fatherhood

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Jan 11, 2006

A Canadian Discalced Carmelite named Jason Martin had an affair with an old girlfriend, fathered a child, and, if the Chicago Tribune's account is accurate, was transferred to Chicago, "where he now recruits candidates in the Midwest." The mother of Martin's son summed up the situation aptly:

"In essence he played house and decided he liked priest life better," said Ring, 32, of Ingersoll, Ontario.

There's a sting of truth in that formulation.

While the Church is right to exclude gay seminarians as an entailment of the dignity accorded to "spiritual paternity," in the language of the Vatican's Instruction, one can hardly blame The Unconvinced for pointing out that Fr. Martin's "spiritual paternity" has been deformed beyond recognition by the circumstances of his carnal paternity -- not simply because of his unchastity, but because of his failure to be an ordinary and ordinarily dutiful father to his child. Sadly, that child is not the only person involved in the situation who has a lot of growing up to do.