0

The Catholic Priesthood: Mystique and Scandal?

One might wonder what remains of the glory of the Catholic priesthood in face of the worldwide scandals, and in particular those that have occurred recently in the U.S.A.  For example, on July 7th 2003 under the heading “Clergy Sex Abuse: Justice Must Come for the Bishops,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported, “That there are Read More

0

The False Promise of Forgiveness through Catholic Priests

Sins are forgiven as people believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.”1  In believing on the finished work of the Lord Christ Jesus, a soul has both one hundred percent right standing with God credited Read More

0

Disturbing Encounters in the Catholic Confession Box

In my first year of ministry as a priest in Park Street Catholic Church, Port of Spain, Trinidad, I remember in vivid detail what a difficult time I had with the Saturday confessions.  Each Saturday from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., many Catholics queued up outside the confession box waiting their turn to enter to tell us Read More

0

Better to Marry than to Burn

“…better to marry than to burn…”: Boston and the Catholic troubles “Sex, shame and the Catholic Church” was Newsweek’s cover story for March 4th, 2002, the subtitle of which was “and new soul-searching across America.” One would have hoped that exposure of the Catholic teaching on virginity and celibacy would have been discussed. Instead, the Read More

0

The Priesthood

There is a common thread that runs throughout the experiences of former priests whose testimonies are in our book, Far from Rome, Near to God: The Testimonies of Fifty Former Catholic Priests. We had a great yearning to be different from those around us. We wanted to be more pure, nearer to God. We wanted to Read More