Fr. Jonathan Morris asks to be laicized

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I would think that being a “celebrity” always brings with it a lot of temptation, whether you’re a priest or not. People would be pandering to your ego and that would also likely include attractive members of the opposite sex fawning over you.
 
I think the Father Corapi scenario is different.

I don’t think he’s been laicized. He sort of left on his own.

Personally, while his preaching was probably good, he shouldn’t have been permitted to live alone, and travel extensively with his assistant.
 
We all fail in one way or another. My criticism is for considering it as something joyous. At ordination, he made certain promises for life. He is not going to fulfill those (that’s why he asked for the obligation to be remitted by the authority of the Church). That is the definition of “fail” (the dictionary has these as the first three definitions: to fall short; to be or become absent or inadequate; to be unsuccessful).
 
I can see the possibility of this. On the other hand we do see priests like Bishop Barron- and of course Bishop Sheen- who manage it well.
 
A lot of people are referencing the Fr. Thomas Williams/ Elisabeth Lev scandal because Fr. Williams was also a high-ranking spokesman for Legion of Christ and a conservative commentator. Plus, he and Fr. Morris are both very handsome by conventional/ television standards. The difference however is that so far there is no evidence that Fr. Morris has had a relationship or fathered a child, whereas Fr. Williams apparently hid that fact for 10 years.
 
Yep. I am surprised that she gets interviewed and followed by other Catholic personalities. Or maybe not.

Breitbart editor something.
 
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They didn’t on here, but on Father’s facebook, many of the people posting were practically congratulating him and throwing a party. An Episcopalian even invited him to come join their church and be a married priest there.
SAD
 
Irishmom2 said:
I don’t know anyone that referred to it as joyous.
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Fr Morris’s own statement refereed to “the newfound joy I have in my heart as I begin
this new chapter”. It seems to me that having newfound joy and being joyous are the same thing.
 
Yeah, his days in ministry are done. He will most likely not be able to do anything except attend mass and hear an emergency confession if someone is dying.

Most likely, he won’t be able to to even take part in any parish ministries.

He’ll just be a Catholic in the Pew.
 
My guess is
  1. he has fallen for someone but has not acted on it yet. This happens sometimes. I dated a girl in college whose father was an ex-Catholic Priest and mom an ex-nun. She was born in 1978
  2. Also, I can imagine that being a “famous” priest in NYC cannot be easy. I know he was spit on once on the streets of NYC. Plus, I’m sure that many women (culturally Catholic and non Catholic) have hit on him over the years.
  3. I don’t know what he was like in high school and in the seminary, but I would not be surprised if his TV fame made him more attractive to women. So perhaps, his seminary discernment was much different because he didn’t have the fame.
  4. Finally, I’ve always thought that the “Catholic Channel” often blurred the lines between clergy and laity in a way that might not be healthy for the clergy involved with that XM radio station. I would not be surprised if I learned that his role with XM and FoxNews planted the seeds of doubt in his mind.
Let us pray for him.
 
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phil19034 said:
Yeah, his days in ministry are done. He will most likely not be able to do anything except attend mass and hear an emergency confession if someone is dying.

Most likely, he won’t be able to to even take part in any parish ministries.

He’ll just be a Catholic in the Pew.
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The former Father Williams is now Breitbart’s Rome reporter. This priest could easily come back as a reporter as well.
 
Sure, he could become a full time religious news or Catholic news reporter for FOX News or some other secular news agency.

But he won’t be able to take part in ministry, and I doubt he would be employed by a Catholic media company with close ties to the Church (like EWTN)

God bless
 
I respected Fr. Morris and appreciated his opinions and outlook on matters important to all Christian people. He enlightened many on difficult subjects that came up.

I respect his decision and thank him for his years of serving Our Lord and I am sure he will continue to serve Our Lord in his civilian life. Wishing him a blessed life.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
How about if I, after 20 years of marriage, found another guy I loved and didn’t want to be married to my husband any more and asked to be released from my marriage vows and expected everybody to be happy because of the “joy” I felt in taking this step?
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As much as I hate to say it, this is exactly what goes through my mind. I pray for these priests, but do not find any joy in the situation.
 
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