Bishops screen Catholic priests on cruises

[rainbow4321]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CRUISE_SHIPS_CLERGY?SITE=TXSAE&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


PORT EVERGLADES, Fla. (AP) -- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has started screening priests who celebrate Mass aboard cruise ships to prevent unqualified clergy from ministering to Catholic passengers. The bishops have approved more than 650 priests to work on cruise lines in a process designed to weed out unsuitable candidates such as clergy who were suspended in the church's sex abuse scandal or those who have left the priesthood.

Priests who apply for the program, which started a year ago, must have their bishops' approval and are subject to yearly review. All dioceses conduct their own background checks on priests, said Doreen Badeaux, secretary general of the Apostleship of the Sea, a Catholic ministry devoted to seafarers.

Celebrity and Holland America lines are working with priests approved by the Apostleship, while other cruise lines continue hiring clergy privately or using agencies such as Rent-A-Priest, a group that provides former, now-married priests who are no longer authorized to conduct Mass.


"It wasn't being regulated by the bishops' conference and they weren't doing background checks on these guys," said the Rev. Sinclair Oubre, president of the AOS-USA, a chaplains' organization affiliated with the Apostleship of the Sea. "Since we started this, some of the cruise lines have become more alert"

[NYC]

1. I love this word:

...the Apostleship of the Sea...

[tomkertes]

5. lol n/t

[DemBones DemBones]

2. Wow, the cruise lines aren't being very careful, are they?

You'd think they'd check up on a priest before hiring him. Most employers check an employee's credentials and know who he should be approved by. I hope they do a better job of vetting the ship's doctors.

Here's a clue: Rent-a-Priest is not the organization that supplies priests to Catholic churches! Some of them may be good men, men who left the priesthood to marry and would like to still be priests, but they're no longer priests. Other former priests may not be such good men at all.

[msongs]

3. maybe they are looking for child molestors?

Msongs
riverside CA

[goddess40]

4. Reward program for priests

I'm sure they only want those that "serve" their church well to get the cushy cruise jobs.