The priest who fathered a child.
Everyone makes mistakes.
Once upon a time in a diocese in the middle of a large country there lived a young handsome priest who was also the pastor of a large inner city parish. He did not have an assistant pastor, although he had various lay people to help him run the parish. He had a beautiful administrative assistant, who happened to be married with children. Her children were grown up enough that she felt fine about working outside of the home.
“The honesty is too much.”
One day, after a long time of working together, perhaps late into the night, Father and Mrs. X must have looked into each other’s eyes after their hands touched briefly at the filing cabinet. In a moment of weakness, their fondness for one another exploded and they found themselves in a torrid embrace… and they made passionate love… and Mrs. X conceived. God bless her, she carried Father’s child to term and her husband thought the baby was his… until…
“Papa don’t preach.”
And so Father was shamefacedly removed from the parish and sent into exile to a desk job - hidden from the public eye, even though he did penance for his sins and made amends as best he could. But to this day, whenever the parish church is brought up, or Father’s name is mentioned, or just the neighborhood spoken of, good, devout, daily Mass going Catholics are heard to ask, “Isn’t that the church where the priest fathered a child?” Or, “Isn’t that the priest who had an affair and the woman had his baby?” I have never heard anyone say, “God bless them - everyone makes mistakes!” And then proceed to celebrate the birth of their baby.
“The way we were.”
And I only heard the story when I asked someone, “Whatever happened to Fr. So and So?” And my co-worker responded, “You mean you don’t know that he had a kid?” If he had never told me the story - I would never have known. The moral of this story is that people cannot excuse, forgive, or forget Father’s mistake… although tonight at the Republican National Convention, two high school kids will be celebrated for having pre-marital sex and keeping their baby.
Yes, I’m a bad man because I never liked the movie “Juno” - or approved of the recent spate of teen pregnancies because of it, nor the fact that we have the highest teen pregnancy rate in the world - and yet popular-Christian-culture seems to reward the girls (and guys) for having sex out of wedlock because they are keeping their baby.
[Oh - and leave Sarah's daughter and boyfriend alone? Who brought the family to the convention - who told the nation she was pregnant? Who made it an issue in the first place?]
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:16 am
I seriously don’t know how God can stand us.
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:44 am
I’m a lurker here, but I love this blog. I feel like the Lone Ranger because I share your same sentiment. (Although I did like Juno) I feel like we now just have to celebrate because teenagers aren’t having abortions. What? I feel SAD for this young girl. While I’m glad they chose life for their unborn, must we continue to applaud the sexcapades of our teens? IMO, it’s the same thing the liberals do—only the flip side of the coin. You know—liberals: sex, including premarital, is okay as long as you use birth control or have an abortion. Now the Repubs: sex, including premarital, is okay as long as you have the baby. I hate this conversation—-mostly because I think no one is listening. Shouldn’t we be telling our Christian teens sex is wonderful AND designed for marriage. You CAN wait—I promise, it won’t kill ya.
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:17 am
I tell my teen daughters that “sex” WILL actually kill you, and if by “some fluke” you survive it. Then “I” will kill you.
Figuratively speaking of course.
Love, Mom
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:35 am
Did you notice the reference to “Juno” as being a hit “comedy”?
Were there jokes?
I missed them , what was so funny?
I thought the movie was sad through, and through.
I think that the worst part of the movie was the overall feeling of despair. Everyone was a smart ass , lacking real joy. It also seemed to lack real human emotions ,except for when she gave up her baby, and at the end when the teens actually fell in love with each other “AFTER” the baby.
The couple didn’t scream when they were deciding to split. Everyone had a “monotone voice” throughout. Real couples argue, LOUD, and real teens squeal, and have enormous energy. Teen girls have a bounce in their step. Their ponytails swing back ,and forth ,and they smile.
==========================
My family is getting sick, I will produce some homemade chicken soup, and some chocolate chip cookies , and I will pray for Mr. Frank today.
God bless you all. Thank you for letting me play in your yard with your nice friends Mr.Terry.
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:54 am
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September 3rd, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Geez. Put a wig and some horn-rimmed glasses on and you could pass for Dana Carvey’s Church Lady on SNL.
Man’s nature is fallen. Sin happens. Get over it.
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:17 pm
“popular-Christian-culture seems to reward the girls (and guys) for having sex out of wedlock because they are keeping their baby.”
If such a tendency exists, it is not to approve of having sex outside of marriage, but to approve of the decision not to kill the child, which has been the normal course of events since Roe.
