The "Clown Priest" is so 80s. Anyone up for a "Punk Priest?"

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Unfinished said:
I read his stuff. He seems quite orthodox in all areas. He seems to be in love with his car a bit though…

Okay, I am the first to admit he seems a little strange. But he doesn’t seem to be teaching anything heretical. At all. Should he dress better? Perhaps, but that is a matter of taste. Maybe the young kids in his parish can relate to him better? Who knows.
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Actually, a priest’s clothing is an unspoken form of teaching (as are tatoos and body piercings).
 
I was kind of surprised at his very traditional and beautiful vestments. Also, his answers to some of the questions don’t seem very touchy feely. He seems pretty orthodox in punk clothing. You have to like a priest who takes a bunch of young people to the Pro-life march in DC.
 
Unfinished said:
I read his stuff. He seems quite orthodox in all areas. He seems to be in love with his car a bit though…

Okay, I am the first to admit he seems a little strange. But he doesn’t seem to be teaching anything heretical. At all. Should he dress better? Perhaps, but that is a matter of taste. Maybe the young kids in his parish can relate to him better? Who knows.
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I’m kinda torn on this one. He does seem orthodox to me but I have a real problem with his presentation, it’s everything I think is wrong with how a lot of Christian groups are trying to attract the youth.

IMHO this trying to be like them, be interested in their things, copy their language, it’s destined to fail and I think stats bear this out. I think kids, especially now more than ever, want to be elevated. If the youth had a proper understanding of the mystery of the Mass, they wouldn’t need any gimmicktry.

Then again, he may be authentically “punk”. God Bless him anyway for heeding a call. We definately can use him!! 🙂
 
DWPC said:
If he were in his 20’s or 30’s, that would be one thing, and maybe even OK. But he’s over FIFTY…that makes him just a ridiculous…and artificial…spectacle.
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Actually, he was born Dec, 1965 so he’s just shy of his 41st birthday. But I agree that his gimmick might work better if he were younger.
 
netmil(name removed by moderator) said:
Hopefully, in the 00’s it’s the orthodox Priest, such as in my parish.
He is a blast. Young and vibrant. Whether it’s lighting off fireworks for Corpus Christi or hugging all the kiddies, he is the best.
Yet he travels down to our Indult parish to celebrate the TLM and is as pious as they get. We have Historically Catholic NOs that mirror EWTN.

Priests don’t need a gimick if they are genuinely in love with Our Lord.
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All the hippie priests of the 60s must be hoping for the quick coming of the 10s!
 
netmil(name removed by moderator) said:
Hopefully, in the 00’s it’s the orthodox Priest, such as in my parish.
He is a blast. Young and vibrant. Whether it’s lighting off fireworks for Corpus Christi or hugging all the kiddies, he is the best.
Yet he travels down to our Indult parish to celebrate the TLM and is as pious as they get. We have Historically Catholic NOs that mirror EWTN.

Priests don’t need a gimick if they are genuinely in love with Our Lord.
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I agree…if we have all of these priests who imitate society instead of imitating them, then who will show the people the way? This one on that website doesn’t even look like a priest…he looks like, uh, a punk or someone who is up to no good.
 
So instead of “The Lord be with you…” maybe its, “Yo yo yo, People of God, what UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!”

“In the name of the Hizzle and the Shizzle…”

Actually, I’d consider Fr. Stan Fortuna to be sort of a punk priest in a good sense, He can carry it off well. This guy seems to be a little more of a satire on himself. Did you hear his version of “Here I am Lord?” Even if you did like the song before, you won’t once you hear him sing it,
 
prv said:
I agree…if we have all of these priests who imitate society instead of imitating them, then who will show the people the way? This one on that website doesn’t even look like a priest…he looks like, uh, a punk or someone who is up to no good.
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I think all we can hope for is to have priests be who they are naturally as persons.
 
prv said:
I agree…if we have all of these priests who imitate society instead of imitating them, then who will show the people the way? This one on that website doesn’t even look like a priest…he looks like, uh, a punk or someone who is up to no good.
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Agreed…why not just wear the Roman collar? Does he wear these clothes instead of the appropriate vestments? At church, we are worshipping the Most High, not going to an ice cream social…Our respect for God should be shown in clothes as well as attitudes.
 
chicago said:
So instead of “The Lord be with you…” maybe its, “Yo yo yo, People of God, what UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!”

“In the name of the Hizzle and the Shizzle…”

Actually, I’d consider Fr. Stan Fortuna to be sort of a punk priest in a good sense, He can carry it off well. This guy seems to be a little more of a satire on himself. Did you hear his version of “Here I am Lord?” Even if you did like the song before, you won’t once you hear him sing it,
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No, I haven’t heard his version and now that I see your commentary about it, I’m not interested in it.
“Hizzle and Shizzle…?” That would be an obvious liturgical abuse.
See post #39 by Marsha Adams in this thread about respect for the liturgy.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=112138
 
Dale_M said:
Actually, he was born Dec, 1965 so he’s just shy of his 41st birthday. But I agree that his gimmick might work better if he were younger.
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You’re right…I read (misread) his info where he said he was entering his *fifth *decade. It would be his *sixth *decade if he were turning fifty.

