Have you ever had to deal with Catholic priests?

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abacacus
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08 May 2012, 5:56 pm

godoftruemercy wrote:

abacacus wrote:

I had a bible thrown at me by one once. Does that count?

Ooh, me too. But not by a priest, by a crazy man on the bus.

They're quite heavy aren't they? It was most unpleasant of him.

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godoftruemercy
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08 May 2012, 6:11 pm

abacacus wrote:

godoftruemercy wrote:

abacacus wrote:

I had a bible thrown at me by one once. Does that count?

Ooh, me too. But not by a priest, by a crazy man on the bus.

They're quite heavy aren't they? It was most unpleasant of him.

Apparently I was a harlot. Yay public transportation!

Vexcalibur
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08 May 2012, 6:13 pm

ruveyn wrote:

Any Altar Boys here with stories to tell?

ruveyn

Full disclosure: I was an altar boy for a small period of time.

My experience with catholic priests and also brothers has always been that they were nice and sane people. Also, I still think my school's principal (a brother) is one of the smartest guys I met yet. Surely though, their jobs make them awkward people socially, but I doubt this is something we can bash them for in this forum.

They made misguided decisions, of course. Of course, like any group, some are cranky, some are freaking commies, some are stepford middlers and etc. It is a world of variety.

What really helps is that my local priesthood don't really care that much about the BS promoted by the Vatican, nor they participated in the covering of child abusers.

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DW_a_mom
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08 May 2012, 10:47 pm

BobinPgh wrote:

I have, and I never found them to be very nice. So I wonder why I see people who "love the church" even to the point they donate thousands of dollars yet if they ask a question they get yelled at.

One problem I had growing up was that my parents made me shake the priests hand after Mass. But this was usually after they kind of yelled to the audience. So how can I shake hands with someone who just "yelled" at everyone without feeling like I am shaking a snake? I was always afraid of confession because it is in a dark room with a priest giving a silent treatment and a guilt trip. Yet I see people going to confession and it does not scare them in the least.

I unfortunately had to talk to a priest when my father had a stroke and with him being a eucharistic minister, we were getting calls from other EMs wanting to know when dad would "work" when he was in the hospital and I had to call the priest, only to be told "We will remember him in our prayers". But what do we do about people calling expecting my dad? No answer just "We will remember him in our prayers". Once I tried to join the choir but it turns out that they did not have a director yet so the secretary turned me over to the priest who just yelled into the phone about how I am impatient and I called 5 times and to leave him alone! By the way, I never called 5 times.

Worse yet comes when my father died 2 years earlier and Father Yell comes up to me at the funeral and pretends like nothing is wrong. I told him "you yelled at me" but then tells me he forgot!

If a priest cannot handle these type of "consumer' issues how would anyone ever want to talk to a priest about personal problems? Yet even my dad would tell me "they are not perfect". But would you tolerate this from any other business, even a sleazy car dealer? Or is me being on the "spectrum" why I don't like religion. It seems I must be missing out on something, because so many people "love the Church". anyone else here a devout Catholic?

It sounds to me like a priest that didn't understand your style of communication, and you most likely misunderstood his. I don't know if he was able to communicate well with others, but I'm not sure you can judge from the listed instances.

As another poster said, priests come in all types of personalities. Some are more friendly, social and positive than others. The ones I have known were generally very nice. Some even "fun." And a dear friend of mine became a priest.

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ArrantPariah
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09 May 2012, 8:07 am

Vexcalibur wrote:

What really helps is that my local priesthood don't really care that much about the BS promoted by the Vatican, nor they participated in the covering of child abusers.

The role of the priest is to promote the Vatican's BS. Otherwise, they might as well become Protestants.

DogsWithoutHorses
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09 May 2012, 8:13 am

I went to Catholic school 5-8 (fun exp. for a jew) never had anything but absolutely inspiring and empowering experiences with the nuns and the priests around were mostly very chill.
I think age and location probably change alot of things.

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mushroo
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09 May 2012, 9:13 am

I grew up Catholic and never had any problems with the clergy. In fact there was one priest in particular who helped me through some stuff in high school. He gave me a ride home once and he had a Bette Midler "Wind Beneath My Wings" tape in his car; I don't know why but that still cracks me up to this day.

I have a lot of respect for clergy (of all denominations) because it is a job that would be extremely difficult for me, keeping track of all the people in the congregation, their names, faces, relationships, spiritual problems, comforting them through hard times, etc. RESPECT!

That being said, there was obviously something rotten in the Boston Archdiocese in the second half of the 20th century when I was growing up. It is going to take the church a long, long time to overcome that bad reputation. Myself and most of my peers these days, we only go to church to support our families at Christmas, Easter, weddings, funerals. I do not know very many liberal/queer people under the age of 40 who attend weekly Catholic mass.

Vexcalibur
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09 May 2012, 2:42 pm

ArrantPariah wrote:

Vexcalibur wrote:

What really helps is that my local priesthood don't really care that much about the BS promoted by the Vatican, nor they participated in the covering of child abusers.

The role of the priest is to promote the Vatican's BS. Otherwise, they might as well become Protestants.

The Catholic church is humongous and fragmented. Specially in third world as the vatican does not really care that much about holding power in here.

Never said they were not hypocrites. They are.

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edgewaters
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09 May 2012, 2:48 pm

In a word: no.

"Ambivalence" seems to be the prevailing religious mood in my area. I really don't even know who's religious and who's not, except a few. Even politicians around here tend to say nothing or be very, very understated about it.

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