A Connecticut priest pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges relating to embezzlement from his parish. Yet his admission of guilt sounds strangely remote:
"It's my understanding, your honor, that I used church monies, parish monies for means and for needs other than means and needs of the parish or the parishioners of the parish," Fay, dressed in a dark suit with a bandage on his hand, said in court. "My understanding is that it's by fraud."
"It's my understanding..." -- as if he had only recently come to know the information: as if he were just barely persuaded of its truth.
Here's a tip for readers: don't try that phrase in the confessional. It's better to just come out with your sins.
