Father: Forgive Yourself, You Need It.

Now and then curiosity gets the best of me. I go to Google news to see which priests got arrested for what in the last 30 days. Given how the Vatican state likes to pontificate to the world about what is or isn't moral I like to see how they are practicing morality themselves.

According to a Google news search the following are a sampling of what Catholic priests have been up to recently. I have choosen to only report on US cases and not go international with this report.

Father Kevin Gray was arrested in Connecticut for stealing $1.3 million dollars from his parish, over the last seven years, in order to pay for male escorts and hotels. Maybe he needed his luggage lifted? But $1.3 million? That's $185,000 per year or $3,571 per week. Exactly how many rent boys was Father hiring at a time? Either this priest was hiring another "escort" every night of the week, along with an expensive hotel room, or he isn't being entirely truthful about his spending habits. And that raises an interesting question: What else could he be doing with the money if claiming he spent it all on male prostitutes is the preferred excuse?

In West Virginia, Father Felix Owino was arrested for aggravated sexual battery against an 11-year-old girl.

Father Patrick Umberger apparently was ejected from a waterpark last year because he kept following small boys into the toilets. A police report was filed against him at the time. He said he had prostrate problems. Now he has legal problems as he was arrested for child porn.

Father William Casey, in Tennessee, pled guilty to "crimes against nature." (An absurd phrase if ever there was one. Apparently this has something to do with molestation charges against the priest.

Parents in North Carolina say that a church choirmaster was molesting their daughter. When this accusation was made known to the local priest, Father John Schneider he went to the apartment of the choirmaster to delete photographic evidence of the assaults from the man's computer. The priest was called when the man was arrested and left a school board meeting in order to destroy the evidence.

Mark Campobello was a priest, now he is a former inmate. This priest was released from prison a few days ago, no doubt to make room for other priests. Campobello served his sentence for sexually assualting two teenage girls.

Father James Grady was sentenced to prison for possession of child porn of underage females. He supposedly came to the attention of police when he responded to an undercover operation offering children for commercial sex.

In an ecumenical spirit I feel I should discuss the actions of Protestant ministers as well. Rev. Lawrence Brown, of Louisiana, was arrested for "indecent behavior with a juvenile and soliciting for prostitution" regarding a 15-year-old girl. In Middletown, NY, Rev. Robert Burke was arrested for third-degree rape. Steven Breed was a graduate of a Baptist seminary and briefly served as a youth minister before becoming a teacher. He was arrested for getting real estate agents to show him homes, where he would steal valuables on an inspection.

Pastor Kenneth Kleckner, in West Ocala, FL, was arrested for soliciting a police offer online. He thought the officer was an underaged girl. Baptist pastor Christopher Daniels was arrested again, after he escaped a jail work team. He was previously found guilty of arson and fraud charges. In South Carolina, Pastor Grady Ponds and his wife, Rhonda, were both arrested on child porn charges.

In Indiana Pastor Christian Johnson was arrested for possession of meth and his wife was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle. Also in Indiana a minister, Wayne Harris, Jr., was arrested. He borrowed funds from a charity that helps orphans, supposedly to build a church. He bought a Mercedes and a mink coat instead and never paid back the money. In Louisiana a Baptist minister was arrested for sending threatening emails and text messages. Rev. Bill Vandergraph was arrested for sexual penetration of minor under the age of 13.

Baptist pastor Christopher Settlemoir was arrested for sexually attacking teenaged boys. Pastor Thurman Leonard was arrested for assault and battery and felony abduction. Gerald Laneaux, a youth minister, was arrested for sexually molesting a 4-year-old.

I think I've had enough—there's more but one can only spend so much time in sewer. What I love is that these people are in the forefront of the fight against gay people committing to each other for life, because they deem that to be immoral.