the posting on Fr. Thomas Williams<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 I think it deserves a wider audience, so I\u2019m posting it here separately.<\/p>\n+++<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a priest, I am terribly saddened by reading most, if not all of these comments. These comments only mirror the lived experience the majority of priests face on a daily basis from many of their parishioners, especially if a parish school is attached to it. (After all, we excel at telling people in life what they are not doing right but often fail to praise.) I don\u2019t presume to know what happens in any one of my parishioner\u2019s homes, just as they don\u2019t know what happens in my office, confessional, sacristy, shopping at Kroger as we can often be confronted by parishioners at times. I don\u2019t make judgments as to even guess what was going on in his life when this happened. Just as I wouldn\u2019t judge any parishioner who fathered a child out of wedlock, broke a marital commitment or brother priest who has fallen from grace. Rather \u2013 as Christ would do \u2013 help them see the right path as the stones around them plummet to the ground\u2026or in this case hopefully angry words at how someone we trusted with spreading the message of our faith sinned. My sense, most of us are angry that a popular priest, whom we trusted, has again let us down. Yes, it is terribly disappointing to learn he broke his promises. Yes, it is sad that the Catholic Church is once again being dragged through this mess, again. \u201cCelebrity Cleric Collapses to Celibacy\u201d \u2013 doesn\u2019t boost those of us in the trenches. But he is human \u2013 weak \u2013 vulnerable \u2013 and I bet lonely; and to that, I can personally relate. Perhaps you can too! I know when I get on my knees this evening before bed, I\u2019ll pray for Fr. Williams and his family. \u201cThis I command you: love one another.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The following comment appeared in response to the posting on Fr. Thomas Williams.\u00a0 I think it deserves a wider audience, so I\u2019m posting it here separately. +++ \u201cAs a priest, I am terribly saddened by reading most, if not all of these comments. These comments only mirror the lived experience the majority of priests face […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-priests"],"yoast_head":"\n
"As a priest, I am terribly saddened..."<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The following comment appeared in response to the posting on Fr. Thomas Williams.\u00a0 I think it deserves a wider audience, so I'm posting it here\" \/>\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\/deaconsbench\/2012\/05\/as-a-priest-i-am-terribly-saddened\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""As a priest, I am terribly saddened..."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The following comment appeared in response to the posting on Fr. Thomas Williams.\u00a0 I think it deserves a wider audience, so I'm posting it here\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/05\/as-a-priest-i-am-terribly-saddened\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-05-15T23:50:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-30T21:08:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/05\/as-a-priest-i-am-terribly-saddened\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/05\/as-a-priest-i-am-terribly-saddened\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"As a priest, I am terribly saddened...\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-05-15T23:50:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-30T21:08:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\"},\"description\":\"The following comment appeared in response to the posting on Fr. Thomas Williams.\u00a0 I think it deserves a wider audience, so I'm posting it here\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/05\/as-a-priest-i-am-terribly-saddened\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/05\/as-a-priest-i-am-terribly-saddened\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/05\/as-a-priest-i-am-terribly-saddened\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“As a priest, I am terribly saddened…”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\",\"name\":\"The Deacon's Bench\",\"description\":\"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\",\"name\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"As a priest, I am terribly saddened...\"","description":"The following comment appeared in response to the posting on Fr. Thomas Williams.\u00a0 I think it deserves a wider audience, so I'm posting it here","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/05\/as-a-priest-i-am-terribly-saddened\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"As a priest, I am terribly saddened...\"","og_description":"The following comment appeared in response to the posting on Fr. Thomas Williams.\u00a0 I think it deserves a wider audience, so I'm posting it here","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/05\/as-a-priest-i-am-terribly-saddened\/","og_site_name":"The Deacon's Bench","article_published_time":"2012-05-15T23:50:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-09-30T21:08:34+00:00","author":"Deacon Greg Kandra","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Deacon Greg Kandra","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/05\/as-a-priest-i-am-terribly-saddened\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/05\/as-a-priest-i-am-terribly-saddened\/","name":"\"As a priest, I am terribly saddened...\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-05-15T23:50:36+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-30T21:08:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970"},"description":"The following comment appeared in response to the posting on Fr. Thomas Williams.\u00a0 I think it deserves a wider audience, so I'm posting it here","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/05\/as-a-priest-i-am-terribly-saddened\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/05\/as-a-priest-i-am-terribly-saddened\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/05\/as-a-priest-i-am-terribly-saddened\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“As a priest, I am terribly saddened…”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/","name":"The Deacon's Bench","description":"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970","name":"Deacon Greg Kandra","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Deacon Greg Kandra"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13253\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}