A suspended priest is asked by disaffected Catholics to celebrate Masses for them. Wait a minute—aren’t suspended priests supposed to be like modern-day lepers, isolated from the community by their sins? Oh wait, that only applies to pervert priests, not disobedient, dissident priests. Father David Kerrigan, a priest of the Worcester, Mass., Diocese who was suspended for his dissent from Church teachings and disobedience metaphorically spits on his priestly vows by holding Masses in a Marriott hotel. It’s ironic that people who abandoned the Church because of the Scandal—bishops failing to hold priests to account for their sins which make them unsuitable for ministry—are flocking to a priest who was deemed by his bishop to be unsuitable for ministry.
