Should priests smoke?

[nursinmamaa]

Okay, I know that this may seem an odd question, but what if the priest at your parish smokes? This is what has occurred here for me. It bothers me so much I have stopped going. One, I feel that he is supposed to represent how we are to act. Two, I feel it is gross. He coughs through the sermon, and that in turn spreads onto the host. (Whether we want to admit it or not.) I have actually stopped attending church because of this. Yes, it bothers me that much. On my last visit to church, as I was entering the building, he was standing outside having his last cigarette before Mass. To me this is very wrong.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Why would you stop going to church because your priest chooses to smoke? Whether or not his choice to smoke is right or wrong, it has nothing to do with your obligation to attend Mass. I urge you to examine the reasons why you have stopped attending Mass. Is it possible that you have other issues with the Church and are using your priest’s smoking as an excuse to justify your choice to stop attending Mass? It is a question worth asking yourself and carefully considering.

As for your priest’s smoking, I know of nothing that would prohibit a priest from smoking in moderation (just as anyone may smoke in moderation, if they so choose). Granted, it may be wise for the priest to smoke in private so as to avoid upsetting parishioners such as yourself who are sensitive about the example a priest sets. But, so far as I know, there is nothing that obligates him to do this. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others’ safety on the road, at sea, or in the air
(CCC 2290).