One Priest's Story

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JimG:
When the tide is full, everybody wants in the water.
opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110006630&mod=RSS_Opinion_Journal&ojrss=frontpage
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:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
 
I read the article… so did this priest actually break his vows twice? Or were these more “accusations”:

About his own moral lapses–grave violations of his vows–Gordon MacRae required no clarifications. He was a priest who had failed twice to resist temptation, once, briefly, with a married woman who had declared her love and need for him–a saga with elements of “The Thorn Birds” and, in larger part, farce. There was a one-night encounter, during his leave of absence from the parish, with Tony Bonacci, a highly intelligent 16-year male friend and a dependent of sorts. Tony had himself initiated the encounter–never to be repeated, his entreaties notwithstanding–he told Father MacRae’s attorney. All irrelevant, Father MacRae says, today. "I was the adult."
 
I think those are cases where he admits to having broken his vows. He is being justly punished, and I believe he recognizes that.
 
in any case, the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. This tragedy affects us all. Satan has waged war against the Church in America. He has sought out to bankrupt the Church and take it from our Western society altogether.
 
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Ghosty:
I think those are cases where he admits to having broken his vows. He is being justly punished, and I believe he recognizes that.
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How is be being justly punished? According to the article he believe he is serving time for crimes he didn’t commit, the whole reason he is in so long is because he refused to admit his crimes and enter a plea bargain.

These other two incidents were irrelevant to his sentencing, i believe. They weren’t taken into account.
 
He admits to the two moral lapses, which are indeed bad. But those aren’t what he was prosecuted for. Because he wouldn’t plea bargain on the charged offenses, to which he claimed he was innocent, he got longer prison sentences and more charges. In addition, the conviction attracted the attention of othes who saw an opportunity to make big bucks from false accusations by pressuring the diocese into civil settlements.

It is certainly true that priests who are guilty of crimes must be turned over to the civil authorities.

But it is also true that in the current climate, it is entirely too easy to bring false charges.

Under the current 1-strike and you’re out policy, I think that many priests no longer trust their bishop to take their side even if they are innocent.

If I were a priest in today’s climate of suspicion, I would hesitate to do ANY private counseling, unless possibly in a room with a window and lots of people around.
 
Thanks for the clarification. I didn’t pick that up from the reading 🙂
 
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