no sweat – the saga continues.

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Aug 14, 2007

In the August 9 posting “no sweat,” your Uncle Di observed that one Rev. Mr. Robert Whipkey, 53, was charged with indecent exposure. Fr. Bob admitted to police that he cast aside his clothing, modesty and morals, and in light of the bizarre nature of the admitted behavior, we wondered aloud whether Fr. Bob’s sanity was intact and whether others before us had asked the same question.

As it happens, a Scripps Howard story reports that Whipkey has been noticed before. Some eight years ago, Fr. Bob was investigated by the Archdiocese for an unspecified "inappropriate personal behavior", and underwent “several years of therapy concerning unspecified "personal issues." (Emphasis added.) The story continues:

Independent medical (sic) health professionals evaluated Father Whipkey as part of his therapy but determined he was not a danger to others and that he should not be removed from the ministry...don't you just love that term, Independent.

 chop

The archdiocese also mobilized its conduct response team, which went to Sterling (Colorado) to investigate (Whipkey) and interview people who had raised concerns about Father Whipkey's conduct...don't you just love that term, mobilized.

chop

However, Father Whipkey's conduct did not involve any physical or sexual contact with another person…

All this is according to Monsignor Thomas Fryar, moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese.

Hey folks, we got it covered! He's just an exhibitionist. Feel better now?

Archdiocesan spokeswoman Jeanette De Melo declined to clarify any statements made by Fryar, saying, "The story's over."

Well, Jen, News Channel 7 in Denver doesn’t think the story is over:

Details were not released by the archdiocese, but a 7NEWS viewer said six families left St. Anthony's in Sterling after Whipkey allegedly gave nude "sex talks" to 11-year-old boys while on a three-day camping trip... we think that it was Whipkey in the buff, and not the sex talks or the boys.

 chop

Robyn Ciaravola, who lives across the street from Whipkey’s home at the St. Theresa rectory in Frederick, told the Longmnt (sic) Times-Call that she has often seen Whipkey walking around naked through a window of his home during the three years she’s lived in the house.

The Archdiocese of Denver acknowledges that Fr. Bob was tagged by the laity at least once eight years ago; it does not acknowledge whether he was playing boy games at the time. It seems to be an application of the Rev Larry Gibbs musical chairs rules for exhibitionists: the Archdiocese of Denver transferred the perp to another assignment in rural Colorado. Whipkey was deemed not dangerous by the psychiatric team, but was, nevertheless, sick enough to be undergoing psychotherapy while pastor of three churches in three towns and evidently with limited supervision--quite a hat trick! The Archdiocese did not acknowledge whether current parishioners had been briefed on Fr. Bob's education methodology--so expertly practiced in Sterling--where he taught those 11-year-old boys a spiritual lesson for life. But hey, the story's over! No crime, no suit, no foul. Millstone? What millstone?

We're not sure how this attitude of diocesan officials squares with Archbishop Chaput's own statement on the problems of homosexuality and pornography, but we find it more than a stretch to believe that the Archbishop finds that smut in the home is a problem, but smut in the rectory is just fine.

Remaining questions: 1) What else did the Archdiocese know about Fr. Bob before 1997? Did the Archdiocese or the seminary bury complaints by fellow seminarians and priests about his seminary record and previous assignments? Chalk it up to intuition, but something tells your Uncle Di that playing boy games in the buff eight years ago (at 45 years of age) was not Fr. Bob's first trip into homoterritory. 2) Do you think the Archbishop, in his article on pornography, considered appending the term "rectories" to the following statement? "But we can do a lot about the (sexual) poison in our homes and local communities."  Most assuredly he can do something about the poison among his priests, but whether he will, absent coercion, remains an open question; unannounced visits and porn audits of rectories would be a promising start.

In the mean time, the lesson learned is: One more bishop kicks the homosexual clergy can down the road. (Upon further review, we add 50 more PQ points to the Denver tally. Restart the clock.)