UNITED STATES
Intermountain Catholic
By Msgr. M. Francis Mannion
Pastor emeritus of St. Vincent de Paul Parish
A recent article in the “National Catholic Reporter” by Thomas C. Fox, titled “Vincentian visits imprisoned priests,” drew my attention to the plight of priests in prison, especially those convicted of the sexual abuse of minors.
The article took the form of an interview with Fr. Paul Sauerbier, a Vincentian priest who has established the Prodigal Father Foundation – so-called because of the lavish generosity of the father toward the repentant son in the Gospel story of the Prodigal Son.
Fr. Sauerbier’s ministry is to reach out to priests imprisoned for the sexual abuse of minors – whom Sauerbier calls “the modern-day lepers in our society.”
When priests are convicted for the abuse of minors, he says, “Most people in the church and society back away in horror. When he ends up in prison, he is usually abandoned by his church, his family and his friends.”
“No one,” Fr. Sauerbier says, “is more outcast than an outcast priest.”
Sauerbier states: “Most of the guys I visited haven’t been visited in years. Sometimes I am the first visitor they have ever had. I find many of the men suffering from extreme isolation. … I spend a lot of time with [priests] who have had almost no human contact. I’ve found these priests depleted, often with having had no one to share their pain or shame.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.