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Think about it. Most priests have an awful lot of power. No one really tells us what to do. We can make up our own schedule. Many of us hold the checkbook for the parish and with a bit of ingenuity can spend money as we like. On top of all this we are surrounded by a group of people who really want to love us. They want to invest in us and want us to be the role model for them and their children. They are longing for someone to look up to, and we, poor souls that we are and longing to be loved, fall for it hook, line, and sinker.
Add to that any kind of a reputation as a writer, speaker, or 'Catholic celebrity' and the minefield is suddenly doubled. They thought you were wonderful to start with, and now thousands hang on your every word. You start to attract all sorts of vulnerable and needy people. If your celebrity status grows, you start enjoying 'success'. Media people want to jump on your bandwagon. Offers come your way. More money flows in. You can't help it. That goes with success.
Meanwhile, you're probably getting lonely because, while thousands love the person they think you are, very few people really know you and love you for who you really are. If you are a celibate priest (unless you've developed for yourself a good support system) you're stuck in that false world of celebrity with no one to turn to. If you don't have the inner strength, you may start believing in your false image yourself. It's hard not to.

Why do some priests start believing the false image of themselves? I'm afraid to say that too many men who are drawn to the priesthood already have a poor self-image. Often they lack real personal identity or they dislike the person they are. It's very attractive, therefore, to have a job where you put on a uniform and assume a different persona—the persona of a hero, a good guy, a knight in shining armor....every morning we put on the uniform. We're God's guys. We dress the part. We parade up and down in our long robes and we try our hardest to be saints. Much of it is a part we have to play. The church even teaches us that we're Christ personified. It's a part we have to play, and also a part we have to grow into, but until we grow into it fully we have to act the part.

This is actually one of the best commentaries I’ve seen on these recent headlines. I printed out this column last week, faxed it to my pastor, and asked him to publish it in his bulletin.

“Putting your trust in a priest—no matter how wonderful he is—will always be a let-down. Furthermore, it’s an immature thing to do. Too often instead of doing the hard work of becoming saints ourselves we idolize someone who has become a saint or whom we think is a saint. That’s shallow and too easy.”

Gotta like this comment!

“The church even teaches us that we’re Christ personified.”

Such a tragic, major theological error. Damages everybody.

"I have siiiiinnnned!!"

A Novena for Fr. Corapi, March 25 - April 2 [Catholic Caucus]