I believe that is something called suspension "a divinis," meaning they can't celebrate Mass or do any priestly activities, nor can they even present themselves publicly as priests. Probably if they totally defrocked him and kicked him out, he wouldn't be able to receive his pension or live on Church property. And we wouldn't want that to happen, would we?
Until these guys know that it's all over for them, they're not going to give up. What does somebody like that care about whether or not he gets to say Mass? Obviously, other things were more important to him in the past...but his pension, on the other hand - now that might get his attention. That's one thing that really annoys me, is that we the parishioners are still paying for these bums to live in a rectory or retirement home somewhere, get their auto allowance, etc.
Bring back the Inquisition! They really knew how to deal with guys like this. Not only no comfy chairs, but no pensions, to put it mildly. Incidentally,I have read that most of the people severely punished and/or put to death by the Inquisition in Mexico were clergy; in fact, the main initial objective of the Spanish Inquisition, despite popular ideas on the subject, was to quash heresy and immorality among the clergy. But even I admit that maybe their methods might have been a little extreme...
Still. A little public flogging on the cathedral steps would go a long way, IMHO.
Thanks for your post. Informative and I agree!