremely desirable for a man…even a man with a beautiful loving wife like Debbie. Eddie admitted that he loved to be “needed” in the time of sadness. Believe me, Son, widows can make even the strongest man’s heart melt if they feel they are needed. As the story goes, the widow Elizabeth seduced Eddie into marrying her. The marriage was brief, but it ruined the marriage Eddie had with Debbie Reynolds.
Please, my dear son, don’t let a widow seduce you from your chosen profession. Don’t be weak like Eddie Fisher.
I remember when you came out to San Francisco for the 25th EWTN anniversary. The next week on LOTR you made the comment that when you are “on the road” you are treated like a Rock Star. I hope that travelling around didn’t blow up your ego. You have mentioned more than once that you feel like a Rock star. Here is my advice to you my dear son. Please…I beg you…please contact Father Corapi and spend some time with him. He knows what it is like to be a Rock star. Maybe he can help you during this crisis. Maybe he can bring you back down to earth. I love you son. But right now, all I can do is pray for you. As Bishop Sheen would say, “God love you!”
Love, “Mom”

This would be a great letter for Father. I think you should email it to them at rock@ewtn.com. Even if only the other Friars read it.

 

[AlegreFe]

It upsets me greatly that consciously he was on the pulpit Tuesday,than left on Thursday.Something like this dos not happen overnight.

Father Joseph said the Mass on Tuesday. Unless you are talking about a second Mass that is not televised. Father Francis’ last Mass, on TV anyway, was on Friday 10/26th.

 

[BRD]

This topic is about principal,not sin!