www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall "The Bizarre Musings Of A Plastered Priest"

Wow

Bizarre situation [thesmokinggun.com]

Umm.. hmm.. the granny's in the pew are gonna have a field day with this one!

Looks like "Byzantine TX" is having a field day with this one!

Why is this troubled priest's most unfortunate incident appearing on this Byzantine Catholic website? How unChristian!

Let us pray for this priest that his illness be cured.

This is terribly tragic. I don't know him personally, but I have bumped into him on several occasions, which makes this even more sad for me.

That being said, perhaps a more stringent and thorough psychological evaluation/vetting process needs to be established for seminarians. Bizarre and disturbing behavior manifested in public should be noted and examined. Often times, where there is smoke there is fire. Ignoring alarming or inappropriate behavioral tendencies enables future tragic things, like this, to happen.

Lord have mercy on him and his parishioners, especially with the Great Fast right around the corner.

Amen Ukrainiancatholic! So true and Pavloosh, why shouldn't this be posted on this site. This scandalous event affects all Byzantines - what illness shall we pray for - alcoholism, homosexuality ... it seems as if there is many illnesses to pray for and all of us will certainly pray for him and his flock. Drunkenness is one thing, vileness is another. He was vile.

The question is now - how will he be dealt with by the Eparchy?

Lord have mercy.

I don't think I was having a field day with it. So much of this sort of stuff has been pushed under the rug in recent years. I didn't post on the Greek Catholic priest who groped a woman (and more) in Hawaii or a few other stories nor did I editorialize for sensationalism. I didn't make any comments of any kind. I don't like being labeled unChristian by someone who knows me not at all. Sites like pokrov and others serve a purpose.

Having known priests who were allowed to continue functioning having done things like this and much worse only to be moved around from diocese to diocese / parish to parish I acknowledge the importance of prayer and the need for healing, but I don't think we should run from posting such behavior.

I think my brother's comments have validity. If anyone believes that this incident would not have been brought to the attention of the forum by someone - or that it won't also be posted on other fora - Catholic, Orthodox, or otherwise - they are naive.

If there is anyone among the members of this forum community who has never known a priest who abused alcohol, I daresay that you've led a sheltered life. Priests, their Holy Orders aside, are humans with weaknesses. That we hear little about clergy alcoholism is simply a function of the fact that few alcoholic priests, when in their cups, find themselves in the public circumstances that Father Ignatius did in this instance - and for that, I guess, we should be grateful. Imagine the horror had this priest's drive home under the influence resulted in an accident and killed someone. While I doubt that alcoholism is any greater problem for clergy than it is for those in any other profession, it comes back again to the fact that clergy are held - fairly or unfairly - to a higher standard.

That said, I'm not certain that there is a lot to be gained by posting further to this thread.

I think the next appropriate step might well be a thread on the Prayer forum for Father Ignatius - who obviously has issues which require both professional and spiritual help, for his bishop who must deal with it, for the parishioners of Holy Ghost, and for all who will be scandalized by this. I invite those who are disheartened by this to post such.

Meanwhile, this thread is closed.

Many years,

Neil