Some priests appear to condone sin

I cannot express my love and appreciation enough for good priests.

They are my heroes; they have denied themselves all that the world is offering and chosen to live a life of hard work which is so often unappreciated; of loneliness; deprived of family and children. Who in their right mind would choose this option unless they believed in a higher ideal?

Focused on this higher ideal which is the promise of Eternal Life with God in Heaven and believing that they have been called by name to live this life, they march on into a life of sacrifice, deprivation and humility. This is not just an isolated act of altruism that makes the giver feel good, it is a whole life given up for others.

While thanking them, and urging all of us to give them our full support and pray for them, I feel a need to bring into the public arena a trend that is causing concern. It is an attitude of not naming a sin as if they, who have been given the authority to guide us, are afraid of hurting us. When someone approaches a priest for advice it is because they want to be right with God and therefore, it seems that a priest needs to call us to repentance when he knows that what we are doing is an offence against God.

Some priests have the difficult choice of reconciling their profession with their priesthood, as in the case of psychologists, journalists and philosophers to name a few. In order to be faithful to the profession, they reach certain compromises which, when shared publicly, are not at all helpful to the average pilgrim who is seeking The Truth.

"Your prophets had nothing to tell you but lies; their preaching deceived you by never exposing your sin. They made you think that you did not need to repent." Lamentations 2 v 14. Pope Benedict is the perfect example of never compromising The Truth and this has not diminished his stature as one of the world's most respected professors. Thankfully our bishops are also fearlessly proclaiming The Truth and there are many priests who are faithful to it, but some others appear to be condoning sin rather than correcting it and this is causing confusion and division.