Priest and Prostitute Found Dead in Local Strip Joint
I just about choked when I first saw this headline in a local paper a few years’ ago. Not a lot of details were available in the first report, but I knew this would only add to the crisis which the local church was suffering through as a result of another priest who had recently been accused of sexual misconduct with a minor. As I read the story, my heart dropped even lower when the name of the elderly priest was revealed. I knew him, or at least I thought I did. He had come across as a man devoted to the Blessed Mother and the Holy Eucharist — a priest of deep piety and solid orthodoxy who took to heart the spiritual welfare of each member of his inner-city flock. What the heck had he been doing with a prostitute in a so-called adult entertainment parlour?
I shook my head in disgust, especially as I recalled his numerous denunciations of prostitution and pornography. Heck, he was probably the most outspoken priest in the diocese when it came to these two subjects. Needless to say, the diocese was confused over the incident and did not wish to comment until more details became available. Those who knew him within the local church were extremely disappointed. The secular media, of course, was having a feeding frenzy given this whole affair, and made a few snide remarks about the fact Father was wearing his Roman collar at the time.
As more details became available, it turned out that this priest had a secret life few of us within the local church knew about. He was more well known among the local prostitution and “adult entertainment” scene than most us expected. In fact, he had spent countless late nights and early mornings, and thousands of dollars, with numerous local prostitutes and “adult entertainers” that nobody within mainstream society knew about. This all came to the forefront in the police investigation as reported by the local media.
Yet what is even more interesting is that not one person came forward to accuse the priest of having violated his vow of celibacy. In fact, most of the former prostitutes and adult entertainers who credited Father’s interventions for getting them off the streets and back into mainstream society, also reported that as far as displays of affection were concerned, Father was always good for a hug but otherwise he would never allow one to go past the collar. And thus the situation was also a little confusing to them, because Father always took precautions not to put himself in situations where he might even raise suspicions of having violated his vow of celibacy.
So what happened the night Father died? According to those who were present, as the media later reported about a month later at the bottom of page 47, a prostitute who also doubled as an adult entertainer was, through Father’s intervention, on the verge of leaving her past behind her. Someone who had made a lot of money exploiting her was not happy with the situation, and drugged her alcoholic beverage. She began to overdose and someone called an ambulance. However, in her dying moments, the woman wanted to see Father. Someone called him and told him that she was dying. He was somewhat relunctant to come to scene, and asked if he could meet her at the hospital instead, but acquiesced when told she was going quick. So despite the circumstances, his advanced age and the bitter cold outside, he immediately rushed over and began to administer the annointing of sick. He finished just before the ambulance arrived, paused to catch his breath, and went into cardiac arrest. So the ambulance ended up taking him to the hospital as well. Both priest and prostitute were DOA.
Truth is often stranger than fiction, which in this situation comes as a relief. Father was a good priest in life, and I’m glad his name was cleared in death. Yet I still wonder what it is about the situation that initially made me want to think the worst, before all the other information became available? Have we come to a point where we automatically suspect the worst of our priests?