CHAPTER
ELEVEN
The
following story of why some priests do not leave the priesthood is true and not
unusual. Early in 1961, within one
week's time, three ex-priests and a nun applied to me for help.
They were from
In
my mail a few weeks later was a letter from
I
asked the man working for the hospital how many had been ordained with him and
how many had quit. There were
seventy-three, and he had been the third to quit the Cardinal.
I remarked that there had only been thirteen in my ordination group, but
that at least five had quit. He
replied: "Very many secular priests don't have to leave if they are content
to be hypocrites. When I was third
assistant in a suburb of
Incidentally,
I put his classmate in touch with two good Masons in
The
hypocritical first assistant and the same type of pastor, frequently a
monsignor, are the kind of priests I have spotted for years, thinking they were
hiding out with their lady friends at the Biltmore and other
Most
Catholic critics and correspondents, as well as some Protestants, have
characterized my writings as biased simply because I am an ex-priest and
therefore, according to them, I am bitter, prejudiced and unreliable.
I undoubtedly am bitter, not at the Catholic people but at the system and
its deceptions. I am bitter when I
think of the time spent and the forty-one years wasted.
But
that bitterness and that regret do not destroy the truth of what I have written.
The operation of a hospital brings one into constant contact with
insurance. I have frequently thought
of the similarity of my own life with the situation of a person who has paid
insurance premiums for forty years and then, when he needs help, finds out that
the insurance company has been bankrupt all those years, that its officials have
known it was bankrupt, that they have embezzled his money and never intended to
pay his claims. Such a victim is
bitter, but that bitterness does not make his story any less true.
I
had lunch with a schoolmate who is still a priest in the Franciscan Order.
We used to be close friends. He
told me the old familiar tale-how he hated the bishop, the provincial, the whole
provincial council and the church to which he was assigned.
They were hypocrites, wolves in sheep's clothing," sadistic and
tyrannical toward the priests under them. He
was stealing money from the church and was obviously sweet on women.
He almost cried as he poured out Ms heart.
When he finished, I said simply, "Why don't you get out like I
did?" "I'm afraid," he said, "afraid that I can't make a
living and afraid that the Church might be true and there might be a hell"
The tragic picture of this man is typical of the bulk of the hundreds of priests
that I knew.
Many
of them adjust to their lot and search for gratification on the side.
I know a married woman who had an affair with a local priest.
When he was transferred, she was wooed by the pastor of the parish.
The former priest came back to
Another
married woman (she is now dead) told me of her affair with the pastor of a very
large Jesuit parish, and then gave me the names of each woman that the priests
in the parish were living with.
A
young Catholic policeman, a graduate of St. Mary's in
An
Irish doctor told me that be left the Church when he accidentally went home
during the day and found his wife in bed with the parish priest.
His sermon topic the previous Sunday-adultery, a subject on which he was
evidently gathering data.
When
I lived at St. Mary's, the women of the neighborhood complained to the police
about a "peeping Tom." I-le was finally caught-one of the parish
priests.
I
can remember the pastor of St. Mary's discussing one of my classmates who bad
left and married: "If he had only just lived with the girl until he got
over it and then come back, we could gloss it over.
Now he is excommunicated."
The
widespread "moral defections" of the clergy are proven by the very
existence of the hierarchy's "prisons" across the country, for example
the Via Coeli -near
One
of the most famous madams of an eastern "house' told me that she had quite
a clientele of priests purchasing the wares of her establishment.
The transgressions were often not of an interfaith character, for many of
her girls were recruited from the sisters' convents.
Among
priests, particularly those in religious orders, there is constant gossip
regarding the relationships of secular priests with their housekeepers.
The Church recognizes the danger not only of gossip, but also of mutual
temptation and aberration. It
prescribes that the woman living in the rectory as housekeeper must be "superadulta"
(beyond adulthood). But the clergy
of
Within
a period of one mouth, during the summer of 1960, two men (unknown to each
other), came to my office at
The
other man was a Roman Catholic, a well known member of the Knights of Columbus.
