Disgusting! My church has been busy in court - no wonder they don't return calls about a wedding!

cluelessbride Posted: Apr 05, 2003 10:51 AM

Disgusting! My church has been busy in court - no wonder they don't return calls about a wedding!

We were going to go to another church anyway, but for sure we are now. The priest convicted is not the priest who would have married us (he moved to another parish) but the whole thing is not something I want associated with my wedding.

My friend saw this in the NYTimes on line:

Metropolitan Desk | February 6, 2003, Thursday
Priest Convicted of Molesting Girl, 12, at Her Home in 1999

By ANDY NEWMAN (NYT) 444 words
Late Edition - Final , Section B , Page 4 , Column 5
ABSTRACT - Rev Francis X Nelson is convicted of molesting 12-year-old girl at her home in 1999 in first case brought in New York City based on old files turned over by Roman Catholic church last year; incident of abuse described (M) In the first case brought in New York City based on old files turned over by the Roman Catholic church, a priest was convicted yesterday in Brooklyn of molesting a 12-year-old girl at her home in 1999.

The priest, Francis X. Nelson, 39, who is to be sentenced next month, faces a likely term of up to a year in prison for second-degree sexual abuse, a misdemeanor. Although he was removed from the Brooklyn diocese after the 1999 incident, he moved to a Harlem church and worked there until he was arrested last spring.

shelzyp Posted: Apr 05, 2003 10:53 AM

Re: Disgusting! My church has been busy in court - no wonder they don't return calls about a wedding!

This is disgusting!!! People are sick!!!

kmcwed Posted: Apr 05, 2003 11:08 AM

Re: Disgusting! My church has been busy in court - no wonder they don't return calls about a wedding!

My FH and I are both Irish Catholic, but we're getting married at the reception hall outside in the gazebo. At first, I was a little upset that our marriage wouldn't be 'recognized by the Catholic Church.' But the more I thought about it, the more I didn't really care. How dare they tell us who is 'recognized' and who isn't? Look at their behavior lately. Lying to cover up molesters! Molesting children! God-only know what else. And they are going to sit on their high-horse and tell me my FH and I are 'sinners' for getting married in a gazebo! Give me a break!

God has more to do than to sit up there taking notes on who got married where!

But I'll be he's keeping a close eye on who is molesting whom!!

KarenM

Betty Posted: Apr 05, 2003 11:11 AM

Re: Disgusting! My church has been busy in court - no wonder they don't return calls about a wedding!

OMG!!!!

cluelessbride Posted: Apr 05, 2003 11:26 AM

Re: Disgusting! My church has been busy in court - no wonder they don't return calls about a wedding!

I feel so sick about this. We chose this church because it was my grandmother's family's church and when they were younger, during the Depression, the church helped them out a lot. Then as they got older, they gavce back to the church and we celebrated many occasions there. Since my grandmother and great-aunts and uncles passed away, I thought this would be a way to inlcude them somehow.

Now I just feel sick. And I wonder am I a hypocrite to get married in the church when I am so against many things that they teach? I just want to have God's blessing.

shelzyp Posted: Apr 05, 2003 11:27 AM

Re: Disgusting! My church has been busy in court - no wonder they don't return calls about a wedding!

Can you have god's blessing and get married at the hall too?

cluelessbride Posted: Apr 05, 2003 11:43 AM

Re: Disgusting! My church has been busy in court - no wonder they don't return calls about a wedding!

Yes, I can. I guess what I really want is to make the sacrament. I grew up Catholic and wanted to raise my children Catholic, and have a Catholic wedding. Now I just feel disgusted.

kmcwed Posted: Apr 05, 2003 06:25 PM

Re: Disgusting! My church has been busy in court - no wonder they don't return calls about a wedding!

You will still be Catholic, even if you get married at the Hall. You can also still raise your children Catholic, and have the reverend perform a Catholic ceremony for you.

Jesus supposedly preached in gardens and outdoors. If it was good enough for him, it's good enough for us! I think the whole thing about it not counting if it isn't done in church is just a man-made rule, and God doesn't care one way or the other.

What about getting married in your FH's church instead?? That's another option.

Some people get married in church and end up divorced a year later. Then you have people who get married at the courthouse and are still married 25 years later. So how can the church wedding be more blessed or sacred? What about jewish ceremonies? Are they not blessed by God? Of course they are!

It's the people and the relationship that creating the blessing. Not the building. My 2 cents!

I'm sure whatever you choose will be right for you.

Karen