Priests with very sinful pasts

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Do we get priests like Augustine, these days? Ones who had a hedonistic youth and then decided to turn their life over to Jesus as Catholic priests.
I think Thomas Merton was rejected from being a Franciscan because he fathered a child out of wedlock, in his secular days. (fact check please)
Or of course Saint Paul, who was persecuting Christians before he started preaching.
Do we need to know what priests did before they joined the priesthood? Maybe it is distracting to know what they did. I can certainly understand why priests these days don’t talk about their previous life.
 
I’ve known such a priest. I remember when I first met him, when I was just starting to tread into Catholicism. He was one of the first Catholic priests I ever met, and he had an intense aura around him, something I couldn’t put my finger on. I think he’s very holy and intense priest.
 
What would you think if he often referred to the details of his past, in his homilies?
 
Not enough Priests ?? TOO MUCH education & training required
About 10 yrs worth ?
 
He never really did, to my knowledge, at least during his homilies. He did outside of Mass though. It only increased my respect for him.
End_Timer said:
About 10 yrs worth ?
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I’m pretty sure that most priests have about 7 years of formation. The most I’ve ever heard is 11, and that’s for the Jesuits.
 
I have heard Father Corapi speak - on Youtube -
I was honestly shocked by his testimony.
Fast lane - fast cars - beach front houses - cocaine - women - celebrities - guns.
But his Catholic teachings are soooooo good !
 
There is a priest in Maryland who used to be active (burning crosses on lawns, etc.) in the KKK. There was a controversy about him when it came out because he had not personally apologized to those he harmed. Search the Washington Post.
 
There’s a priest in my diocese that used to be heavily into drugs and “partying”. He told me that the first time he ever considering being a priest was when he hears God’s call to him while he was on acid. He immediately turned his life around and started his descernment
 
Thomas Merton never applied to become a Franciscan. His conversion began when he was asked to visit the Trappist Monastery in Gethsemane KY and it was the Trappists he was drawn to. A Franciscan author Fr Horan wrote a recent book about Thomas Merton and only says that Fr Merton had the heart of a Franciscan.

It’s said he fathered a child when he was back in England, but the child was killed in the German Bombings of London during WWII.

That was never confirmed and Merton only knew he had sexual affairs with various girls while a student.

Either way, there are many priests who had sketchy backgrounds before their conversions.

One priest I met, Fr Vincent Youngberg, didn’t enter the priesthood until age 34 and was a hell raiser. He also served in the Navy during WWII and was blown off of a ship by the Japanese.

He was one of the best speakers of the Passionist Order and was often hired to give parish retreats during Lent.

Jim
 
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goodcatholic said:
Do we get priests like Augustine, these days? Ones who had a hedonistic youth and then decided to turn their life over to Jesus as Catholic priests.
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I really think it depends on what the man’s sin was. I don’t think that there would be much interest in bringing a reformed child molester aboard as a priest, or a man with numerous children born out of wedlock that he’s responsible for, or even a big time embezzler…
 
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goodcatholic said:
What would you think if he often referred to the details of his past, in his homilies?
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Fr Corapi used to mention things from his past when he was still on EWTN. I don’t remember him going into detail though, just mentioning drug use I think, my memory is not that good lol.
I liked his Homilies and talks. Sad what happened.

To the OP, lot of people have made mistakes and/or poor choices in their past. Some worse than others, if the guy really had a change of heart and I would assume he had if he is going to become a preist, it would not bother me. In fact he could be a role model for some in our flock.

Of course these days the Church is pretty strict in who she allows to be a Preist.
 
Erikaspirit16 said:
There is a priest in Maryland who used to be active (burning crosses on lawns, etc.) in the KKK. There was a controversy about him when it came out because he had not personally apologized to those he harmed. Search the Washington Post.
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That’s pretty crazy considering that the Neo Nazis and KKK hate Catholics as much as they hate our Jewish brothers and sisters.

If that is the case then it would be good for him to apologize, keep it short and simple. If it is the case though I am glad he had a change of heart, dropped his evil beliefs and came to God!
 
goodcatholic said:
can certainly understand why priests these days don’t talk about their previous life.
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Me too.

Clericalism and the false expectation that to be a Priest one must be perfect.

How many good men were denied the priesthood because they were honest about their past sinfulness while conniving pedophiles were blessed because they built an elaborate facade of impeccability?

I said it on your previous thread and I say it again: let clericalism die the death.
 
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It’s this guy. He committed his hate crimes when he was young and before he became a priest. He also was prosecuted criminally for the crime as well as being sued civilly. The main issue seems to be he didn’t pay the financial damages he was supposed to pay at the time and the wronged people wanted interest on it, even though by the time he did pay the original amount his obligation to pay had expired, so technically he didn’t have to give them a dime.

I can’t speak for them, but if this man left a life of hate behind and became a decent priest, then that was definitely a positive step.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wa...a90f1a-dc3c-11e7-b1a8-62589434a581_story.html
 
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Augustinian said:
Catholic priests.
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A reformed child molester would never be allowed to become a Preist, especially in today’s world, so that is something would not need to worry about. That being said if he/she wanted to dedicate their life to God, I would not personally have an issue with them joining a Monistary as a lay brother/sister or possibly a Preist. However because of the scandal they should never be a diocene Preist. If that is even possible.

As far as embezzling, if it is in their past and they really had a change of heart not sure if it would really bother me. Usually there is a committee in charge of the finances anyway isn’t there? Our church has a committee anyway.
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They are human. They deserve respect and a 2nd chance in life. God has called them so God has also forgiven them.
 
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