The secret that died with Andrew Greeley

Matt C. Abbott (Renew America, June 30, 2013), via JM:

Father Andrew Greeley has died at the age of 85.

I've mentioned him a number of times in this column over the last several years. I was no fan of his, to say the least. He even sent me a cryptic email a while back.

Out of Christian charity, we should pray for his soul. But I do want to remind readers of the following excerpts in Father Greeley's non-fiction book Furthermore! Memories of a Parish Priest – something he never (to my knowledge) revealed while living:

80 Windmills

There are some exceptions of course, including Chicago. But even in Chicago, the ring of predators about whom I wrote in the paper-back edition of Confessions remains untouched. There is no evidence against them because no one has complained about them and none of their fellow priests have denounced them.¹ Those who have been removed are for the most part lone offenders who lacked the skill to cover their tracks. The ring is much more clever. Perhaps they always will be. But should they slip, should they get caught, the previous scandals will seem trivial. Others like them still flourish all around the country.

1. They are a dangerous group. There is reason to believe that they are responsible for at least one murder and may perhaps have been involved in the murder of the murderer. Am I afraid of them? Not particularly. They know that I have in safekeeping information which would implicate them. I am more of a threat to them dead than alive. [back]

[Hat tip to JM]