Added parishioner Viola Czajkowski: “I don’t see how a priest who took vows could possibly do something like this and have mass every day while this was going on.”

The “something like this” was seduce a vulnerable lady who was getting a divorce.

This kind of magical thinking always amazes me.  What did this person think?  That in a Harry Potter kind of way, priests taking vows had a hex on them to prevent them from acting human?  Where do they think all those priest jokes come from, anyway?

No question, Elvis Elano, deserves scorn.  Not for breaking some ridiculous vows (Do priests take vows for anything other than chastity?) but for abusing a position of authority and responsibility to take advantage of someone, potentially, vulnerable.

This is really no different than if it had been a doctor, teacher, counselor or relative.  People have an expectation that they can bring their problems to “professionals” without being preyed upon.  But don’t be shocked in particular  because the predator is a priest, he’s just a guy with strange job.

A woman takes a lover home during the day, while her husband is at work. Unbeknownst to her, her 9 year old son was hiding in the closet. Her husband comes home unexpectedly, so she puts the lover in the closet with the little boy.The little boy says, “Dark in here.”
The man says, “Yes it is.”
Boy- “I have a baseball.”
Man- “That’s nice.”
Boy- “Want to buy it?”
Man- “No, thanks.”
Boy- “My dad’s outside.”
Man- “OK, how much?”
Boy- “$250.”

In the next few weeks, it happens again that the boy and the mom’s lover are in the closet together.

Boy- “Dark in here.”
Man- “Yes, it is.”
Boy- “I have a baseball glove.”
The lover, remembering the last time, asks the boy, “How much?”
Boy- “$750.”
Man- “Fine.”

A few days later, the father says to the boy, “Grab your glove. Let’s go outside and toss the baseball back and forth.”
The boy says, “I can’t. I sold them.”
The father asks, “How much did you sell them for?”
The son says “$1,000.”
The father says, “That’s terrible to overcharge your friends like that. That is way more than those two things cost. I’m going to take you to church and make you confess.”

They go to church and the father makes the little boy sit in the confession booth and he closes the door.

The boy says, “Dark in here.”
The priest says, “Don’t start that sh*t again.”