Politician-Prostitute-Priest

Raymond Gravel, the pro-abortion priest and former male prostitute has received permission from the Vatican to run as a candidate in Canada. The Globe and Mail reports:

Rev. Raymond Gravel had to get permission from the Vatican to run in a federal by-election. Now, the former prostitute who used to work in gay leather bars has to convince the voters of Repentigny riding that he is the right man to represent them.

(snip)

He followed a childhood dream and entered the priesthood in 1982 after a rough-and-tumble life that included work as a prostitute and in gay leather bars between 1976 and 1982.

Mr. Gravel gave up prostitution after being so severely beaten by a client that he ended up in hospital.

His tenure as a priest has not been low key, either. An outspoken advocate, Mr. Gravel has publicly decried the Roman Catholic Church's position on same-sex marriage. He also received a disciplinary letter from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became Pope Benedict XVI.

Mr. Gravel was also one of 19 priests who created a tempest in February when they signed an open letter criticizing the church's position on same-sex marriage and its opposition to ordaining gays.

"I would say that 50 per cent of the priests in Quebec are gay, but if I became a priest, it's because I'm a believer and I believe in the message of Christ," he said in an interview last year with Fugues, a gay magazine.

Some claim to see an improvement in the Catholic Church under Benedict; however it gives every indication of continuing its downward slide into a pornocracy.

Comments

[Deacon John M. Bresnahan]

I would like to know who in the Vatican bureaucracy gave him a permit to run. Whoever it is--even if a Cardinal--should be immediately canned.

[Art Deco]

The article seems to suggest he was ordained in 1982 after no time in seminary formation and does not quote any official document or statement from the Vatican or the diocesan chancery. I think I would do some extra checking before taking what it says at face value.

[Ethan Cordray]

From what I read, he looks to be a shoo-in, as the Bloc Québécois candidate. But then again, the district is 94.5% Catholic. They'd never vote pro-choice, right? (sobs uncontrollably)

[Ethan Cordray]

By the way, is it wrong for a Protestant to yearn for the days of the city-wide interdict?

[Arnold Conrad]

I tend to agree with Art Deco. It sounds rather fishy that the "Vatican" would permit a priest like Gravel to run for public office. No such permission is granted in the United States and a number of other countries. Mr. Podles' comment about Benedict XVI and the "downward slide into pornocracy" appears to me to be unfair and maybe vicious. I agree Mahoney must go. I also agree with the comment above that the media almost totally ignore the far worse and far far bigger problem in the public schools. These cases are treated as isolated incidents rather than as a pattern. School principals and officials commit the same errors as some Catholic bishops. However, the media and the comedians ignore the obvious and basically just wink when it involves a female teacher and a boy. School systems moreover, cannot be sued for damages. so the lawyers concentrate on the Catholic Church where they think the money and the media support are.

[James Kabala]

In view of his myriad other sins, it would not shock me if Gravel is lying about his "permission from the Vatican." Since 1980, there has been a churchwide ban on priests' running for public office. Indeed, in New York state there was a dispute a couple years ago over whether a deacon who ran for public office was violating the ban. On the other hand, though, if he is lying, why doesn't his bishop investigate the matter and discipline him?

[exporters]

best
http://www.exportersinfo.com/

[Victor Aagaard]

Ed Peters says he doesn't have permission. If someone gave him permission, it was in clear violation of the laws of the Church.

http://www.canonlaw.info/2006/10/does-fr-gravel-really-have-permission.html