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:04 pm
My particular bug about this issue is the unwed Mother who waits to marry until after the baby is born so she can have a huge wedding with a white dress. I think she (and the young man) gave up their right to that sort of festivity
I have not gotten the sense that Sarah Palin was applauding her daughter and has made it clear that she thinks the kid messed up.
As to the priest a very similar thing happened in a parish I was in. My attitude was, well, ok then - let’s move on. As to forgetting? I’m Italian we never, ever forget!!
I think the talking heads have been doing their best to crucify Sarah Palin to the point where it is becoming ridiculous and very, very obvious. Trust me - it will backfire big time!
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:04 pm
So I guess the Gabriel Project won’t be getting a donation this year?
Long time reader, long time lurker, but I just want to say…
who told the nation she was pregnant? Who made it an issue in the first place?
That would be the left-wing political bloggers who started this affair by suggesting Sarah Palin faked her last pregnancy.
I don’t understand the logic behind the assertion that because the Palins are happy their grandchild didn’t get aborted, that equals a thumbs up to premarital sex. WTF? What do you think they are going to say in public? “Hi, my name is Sarah Palin and my oldest daughter is a whore.”
September 3rd, 2008 at 1:05 pm
…and when you took down your comments it makes me look like I’m having a conversation with a phantom commenter. Kind of funny, actually
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Terry, Europeans are better at using contraception.
As far as priests with children are concerned, hey it’s better than molesting them. In Germany, there’s an organization for the children of priests - and one for the ‘wives’ of priests. Celibacy outside of monasteries was a horrid idea that took over a thousand years to take over completely.
Most people get married after college. ‘Abstinence’ was easy when people married in their teens.
I’m sure glad I didn’t marry my first girlfriend.
Every politician brings her or his family to a convention.
I bet the teens with ‘purity pledges’ and the like are the ones most likely to get pregnant when sexually active. Which goes to explain America’s sky high teen pregnancy and teen abortion rates. The latter is 11 times that of Holland.
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:48 pm
I’m sorta getting a “Scarlet Letter” feeling here. First of all, I don’t think anyone is saying (at least Christians who take the message seriously) that fornication isn’t seriously sinful. The story about the priest and the married woman, though, isn’t about fornication. It’s about adultery, compounded by the breaking of the priest’s oath of celibacy. There’s a whole bunch of people who were wronged and scandalized. Even so, people should be asking themselves if they should throw stones.
Another thing to keep in mind is that for every unwed mother there is an unwed father. The guys who have some decency own up, and help support the child, even if the couple doesn’t get married. But it’s really easy for the young man to drop out of the picture (not as easy as it used to be, with DNA testing). It is also true that the unwed parents aren’t the only ones who “did the deed” illicitly. They’re just the ones who got caught.
In addition, there is no way to shun and shame the mother without hurting the child (do we want to shun and shame the mother?? I don’t think so).
Yes this is a little bit personal. We had such an instance in our family not long ago. Not my kids, but closely related. At the time it happened, there was a lot of angst. Now, 3 years later, the little boy, “Johnnie”, is just one of the kids in the family. His mom works on the family ranch, and we’re all glad she’s there.
As for the Palin girl “coming out”, there’s no way that whole thing was going to slip under the radar; they’d just as well tell the story as have a reporter dig it up.
By the way, Cindy, I totally agree that we should be telling kids “You CAN wait—I promise, it won’t kill ya.”
Sorry for the long comment!
September 3rd, 2008 at 3:35 pm
You make a series of excellent points here.
On a lesser note, overlooked in your story about the priest who fathered a child and how people came to know him as “the priest who had an affair” is all the shameful gossiping and chatter that exacerbate these situations.
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Do you people remember a few months ago when the Fundamentalist Mormon sect was the big topic because underaged girls were pregnant?
And no - but the Alaskan folk ought not to parade the family across TV screens tonight or any time - I think it is just the mom who is looking for a job with McCain - right? (BTW - looks as if everyone in Alaska already knew the story - I could be wrong.)
Steve - thanks, now I know who started it.
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Leo - you are from Texas?
No one is pretending to be better than anyone else here. Did you see “Juno” or ever read about the increase of teen pregnancies in the U.S.? Whatever - it doesn’t matter - you don’t get it. Bush is from Texas too.
To equate the conception of the the Son of God in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary with an American teen pregnancy like what goes on in this country is next to blasphemy - if you ask me.