Dear Gavin,

Our e-mail system crashed for several days from Thursday through Sunday, and I just got your first e-mail last night.

I do monitor comments and don’t publish all of them. It’s my own personal blog, and I figure I’m not running a newspaper. It’s a spot for my homilies, or just sharing things like whats on my mind, as is any blog.

I would just take a little issue with your blog post though. This congregation is anything but spineless. The congregation doesn’t hire and fire clergy; clergy like me are sent to the parish and can be pulled at the discretion of the Archbishop. We can apply to be sent to a parish, and then the Archbishop may send us to that parish, and we can ask for a transfer but must leave after 12 years in a church and go to another church. In Fr. Mike’s case, he voluntarily resigned, and was not fired. He also still is a priest. I haven’t heard from him in quite a while, but let him know he’s got my prayers and support and whenever he feels like contacting me I’m sure he will. Hopefully he’s working through some issues and I know the Archdiocese is giving him support as well, and he’ll remerge in another role to serve our universal Church and Archdiocese.

You also need to take into consideration our job as a priest is different than other jobs; we are more public people. Fr. Mike committed a misdemeanor crime, and I think cops need to patrol areas and set up stings to keep parks safe. Actions have consequences; remember the senator at the airport who got caught in a similar situation quickly lost his position and was shoved out by the party. It should be illegal for anyone to engage in inappropriate behavior in a public place; there are kids and others around who enjoy the park, and I’m glad they set up stings to check this out. I used to jog in that area a lot. I’m pretty sure he simply went before a judge and got a fine, but I’m not sure. He could not very well come back and work in a church environment when that is in the press, so his leaving I think was prudent. No one here pressured him at all; in fact he’s gotten numerous cards and letters which have been sent on to him, and people aren’t spineless at all, but just sad and trying to move forward and also sad for him but hopeful that he gets the help he needs to move forward as a priest and as a man. He helped me quite a bit, and was supportive of my work and I do wish him the best and keep him in my prayers. I think the Archbishop and Archdiocese handled it very well; they were out here that weekend, the staff was there for the people, and the Archdiocese also had someone here to talk to the older school kids and I did that as well. Like I said, I think they are moving on and healing, and the Archdiocese is helping Fr. Mike.

Again, I don’t publish all comments because it’s my own private blog, and you can do the same thing on your blog if you so desire. So I wouldn’t approve yours because then someone would easily find your blog and probably be hurt by seeing their parish described as “spineless,” so I think you can understand. You’re entitled to your opinion as is everyone else, but my blog is for my opinions, not an open forum.

Have a great weekend and thanks for the e-mail,

Fr. Paul