He named the priest (whom I know) and told me that his wife admitted the
situation, had left him and was suing for divorce after almost twenty years of
marriage. The Catholic man wanted my
advice on suing the priest for alienation of affections.
If
all the recollections of all ex-priests and all honest priests could be
recounted, the Catholics of America would be shocked to know that the rules of
celibacy and chastity are observed in 1960 only slightly more than in 1500.
The
following are a few reminiscences of another expriest.
He said that he could add at least fifty more of
(1)
Pastor of a secular parish. When
he was pastor of the cathedral parish he maintained close and friendly relations
with his housekeeper. A priest,
peeping through the window, reported seeing them lying drunk and naked on the
floor together. Later on the priest
moved to another parish. He obtained
the permission of the bishop for the aforementioned "lady" to come and
be his housekeeper. Almost every
night they drank together until she was so drunk she was staggering around the
house wearing biretta and cape and stammering something about the bishop (whom
she hated). At
(2)
Secular priest acting as chaplain in
a government institution. This man
had a girl in
(3)
Assistant priest at the cathedral parish in a large
diocese. He owned a home
in the country where his
"girl" lived. It was the
amusement of those of the diocesan clergy who were aware of the situation to
drive out into that area and go past the house on Saturdays and Sundays to see
if the priest's car was parked there. Later
on the priest was caught extracting money from the Cathedral collection baskets
for his own use. I What happened
after that I never heard.
(4)
Pastor of a secular parish. This
clergyman used to come to the "big town" and spend a few days
vacationing with the local pastor. On
at least one evening he would get thoroughly inebriated.
As the pastor said, "He went on a fornicating drunk." Sometimes
this was taken care of by a trip to
(5)
Pastor of a secular parish. This
pastor bad his girl friends in other towns.
He would take a few days off during the week and live as husband and wife
with the girl. He would frequently
make a trip of several hundred miles afterward in order to go to confession to a
priest who did not know him.
(6)
Secular priest, pastor of a parish in
(7)
Secular priest, advisor and
confidant of his bishop. This
priest had been closely associated with his bishop when the Former had been a
seminary professor and had not yet attained the higher status.
The priest-secretary would take indigent boys into the bishop's house and
there go to bed with them when the occasion seemed Propitious.
He seemed to pick the young adolescent of high school age.
Word got around among the youth as to
what was happening, and at one time groups of teenagers were ready to stone
the bishop's house, but this was prevented.
An investigator collected evidence of some twenty-three such instances of
the clergyman's unnatural relations. Eventually
the evidence was given to the bishop who then assisted his secretary to leave
the diocese, and gave him a recommendation to a bishop of a distant diocese.
This priest is still, as of 1961, being carried on the roll of priests
belonging to the diocese, although ill,
or "on sick leave." On the occasion of a sabbatical visit of the
bishop to
(8)
Secular priest.
The priest came to the diocese as
(9)
Secular priest acting as chaplain
to nearby military post.
He converted several soldiers to the faith, baptized them, and then
attempted further conversion to his way of life.
One of the soldiers reported this. The
commanding officer forbade the priest to be admitted to the post from that time
on.
(10)
A local priest in a snw1l town in
I
was in this town in 1960, saw the church, and was able to receive a personal
confirmation of the story.
These
are ten true stories from the experiences of one ex-priest, who added this
comment: "My own judgment on this matter is that due to the celibate life
and stringent regulations, it is a wonder that there are not more cases like
these. I would guess that about half
the clergy fail in some fashion at
one time or another."
Another
ex-priest insists that, judging by his seventeen years of experience in the
secular priesthood, the violations of chastity are far more flagrant than that.
He has been married and out of the priesthood now for over twenty years.
He was very successful in business and is now retired.
During
his clerical years his work took Mm routinely through the North Central part of
the country-the Archdioceses of Chicago and
Over
a period of years he knew personally and intimately some five hundred Catholic
clerics-two cardinals, several archbishops and bishops, many monsignors,
teachers, pastors and ordinary priests. Of
these five hundred all but fifteen priests flagrantly violated their vow of
chastity. That average of violations
would certainly make these American priests as gross as their clerical ancestors
or their colleagues in
This
former priest named names, dates and places to me. He contended that many of
these priests were wantonly homosexual. Others
routinely had affairs with as many as a half dozen women at once.