I still think he’s far to old to be identifying himself as “punk” or any other such persona. I clearly recall how we viewed “old people” (older than 25) trying to fit in with kids when I was a teen; generally as a oddballs pretending to be someone they weren’t. Middle-aged priests can certainly empathize, but I think he’s more likely to be laughed at than with.

Whether a young person identifies themself as punk, goth, hip-hop, etc., for most its a phase they’re *over *by 17 or 18. But for a growing number, that age seems to be slipping later and later. The good Father doesn’t do those Peter Pan-ish perpetual adolescents who go through life in costume rather than clothes any good by promoting their behavior. Young men in 2006 already have enough trouble accepting maturity because so many traditional positive male role models have vanished from our culture. Priests teach by example too, and the punk image is far from positive.
 
DWPC said:
You’re right…I read (misread) his info where he said he was entering his *fifth *decade. It would be his *sixth *decade if he were turning fifty.

I still think he’s far to old to be identifying himself as “punk” or any other such persona. I clearly recall how we viewed “old people” (older than 25) trying to fit in with kids when I was a teen; generally as a oddballs pretending to be someone they weren’t. Middle-aged priests can certainly empathize, but I think he’s more likely to be laughed at than with.

Whether a young person identifies themself as punk, goth, hip-hop, etc., for most its a phase they’re *over *by 17 or 18. But for a growing number, that age seems to be slipping later and later. The good Father doesn’t do those Peter Pan-ish perpetual adolescents who go through life in costume rather than clothes any good by promoting their behavior. Young men in 2006 already have enough trouble accepting maturity because so many traditional positive male role models have vanished from our culture. Priests teach by example too, and the punk image is far from positive.
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I’m guessing that this priest was kind of punk 20 years ago when it was hip (and he was young). He probably just never gave it up. Now, in middle age, he seems just plain odd to someone who hasn’t experienced him through natural progression.
 
djrakowski said:
:clapping: Yeah, orthodoxy is attractive, ain’t it? I know we’re a wacky archdiocese, but we have some of the best young orthodox priests anywhere in Frs. Ward, Bustamante, Bloomfield and Riccardo (sorry for any I’ve left out).
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Frs. Hedges, Rafferty, Ptak… 🙂
 
prv said:
I agree…if we have all of these priests who imitate society instead of imitating them, then who will show the people the way? This one on that website doesn’t even look like a priest…he looks like, uh, a punk or someone who is up to no good.
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See, this comment (and similar) cracks me up and makes me sad at the same time. The Pharisees called our Lord a glutton and a drunkard, and gave him heck for hanging out with prostitutes and tax collectors. And yet almost no one here gives this priest a break for showing his personality along with his love for God and the Church. Sure, it would be more appropriate for him to wear his Roman collar all the time. But seriously, if he’s on fire for Christ and teaching orthodoxy, do we really need to bash him?
 
Actually, Fr Bob is a very orthodox, very on-fire priest who the people of this diocese adore…and not just the kids. One of my friends, who is in her fifties, was devastated when the bishop moved him to another parish.

It makes me really sad to see so many people making assumptions about a good, holy priest.

The folks nick-named him because of his cool, fun personality and affection for the youth. It’s not negative in any way. Just a little nod to his style.

I’m in RCIA, so no expert here, but I really thought part of Catholicism was not making negative assumptions about people…and certainly not bad-mouthing the very men who have given their lives to God in a way the rest of us haven’t.

Rock on, Fr Bob. I’ll be praying my rosary for him tonight.
 
My first impression is that there is too much focus on him, the priest. He’s drawing attention to himself. Whatever happened to being humble?
 
MrsTim said:
Actually, Fr Bob is a very orthodox, very on-fire priest who the people of this diocese adore…and not just the kids. One of my friends, who is in her fifties, was devastated when the bishop moved him to another parish.

It makes me really sad to see so many people making assumptions about a good, holy priest.

The folks nick-named him because of his cool, fun personality and affection for the youth. It’s not negative in any way. Just a little nod to his style.

I’m in RCIA, so no expert here, but I really thought part of Catholicism was not making negative assumptions about people…and certainly not bad-mouthing the very men who have given their lives to God in a way the rest of us haven’t.

Rock on, Fr Bob. I’ll be praying my rosary for him tonight.
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I agree.

What ever happened to not judging a person by the way he looks?? The Priests who molested children all looked the part of a Priest… obviously that meant NOTHING.

Read his vocation story… we are blessed to have him.
 
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