Reply #42: I knew a priest like that in the UK.

[tenshi816]

He's the person who got me back into the Church, although I admit I don't go to mass very often. We met because I designed a fund-raising brochure for the local parish church where I lived at the time and one thing led to another. This priest was one of the least judgmental people I've ever known and he firmly believed God wants people to be happy. I never heard him utter a word against gays or anybody else, and he was horrified about pedophilia in the Church, to the point that he used to give lectures to various priest groups about it.

I'm lucky enough now to have a similar priest where I live now. I've always thought this guy was the happiest priest I've ever seen - he lacks that haunted look so many of them have. He's perfectly at home doing what he does. Turns out, he only entered the priesthood when he was well into middle age (he's 74 now). Before that he was married <gasp!> and when his wife died, he decided to become a priest. The way I see it, he's happy because he's not wondering what life with a partner would be like because he's already had that. This priest, too, is a caring, non-judgmental man.