Where are the "EX"-Catholic priests?

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Malachi4U

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I have been reading books and watching broadcasts by countless protestant clergy that have reconciled with the Catholic Church and come home to Rome (& the Eastern rite too!). I have seen numerous Baptist preachers and Methodists and Anglicans, etc… that love to tell the story of their journey home to Christ’s Catholic Church and how they were missguided, misslead, missinformed, etc. as protestants. Where are all the EX-Catholic priests? Where have they gone?

We hear stories of priests that left like Luther, Calvin and Zwingli but that was 400+ years ago. Where are the priests that have been ‘saved’ and gotten ‘re-baptized’ and are now ‘born again’ in the protestant comunity today? Where can I go and talk to them face to face? Why are they hiding if they exist? There are EX-protestant clergy all over the Catholic Church with a true ‘Hope’ for salvation and they are very vocal too. They often avoid hiding in order to spread the truth and Gospel of Christ.

Can anyone give “REAL” names and stories of Catholic priests that are alive today that have left the Catholic Church? It seems as if there are virtually no Catholic defections from the priesthood yet protestant clergy jump the fench in droves to get back into the Catholic Church?

I would like to know how many living Catholic priests have left the Church, what are their names and why did they leave? Where can more info on them be found?

Does this prove that the Catholic Church is the deposit of Faith and Morals? The Church Christ founded? When preachers put history, facts and Faith above, income, family, selfinterpretations, opinions and man made traditions they become Catholic?

Go in Gods peace,
 
Mal,

I wish I could sit here and confidently state that because we don’t have the names and stories of Priests who have left the faith, that therefore they don’t exist. However, I happen to know otherwise.

Some priests leave the priesthood and stay within the faith, even if by name only. Others leave the faith and do not continue in their belief in Christianity, hence we don’t hear of them in Protestant circles.

I could give at least one name of a prominent author priest who, based on the most recent piece I’ve seen of his, I’d suggest he falls into the category of no belief in God (seems pretty new-age to me). But since I see no good reason to defame this man, who may be working his way back to God as we speak, I’ll keep that info to myself.

I am pleased that there have been many of the top Protestant scholars who have found their way home to Rome. And of those who leave Catholicism, it appears that they were lost in the bowels of the most liberal view of what it means to be Catholic. To me, that misses the point of our faith, so perhaps they need to leave before they can return home. They have my prayers that they remain always open to the truth so that God may form their path.

God Bless,

CARose
 
I know one ex-priest taught my confirmation class. He was married to an ex-nun. :eek:

I think what we hear stories of is priests who leave the faith completely. We don’t hear often of defections to other faiths, especially Christian faiths. And with how vocal many other faiths are, you’d think that we’d hear of defections.
 
I won’t say names, but my last parish in the city was full of ex-religious. They actually met once in awhile to be of support to each other. They married, and some of their children were friends with my children. Most remained Catholic and brought up their children Catholic. I didn’t really think if it as odd at the time. I think back and I don’t know what the priests in my parish thought about it.

One of the ex priests had an anger management problem and he would regularly chastise the pastor if he strayed from what he thought was right.

I think he left during the Cardinal Cody era, and there is so much trouble from that era in Chicago.

I will have to say that I respected the people that I knew that were once part of the priesthood, sisters, and the brothers. I think God will have to be their judge, because I don’t know what led them to their decisions.

Obviously I wouldn’t know the ones that are not Catholic anymore. I am sure there are many.
 
The number of ex-priests who defect to Protestantism is phenomenally small, owing largely to the ludicrous nature of that proposition. Most Protestant clergy, and I say most because there are quite notable exceptions, are not terribly well educated philisophically. The Church has from the earliest days recognized the connection between good philosophy and good theology because it forces the good questions. For most priests the question is never, “Why be a Catholic instead of a Baptist, Anglican, Methodist, etc.?” Rather, it is “Why Jesus?” That question, answered well, makes saints. Answered poorly, it causes people to leave not just the active ministry, but Christianity altogether.

That being said, a goodly number stay faithful Catholics. A much larger number stay in some vague sense “in the Church” and live lives of bitterness, hurt, and resentment. These “left-over,” which oftentimes married the even more irritating runaways from the sisters’ congregations are one of the most bothersome factions in the Church.

That being said, I would strongly recommend the book Shattered Vows by David Rice. I don’t recommend it for the weak of heart or for those in religious formation (without the prior permission from a spiritual director) as the author clearly has no notion of what properly constitutes a Catholic priest. I do recommend the book, however, because it tells the tales of some of the thousands of priests who left in the years following the council. Most of them are not evil, men, but are terribly, terribly confused. The book made me more sympathetic towards them as people while refusing to get caught up in their collective ideology.

Please pray for ex-priests, and do so often. Especially the ones who try to remain faithful have a difficult, difficult time, mostly due to bad training and poor formation.Perhaps every time we grow frustrated or angry with a priest we can pray, both for the object of our anger and for a nameless priest who left.

PS: Also check out Reluctant Dissenter by James Patrick Shannon. Again, his theology is all off, but his story is one that we can all learn from.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far.

Excpet for Jack Chicks gang/mob, it appears that nobody knows of any living “EX”-Catholic priests that are avid protestant evangilists?

One of our good family friends is a former-priest too but he is still Catholic.

