Priest from Spa City jumps to death

The Saratogian ^ | December 28, 2006 | MARY FAIRCHILD

[Robert A Cook PE]

And Hillary voters.

[kanawa]

The Pope now has a commanding lead...

[trisham]

Poor man. He must have been desperate.

[LynnMarieSouthCarolina]

I belong to St. Jude's Catholic Church in Sumter, South Carolina. Father John Kiwas was in our church for about 2 months. About 5 or 6 years ago. He was suffering from depression even back then. Rumors go that he never got over seeing his friends die in Brazil and wanted to go back there so much. Without going into detail Father Kiwas showed signs of depression and only lasted about 2 months at our church. My prayers are with his soul.

[ArrogantBustard]

Was it a suicide? Humpty Dumpty may not have been the only one that had help falling.

[Alamo-Girl]

Er, if I may ... my relatives in law enforcement tell me that frequently suicides are accidental. They say that often the victim is doing something perilous in the hopes that someone will reach out to him or to stand on the brink, but then something goes terribly wrong.

I suggest - especially for those who consider suicide to be unforgiveable - give the victim the benefit of the doubt.

[ArrogantBustard]

I'm suggesting that it might be a case of homicide. At least, that angle should be investigated.

And that's 'bout all I have to say about that.

[murphE]

I suggest - especially for those who consider suicide to be unforgiveable - give the victim the benefit of the doubt.

I totally agree with statement. A man my husband knew from high school was struck and killed by a train. He used to walk along the tracks to get to work. He was not reported to be depressed, using or abusing drugs, deeply in debt and left no suicide note, yet the newspaper reported it as a suicide. I couldn't help but think how much worse that made things for his family.

[Campion]

I seem to recall that the Ukrainian Catholics have sort of a separate diocese

Eastern Rite Catholics generally belong to their own "church sui iuris" ("church with it's own law") and have a separate hierarchy. The Ukrainians in Albany would be under a Ukrainian Rite bishop, not under a bishop Hubbard.

Which is, of course, a very good thing.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you for sharing that excellent case-in-point!

[ichabod1]

Freeped! The Pope is at 71%, and Mackmood Achmedinijad is at 2.5% so the word is getting around.

[tioga]

My bishop is a good friend of Hubbard's, and Albany was his hometown before he entered the priesthood.

[Salvation]

**This is the 2nd 'suicide' within 3 years.**

Makes me wonder about Hubbard.

[NYer]

Makes me wonder about Hubbard.

The numbers speak for themselves. Check out the statistics on Frank Sheed's thread about the State of the Catholic Church in the US. Your diocese is right up there at the top. Albany and Rochester (Bishop Clark) scrape the bottom of the barrel.

[NYer]

My bishop is a good friend of Hubbard's, and Albany was his hometown before he entered the priesthood.

Let me guess ... hmmmm .... could it possibly be his fellow seminarian, Matthew Clark?! (another one of Archbishop Jean Jadot's recommendations. I would link you to that information but, because I have posted it so many times, 'someone' has managed to have the link killed. Ooops ... did I say 'killed'? I meant 'commit suicide' ;-)

[tioga]

You are very good, Clark is my bishop. The schism in Rochester over gay marriage and woman priests is the predictable result of his leadership.

[tioga]

A fellow FReeper gave me some links that were just downright fascinating about the first suicide and Hubbard. I was spellbound while reading. However, my biggest problem with my diocese is their liberal leanings. I just ignore them and continue to listen to the Pope. I just need a worship site, which is NOT what the church should be.