{"id":2350,"date":"2013-02-18T23:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T23:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/priest-conceived-in-rape-recounts-journey-to-forgive-father\/"},"modified":"2013-02-18T23:01:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-18T23:01:00","slug":"priest-conceived-in-rape-recounts-journey-to-forgive-father","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/02\/priest-conceived-in-rape-recounts-journey-to-forgive-father\/","title":{"rendered":"Priest conceived in rape recounts journey to forgive father"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

CNA STAFF, Feb 18, 2013 \/ 04:01 pm (CNA<\/a>).- A priest who was conceived in rape when his mother was only 13 years old is sharing the story of how he met, forgave and heard the confession of his father, who is now living a life of faith.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI could have ended up in a trash can, but I was allowed to live,\u201d said Father Luis Alfredo Leon Armijos of Loja, Ecuador.<\/p>\n

\tIn a Feb. 6 telephone interview with CNA, Fr. Leon, who is pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Loja, said his mother, Maria Eugenia Armijos Romero, was working as a maid to help her parents support their eight children.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe owner of the home took advantage of her working alone, raped her and left her pregnant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tHis mother always defended his life, even though she was young and alone, without the support of her family members, who tried to cause an abortion by giving her concoctions to drink and punching her stomach.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cShe prayed and felt that the Lord was saying to her in her heart: defend that child that is in you,\u201d Fr. Leon recalled.<\/p>\n

\tThe young girl ran away to the city of Cuenca, where she managed to survive on her own. On Oct. 10, 1961, she gave birth to Luis Alfredo.<\/p>\n

\tA short time later, with the help of the baby\u2019s father, she returned to Loja to begin a life as a single mother.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cShe ended up under the care of her rapist \u2013 my father \u2013 who acknowledged I was his and said he would take care of me,\u201d Fr. Leon said, \u201cbut that doesn\u2019t mean that things between them were healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHe went on to recount how his father \u201calways visited our home and fulfilled his duty to us. They had three more children, and my relationship with him was distant but pleasant. I respected him a lot, he instilled a sense of authority in me, he was tough with me and he took me to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tFr. Leon encountered Christ through an invitation to the Charismatic Renewal at age 16 and began preaching and teaching catechism \u201cwherever God put me,\u201d whether on the bus or with young people in juvenile detention.<\/p>\n

\tAt 18, he felt a call to the priesthood and entered the seminary despite the opposition of his father. He was ordained at the age of 23 with special permission from the bishop.<\/p>\n

\tTwo years later, he joined the Neocatechumenal Way, and his mother revealed to him how his birth came about. She had ended her relationship with his father, and this marked the beginning of a journey of reconciliation for them both. Fr. Leon helped his mother understand that she could not hate his father and dealt with his own need to forgive as well.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cGod allowed me to be a priest not to judge but to forgive, to be an instrument of his mercy, and I had judged my father a lot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tYears later, he received a call from his father, who was about to undergo surgery and was afraid. He asked his son to hear his confession and returned to his faith after 30 years of being away from the Eucharist.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI told him: Dad, you deserve heaven, eternal life,\u201d Fr. Leon said, and \u201cat that moment my father broke down in tears.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tWhen Fr. Leon preaches to pregnant women undergoing difficulties, he reminds them that just like Jeremiah, God formed their children in the womb as well.<\/p>\n

\tHe encourages children to learn how \u201cto see things from the perspective of God\u2019s love\u201d as they come to know their own life story.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIf you are a child or a single mother, you should see how God our Father has cared for you in your life,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CNA STAFF, Feb 18, 2013 \/ 04:01 pm (CNA).- A priest who was conceived in rape when his mother was only 13 years old is sharing the story of how he met, forgave and heard the confession of his father, who is now living a life of faith.<\/p>\n

\t“I could …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-americas"],"yoast_head":"\nPriest conceived in rape recounts journey to forgive father<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CNA STAFF, Feb 18, 2013 \/ 04:01 pm (CNA).- A priest who was conceived in rape when his mother was only 13 years old is sharing the story of how he met, forgave and heard the confession of his father, who is now living a life of faith. “I could ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/02\/priest-conceived-in-rape-recounts-journey-to-forgive-father\/\" \/>\n<meta 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