Father Cutie

The former Catholic priest who is now a married Episcopalian pastor
complains that if he was not caught and captured by media cameras with his fiance on a Florida beach, the Roman Catholic Church hierarchs would have looked the other way.

It became public and action was necessary seemed to be the thinking.

The talented and made-famous by the Oprah Show, Father makes a point.

Much like "don't ask, don't tell," the pervading posture seems to be if you can get away with relationships even though you promised to be celibate as a priest, no problem.

When Pope John Paul II was in Africa many times, and was aware of mistresses priests there were in, he looked the other way in that country where many converts to Catholicity are baptized.

Go figure.

Same-gender attracted priests abound, and bishops are aware of them, however, as long as these relationships do not become public, the leaders seem to ignore the issue. Cutie also says that the church would have to shut down given the enormous number of gay priests, if the issue was confronted head on.

That's what Father Cutie is speaking about when he complans of duplicity and hypocrisy in the media.

Recently, in Michigan's thumb area, an acquaintance who is a businessman mentioned to me this priest's "cousin"who allegedly is the priest's partner living with him in the rectory.

"Why don't bishops let the priests marry, and, there wouldn't be all this hyposcrisy?" he asked over breakfast.

A good question.

I asked him to question his local bishop.

If he does ask him, that is perhaps as far as the issue will go. It seems that American bishops don't let the Vatican know all the information they may need to make the changes to ameliorate these problems in a church that seems to be imploding. And, most seem unwilling to challenge the status quo, even though lawsuits over the sex abuse scandal have caused many dioceses to file for bancrupcy, Milwaukee, being the latest casualty.

God help us all.