He
named the cardinal who brought his mistress from
He
named a pastor who had a mother and two daughters as his housekeepers: and lived
carnally with all three of them, frequently in the presence of each other.
When physically exhausted this priest asked my friend to take over for
him, but in such a manner that he could observe and supervise the proceedings.
This same pastor indulged in the molesting of ten- and twelve-year-old
girls.
He
named the rector of a seminary who indulged in homosexual relations with young
students for the priesthood over a period of thirty years.
A dozen boys at a time were his favorites and he promised them good
parishes if they succumbed to him. Many
of them continued their homosexuality after their ordination to the priesthood.
One of his proteges fell afoul of the law when he ruptured the rectums of
some young boys in his parish.
A
classmate of the ex-priest became one of the topmost chaplains in a branch of
the armed services. While a general
in
The
euphemistic designation of "housekeeper" covers a rather broad
territory. My ex-priest friend
pointed out two instances in the
This
ex-priest friend emphasized that immorality among the priests of his
acquaintance went beyond concubinage, homosexuality and perversion.
He
happened to be in an adjoining office when an angry priest threatened the
diocesan chancellor with the publication of the licentiousness of the life of
their bishop. "Another crack
out of you," snapped back the reverend chancellor, "and we'll have you
bumped off. Ifs been done before in
this diocese."
Things
went so far, he said, that some priests in the
I
asked him how he was so sure of this. He gave specific
details, among them the shock he experienced when he went for a ride in a
priest's Cadillac and the priest turned a loaded sub-machine gun on him in
anger. Priests were very handy for
the mob in gaining difficult entree’s, in casing certain situations, and in
persuading particularly recalcitrant individuals.
One is reminded of the recent arrest of the monks in
The
tragedies of distorted lives are distressing enough, but the real tragedy rises
in the shock, sorrow and frustration of sincere pious Catholics who have sent
their children to Catholic institutions because they were obedient to the Church
and believed their children would receive a godly education.
How much more criminally guilty than the "pushers" of dope are
the priests who betray this faith of the parents and then violate their
daughters or initiate their soris into the "thrills" of homosexuality.
I had seen this happen before and could personally endorse this
ex-priest's sentiments.
As
we sat once in a hotel lobby, talking far into the night, my mind kept slipping
back to another ex-priest of the
Modern
priests follow the "party line" and condemn Chiniquy as a liar merely
because he was an ex-priest. That
approach is much simpler than reading his eight hundred fact-fiUed pages and
attempting to refute them historically. It
is simpler because so many "shock-trooper' Catholics unquestioningly
swallow anything their priests feed them. Personally,
I have checked Chiniquy's magazine references in the New York Public Library and
Ms book references in official Church documents and in the Library of Congress.
I have yet to find a mistake in his book.
Chiniquy
told of the debauchery, treachery and immorality of the bishops and priests in his
day. He told how this clerical
antagonism culminated in a plot of Bishop 0'Regan to destroy him.
The charges were those so frequently in the minds of the clergy-forced
illicit relations with a woman. The
defense attorney-Abraham
The
tales of my ex-priest friend were, of course, hearsay to me.
But the obscene letters that I receive from priests across the country
bear out his stories. And these
letters are not hearsay.
Some
of these letters from priests contain the most lewd pornographic drawings.
Some, from various parts Of the country, call me all varieties of obscene
names. Some indulge in page after
page of imaginative homosexual relations or perversions (1, of course, am
accused of doing all these things) describing at great length the most intimate
details of male and female sexual organs and of every conceivable sexual act.
All this from ordained priests
of the I Holy Roman Catholic Apostolic Church. "Alteri
Christ"-"Other Christs."
Who
is responsible for these transgressions? The
villains are not the priests themselves, for the priests are not disembodied
angels devoid of human instincts. The
ceremony of ordination to the Roman Catholic priesthood does not include any
divine or miraculous de-sexing charisma. The
priests remain human, and each can say, in words that have become immortal: Homo sum; humani nihil a
me alienum puto (I am a man, and I consider nothing human alien to me).
