Tuesday, 3 May 2011

An Airport Encounter

by Archbishop Timothy Dolan - from catholiceducation.org

As I was waiting for the electronic train to take me to the terminal, a man, maybe in his mid-forties, came closer to me. "I was raised a Catholic," he said, "and now as a father of two boys, I can't look at you or any other priest without thinking of a sexual abuser."

Archbishop Timothy Michael Dolan
It was only the third time it had happened to me in my nearly thirty-five happy years as a priest, all three times over the last nine-and-a-half years.
Other priests tell me it has happened to them a lot more.

Three is enough. Each time has left me so shaken I was near nausea.

It happened last Friday . . .

I had just arrived at the Denver Airport, there to speak at their popular annual "Living Our Catholic Faith" conference.

As I was waiting with the others for the electronic train to take me to the terminal, a man, maybe in his mid-forties, waiting as well, came closer to me.

"Are you a Catholic priest?" he kindly asked.

"Sure am. Nice to meet you," says I, as I offered my hand.

He ignored it. "I was raised a Catholic," he replied, almost always a hint of a cut to come, but I was not prepared for the razor sharpness of the stiletto, as he went on, "and now, as a father of two boys, I can't look at you or any other priest without thinking of a sexual abuser." Read more...

An Airport Encounter

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