Fr. Jonathan Morris asks to be laicized

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I will say this, I do think the spiritual crises many LoC priests went through was very difficult. I do suppose that this is likely a result if that.
 
Maxirad said:
Click here to find out what Voris’s girl Friday Christine Niles has to say about Fr. Morris’s decision to leave priestly ministry.
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The article says that Fr. Morris has praised gay marriage and is soft on homosexuality.
 
AlNg said:
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Maxirad:
Click here to find out what Voris’s girl Friday Christine Niles has to say about Fr. Morris’s decision to leave priestly ministry.
Click to expand...
The article says that Fr. Morris has praised gay marriage and is soft on homosexuality.
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Actually, that is not what the article said. This is what it said:

“Morris has taken heat in the past for taking a soft stance towards homosexuality. When Republican presidential candidate John Kasich said during a televised debate in 2015 that he would attend a same-sex marriage, Morris’ response was praise.”

Fr. Morris “praised” Kasich for saying he would attend a same sex marriage.
Also, the comment about his stance on homosexuality is the opinion of the person writing the article. They wrote nothing to back up their claims.
 
This is disappointing news. However, priests don’t always leave the priesthood in order to marry. A priest at my childhood parish, who celebrated my husband’s and my nuptial Mass, and who oversaw both the funerals of my parents, left the priesthood. There wasn’t any scandal… he just lost his faith. Looking back, there were signs, but it’s such a shame. Please pray for him.

Regarding priests who break their vows of celibacy and then leave to marry the person with whom they’ve had an affair, I can’t help but be a little cynical; I always wonder, if he could break and abandon his vows to Jesus so easily, what makes her think he will be any better about keeping his vows to her? How do they know they know they won’t have a lifetime of regret (at the very least!) after the “excitement” of it all wears off and the real hardships of married life come calling?

No wonder Mary has pleaded with us again and again to pray for our priests.
 
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I wish he’d take his twitter down instead of posting a new picture of himself in lay clothes that caused a whole bunch of women to hit on him and one of them to say she had been praying for years that he’d come to this decision. I was happy to see she was called out by another priest, “You’ve been praying for years that a priest would leave his vocation?”

Seriously Father just stop already.
 
When men feel called to abandon their vocations as married men and fathers they are chastised, and rightly so. Yet, when a priest like Father Morris abandons their vocation, many voices, even on here, act as though it is a good thing, or a decision to be respected. Why is that?
 
My opinion is absolutely neutral. I am not in his shoes. He owes me nothing. I presume he has worked this out with God in his own. I wish him all the best.
 
Exactly. If he’s acting appropriately and cooperating with Rome and his Bishop, I wish him well.
 
Dr_Meinheimer said:
When men feel called to abandon their vocations as married men and fathers they are chastised, and rightly so. Yet, when a priest like Father Morris abandons their vocation, many voices, even on here, act as though it is a good thing, or a decision to be respected. Why is that?
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I think the difference is that the Vatican realizes that some priests are going to want to leave the priesthood for whatever reason, and has set up a process for this to happen. If Fr. Morris is following the process set by the Vatican, it is hard to chastise someone for doing what the Pope permits. I have mixed feelings about it because on the one hand, you don’t want to have a parish priest who hates his work and wants to be off with some woman doing something else, and also some of these guys who leave to get married return to the priesthood later. But on the other hand, I think it does do damage to the Church when a priest does this so publicly, so it’s way beyond just the individual priest and his personal parish in this case.

To my knowledge, there is no Church-approved process for a man to “abandon his vocation as a married man”, as the annulment would state that no marriage had occurred, not that one had occurred but the man is allowed to “abandon” it.

If a man is incapable of being a father to his child, there have been some mechanisms allowed such as having the child adopted or fostered or in the past, placed in a Catholic orphanage. I think in some circumstances people might be understanding of a man who was not capable of being a father to a child he conceived, for example if the biodad was a young teenager when it happened, or was struggling with an illness or severe economic circumstances.
 
And yet, the Church recognizes the legality of divorce.

Just because the Church has appropriate processes in place for something does not mean it is something to be encouraged or applauded.
 
Please tell us who on this thread has applauded his decision? Just because people have not bashed him, or said negative things does not mean we are applauding him. It does mean we are behaving in a Christian manner.
 
F_Marturana said:
No. There isn’t anything to indicate Father Morris has done anything wrong.
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Post like these while
CilladeRoma said:
And I am the exact opposite. I have more respect for someone who realizes they made a mistake.
I would rather have a priest leave than be miserable in his vocation.
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Irishmom, while not exactly applauding (though I have seen that elsewhere), I doubt the same tone would be shown to a man who left his wife and/or children because they realized they made a mistake. Bear in mind, the Church would recognize the divorce, even if annulment was never an option. I especially doubt the same courtesy would be extending to any of our own spouses if they up and left, informing us they made a mistake. The Family Life board is rife with these sorts of situations, and the tone of posters towards the spouse who leaves is much less kind that the tone towards Father Morris. Why?

I have a hard time with anyone who makes vows then decides they cannot fulfill them; kind of the definition of a vow. Nonetheless, he and all our Priests need our prayers.
 
First if all, diocesean priests make promises, not vows.

And if a couple goes through the same type of discernment about their marriage, with the appropriate spiritual and secular counseling, and came the decision to seperate/divorce, I would feel the same way. I would wish them well and pray for them.
 
I guess all the stuff about the Catholic Church frowning on divorce goes straight out the window along with all the stuff about priests making commitments. For some Catholics, it’s clearly just a matter of everybody should do what makes them happy and we’re all supposed to wish them well on their merry way. :roll_eyes:
 
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