The
responsibility and the monstrous guilt rest squarely upon the shoulders of Pope
John XXIII and his fawning puppets, the cardinals and the rest of the hierarchy.
Merely for the sake of power and money, they hold these thousands of
priests and nuns as slaves, chained by an unnatural sexual code.
They hold them in subjection by means of a complete whitewash of the
history ,of the clergy and especially of the papacy.
When
one analyzes the experiences of ex-priests, including myself, one sees a close
relationship between the inner sexual conflicts due to the law of celibacy and
the excessive alcoholism among Catholic clergymen.
Although priests would not be compared as drinkers to sailors on shore
leave, they certainly imbibe far more than the ministers of other denominations.
I
can well remember the old missionary from the Yuma Indian mission saying, as he
fondled his jug of wine, "The pope won't let me have a wife so I married
this bottle."
There
is an extremely common saying in clerical circles, as another bottle is emptied:
"Its soul is saved-it died with the priest."
In
all the monasteries with which I was acquainted,
whether
I lived there or had only visited, wine was readily available; in most of them
there could also be found plenty of beer and hard liquor.
Gallon jugs of wine were routine, set out every evening for the
recreation and relaxation of the priests, even during Lent.
At St. Mary's in
Any
sort of occasion was excuse enough for an extra supply of liquor, in order that
the visiting clergy might be shown the proper hospitality.
It might be the dedication of a new school or chapel, the ending of a
spiritual retreat, the visit of the bishop or a provincial superior, the annual
feast day of the founder of the Franciscan Order, or of the Jesuits or any other
order whose members might have a church in the city, the jubilee of a priest or
a brother, or any of the major annual feasts of the Church.
I used to function as bartender for many of these clerical cocktail
parties-years before I was distinguished with an honorary lifetime membership in
the Hotel and Restaurant Employees and Bartenders Union Local 631.
There
are many jokes regarding the liquor imbibing tendencies of priests.
It is customary for the laity to offer liquor to priests when they
entertain them. It is also customary
for some priests to drink too much, and many an understanding Catholic host has
spirited his priest back into his monastery or rectory.
I
do not want to give the impression that I have adopted a sneering disparaging
attitude toward the drinking habits of priests.
I am merely pointing out the almost universal prevalence of the custom.
I certainly did my share to help the Christian Brothers, the Jesuits and
the Benedictine monks in their Church-related liquor industries.
It took quite a while after leaving the priesthood that I no longer had
anything to escape from.
Intoxication
among clergymen is so serious a problem that in some dioceses, priests are
forced to promise, or even take a vow, that they will not drink for five years
after ordination. I have met many
Irish priests who had to make this promise before they were assigned to a
diocese in
The
priest who had transported a seventeen-year-old girl from
A
doctor in
Not
only the existence of this institution, but the text of a letter from Austin
Ripley, its director, can be seen as evidence of the great number of alcoholics
among priests:
Our
rate is $600 per month. This
includes everything except exhaustive medical, physical examinations and
psychological evaluation. It does
include room, excellent meals, medical care, drugs, nursing service (when
needed) and a multiplicity of other services.
The rate of $6W a month, incidentally, does not cover our cost of
treatment. Indeed there is a large
deficit each month for each priest patient treated at Guest House.
This deficit we try to obtain through charitable appeals.
I
still hope that substantial gifts will pour into Guest House from all over the
for
financial assistance for priests whose bishop or family cannot or will not foot
the bill. The cover is entitled
'Guest House Saved My Life-My Very Priesthood':
words:
"The objective of Guest House fulfilled-a once sick, helpless, despairing
priest returns to the altar of
God
in the full dignity of his sublime office."
the
finest tradition of charity and of religion.
The
tragedy is that there should be any need for Guest House at all.
Why are so many Roman Catholic priests alcoholics?
What the cardinals and bishops might well spend their money on is a study
of why priests drink so much, what they are trying to forget, from what so many
of them are attempting so desperately to escape.
To the best of my
knowledge, in the entire