Priests grow up isolated from families...

There are many Catholycs (and Catholics) who question whether a priest can adequately advise individuals and families, as they are not married, do not have children etc.

I usually tell them that priests are not suddenly born as priests but grow up in families (good, bad and otherwise) and have a multitude of experiences. Many have brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, and play a role in their lives. If we go by their logic, then a doctor can only treat someone with cancer if he/she has it.

Deacon Greg over at The Deacon's Bench, posted a story about Bishop Nickless of Souix City, Iowa. Bishop Nickless talks about growing up in a family and what his experiences have taught him. Further, he explains how he is married.

For more, go here.

Pray for our Priests, Deacons, and Seminarians

For those of you who follow the Catholic blogs, many of our priests are struggling with various issues, especially for some reason at this time. I don't know why, but many of our most respected preachers/bloggers (Fr. Corapi and Fr. Z.) are going thru some very tough times.

So, over the next few days, I would ask you to please keep these priests and all of our priests, deacons and seminarians in your prayers.

Thank you.

These thoughts weigh heavy on me...

As some of you may know, Fr. Corapi has been placed on administrative leave. For those of you who have never heard him preach (either live or via the web/CD/etc.) are missing a very powerful preacher. He tells it like it is.

Gerard Nadal (a great writer himself) says:

If denial of due process and the presumption of innocence are the new norm for our bishops, if the mere accusation of sin merits headline coverage, then our leadership has lost its way. Badly. The stress of such humiliation could well cause a relapse of the cancer and cost Father Corapi his life.

Innocent or guilty, the minimum standard of due process and the presumption of innocence ought to apply to our priests, as they do for the rest of us. That increasingly they do not is a sin greater than a priest’s dalliance. Our priests sacrifice marriage, family, career, etc for us. It’s about time the laity demand justice for the accused. If we don’t, we deserve empty seminaries.

My prayers for the restoration of Father Corapi and his good name, and for the intentions of the woman who has brought these allegations forward.

You can read the rest of his thoughts here.

I think of these comments because I know of a priest in basically the same situation. A good friend.

His archdiocese has placed him on leave. After all this time, there is no civil case against him (nor planned, as far as we can tell). After all this time, there is no criminal case against him (nor planned, as far as we can tell, by the local and state authorities.). He has not been accused of anything sexual. He has not been accused of any financial issues. No drug or alcohol abuse. Nothing. Just an accusation. But his name has been dragged through the mud by the media, by SNAP, Bishop's Accountability and other organizations.

Oh, I pray that this madness will stop.

Come follow me...

Even in death, he inspired.

Monsignor Thomas Wells will not be in the crowd Saturday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception when his nephew, Deacon David Wells, is ordained as a Catholic priest.

A decade ago, Thomas Wells was stabbed to death in the rectory of Mother Seton Catholic Church in Germantown, a crime for which Robert Paul Lucas is serving a 42-year sentence. Lucas, 35, formerly of Clarksburg, said he stabbed Wells because the priest made sexual advances toward him.

David Wells, 27, of Bowie, said his uncle was proud of his Catholic faith, as is the rest of the Wells family.

"The first time I thought about the priesthood was around the time my uncle died," he said Thursday in a phone interview. "In his death as much as his life, he influenced me."

For more, read the Gazette.