Any protestants or “EX”-protestants out there who know of any living “EX”-Catholic priests who are active evangelizers? Come on, you must know of hundreds or thousands of them if Jack Chick tracts are true or if the Catholic Church is full of errors.

I have a stack of books by “EX”-protestant clergy that helped me come home to Christs body, His Catholic Church. I see “EX”-protestant clregy on TV all the time and I have even met them at my parish. I would like to balance my library with some opposing views in the same category of “EX”-clergy.

There will allways be burn-outs or those who have chosen to remain faithfull but just not as clergy. At least they gave it a sporting try. That’s more then I can say. Scripture tells us we can loose our Faith and/or our salvation. That is clear, we are not nor have we ever been once saved allways saved or saved by Faith alone. Satan seeks to pry us away from God and our salvation.

Go in Gods peace,

PS, as for jack chick and his regal mob, they appear to be “EX”-Catholic priests before they attend Catholic Seminaries. I guess this is called self-ordination or pre-ordination. Just ask Roberto, he is a living example of self/pre-ordination. I gues if their going to lie and misslead, one more lie will in no way effect their justification trial before Jesus. I would sure like to be a fly on the wall that day in the future after they die to hear what the Advocate says in their defense and how they justify their words before Jesus.
 
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Almeria:
I know one ex-priest taught my confirmation class. He was married to an ex-nun. :eek:

I think what we hear stories of is priests who leave the faith completely. We don’t hear often of defections to other faiths, especially Christian faiths. And with how vocal many other faiths are, you’d think that we’d hear of defections.
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I know also an ex priest who married an ex-nun.Both of them became my Bosses at work then.They still practice their Catholicsm,not just by faith but action too!
 
Some evangelists clsim to be ex-priests who have turned to the “truth.” Watch out. Some when challenged don’t know any thing about the church other than their planned replys. Some cannot answer common Catholic prayers. We had one that distributed flyers with pictures of him ordaining new priests. Although a large crowd was believing his story until a Catholic pointedout that only bishops can ordain priests
 
There’s an Irish ex-priest who has made international headlines at sporting events. He ran onto Silverstone while F1 was racing there, and was extremely lucky he didn’t get hit. He was also the guy who pushed a bicyclist during the last Olympics. He’s definately a man in need of prayers.
 
In this area a number work as “Rent-a-Priest” for Weddings and Funerals outside of the church. At least one funeral home has been notified that if they hire one again they will not do another funeral in a church.

I see, in a recent news story, that the bishops have started certifying priests for cruise vessels. That makes me suspect several have been working there.
 
Need I point out that there’s no such thing as an ex-priest - once a priest, always a priest. My rather small parish has a surprising number (probably at least 10) laicized priests who left the ministry in order to get married.

I get the feeling that there are only a few who totally leave the Catholic faith after being ordained priests. I think part of it is that, since priestly formation and ordination takes so much time and effort, and is supposed to be very thorough in learning church doctrine and theology, very few people are going to make it all the way through if they aren’t serious about being Catholic (even if, for some priests, that means being what some would consider a “liberal” Catholic).

In an interesting twist, I also know of one man, a lifelong Catholic, who got married, but later felt he was being called to the priesthood, and is currently studying at an Episcopal seminary. (In this case, since he was Catholic to begin with, he can’t be ordained an Episcopal priest, and then convert to Catholicism and retain his priestly faculties).

If you consult sources like Jack Chick, I’m sure you can find out about various priests and nuns who have left the church and turned anti-Catholic. One of these, “Alberto”, supposedly an ex-Jesuit, was a fraud. Another well-known one in the 19th century was Charles Chiniquy, who went from being an eloquent apologist for the Catholic church, to spewing out all of the usual anti-Catholic rhetoric. But I think it’s pretty rare for priests, who are generally very smart and highly educated, to completely turn around and embrace something that is anti-intellectual like this.
 
How about Bart Brewer, a former Discalced Carmelite priest, described in Karl Keating’s book Catholicism and Fundamentalism.
 
Then there is Isaiah Bennet, who went from a priest, to a Mormon, and back to a Catholic.

Go figure…
 
Bobby Jim:
Need I point out that there’s no such thing as an ex-priest - once a priest, always a priest. My rather small parish has a surprising number (probably at least 10) laicized priests who left the ministry in order to get married…
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Perhaps you didn’t notice what I said so I’ll say it again. I asked for “EX”-Catholic priests, not “EX”-priests.

Just a minor point though.

God bless,
 
My sister’s boyfriend was an ex-Catholic priest. He left the priesthood about 5 years ago but still loved the Church. He died of a heart attack this past summer. He was 50 years old. When he passed away he was working as a Chaplain for a hospice that my sister is an RN at. It was a very sad thing, they were so in love with one another. I pray for my sister daily as she has had a very hard time dealing with his death (understandably so).

I would post his name, but I wouldn’t really feel right about doing it.
 
I strongly recommend reading the article “Confessions of an ex-priest” on from the previously posted Totus Tuus website. What a powerful story and a brave man. We should all pray for him and the others like him, and especially for their former sheep.
 
Joseph F. Girzone, author of the book Joshua (which was made into a movie in 2002) left the priesthood (and the faith) - I read his foreword to Joshua a few years ago and it seemed like the tribulation of celibacy :eek: was just too much for him. :crying:
 
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