Church Scandal Hits Close to Home

The very reason why I am sick of the Roman Catholic Church (in fact, any faith that demands celibacy from clergy) was on full display on Friday. Fr. Henry Willenborg, a Franciscan priest, had his transgressions from over 20 years ago "exposed" and his name dragged through the mud that is the front page of the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/us/16priest.html Fr. Henry was attacked by the three-times-divorced woman, Pat Bond; their son, Nathan Halbach; and Laurie Goodstein, the author of the article. I will get to these attacks, but I need to give my connection to the story first.

I am a Roman Catholic. Not only that, but my parish priest is (or was) none other than Fr. Henry Willenborg himself. I know him as a good person, and a very good priest. My family is active in the Superior diocese, and I was confirmed in 2008 at Our Lady of the Lake. He is, in fact, the only person that has kept many of my friends and family in the Church.

The accusation that he was involved with Ms. Bond and another woman at the same time is completely false. He had broken off the relationship with the other woman years earlier, and she had followed him to Quincy, Ill. as a vindictive ex. ("A lifetime of pain"? Puh-leeze) Also, the complaints of "spending the least amount they could possibly spend under any circumstances" exposes her as a golddigger concerned with getting as much money as she can squeeze out of a priest who is under a vow of poverty and an order which has already paid her:

$85,000 at the birth of Mr. Halbach for his care, of which $38,000 was used for a down payment on a house;
Half of Mr. Halbach's expenses at the University of Missouri (in-state tuition: $20, 600 for the 2008-09 school year) plus $586 per month until he turned 21, which is a better deal than I can get.
Half of all medical expenses related to the cancer until he turned 23 (a very significant sum, and possibly more than insurance would cover.)

In fact, this issue wasn't brought to the media's attention until the Order finally said no to her endless requests for money. She then broke her confidentiality agreement and told her side of the story to the left-wingnuts at the Times.

As to the son's assertment that Fr. Henry wasn't there for him, how could he be? He was in charge of running a parish. At Our Lady of the Lake, this requires two priests, two ordained brothers, two lay deacons, and numerous others to cover two churches for a total of ten masses per week and a parish school (K-8).

The only reason that this is an issue at all is because of the anti-Catholic bias within the near-bankrupt New York Slimes. Fr. Henry has always been there for his parishoners when we needed him, and we will be there for him, now and forever.