Dennis

So glad you bought this up because i was wondering the same. If she came from a strong catholic family as a there are a lot of them in the Phillipines they would not agree i think on this marriage. living in Bondi for so long i have a lot of friends that got married to these girls and after about two years they complained to the Police that their husbands were abusing them, they had the men put out of their homes that they owned and brought their famalies over, i am not saying all of these woman are like this and yes was she paid as the houskeeper is a good question. You know yourself that a lot of people know about this relationship being a learnered man like a lot of stuff that goes on with Priests and their friends. I know two woman in Lismore that are still waiting for the Priest they they fell in love with and it has been for over twenty/thirty years that this has been going on. There is a big question mark over why he has done this when he could easily of gone on with the relationship and stayed a Priest like so many do. Did he marry in the catholic Church because if so the Priest that married him would be in strife wouldn't he eveb if it was over seas...this is going to be very interesting. I know for a fact the Priest have rights so if he has been excommunicated from the Catholic Church all ready it all has been done a bit fast hasn't it. What about the priest up the coast here that has his son living with him what happens in a situation like that? God all this is something we would nevr of thought of in a million years when we were young.

Macbee

Does anybody know if the marriage took place in the Phillipines or in Australia? Does Mrs Lee have a valid visa to stay in Australia? Getting married doesn't make it automatically so. Did Kevin Lee tell the truth to the Department of Immigration when he sponsored his wife for a temporary spouse visa? How many parishioners cooperated and helped him in his deception? Did Kevin pay to keep his wife in the presbytery? Did he cover his tracks by "employing" her as a housekeeper? Or is Mrs Lee using Kevin to get a permanent resident visa? It would not be the first time. There is lots more tragedy in this story yet. It is now time for other friends of Kevin to come forward with their stories. Who else is out there?

Roy, I am well aware that men other than clergy go to the Philippines and take advantage of poor women there.. I worked with some in the jail and know how shameless they can be, until they are caught.

I wonder how his wife's family in the Philippines feel about him now?

Brian I'd say Kevin is in that stage where the adolescent is blind to common sense as he is 'in love'

You must have seen it in your own kids ....this bloke is a late bloomer is all.
simple really .....you can tell from the 'boots and all' attitude.
Kids go through it twice ....once at about 4 years and then again in adolescence.

but I'll bet his new wifes mum is well pleased ...priest in the family has to be a winner.

Is this just another example of older Australian men going to the Philippines and taking advantage of the poverty in which so many women live?

yeh thanks Judith ....just aussie men hey! maybe you should get to know a few males outside the church if that is the imopression you get? I know many clergy go for their jollies in asia ......just have a read around BrokenRites.

I knew it could not be his formation .....anyone know when he enter the seminary?

In his interview Kevin Lee said that his wife didn't know he was a priest. How honest is he if he concealed this core fact about himself? Why would she trust him in future if he was able to "forget" his vows in order to win her? Heaven help the poor woman. Is this just another example of older Australian men going to the Philippines and taking advantage of the poverty in which so many women live?

Church removes Glenmore Park's Father Kevin Lee
1,446 Facebook recommends, 120 comments
http://penrith-press.whereilive.com.au/news/story/glenmore-parks-father-kevin-lee-remov...

Interview with Kevin Lee
http://penrith-press.whereilive.com.au/news/story/new-interview-kevin-lee-speaks/

Dec 2009 coverage of the opening of the new Church at Glenmore Park:
http://penrith-press.whereilive.com.au/news/story/glenmore-park-welcomes-new-padre-pio-...

Thanks to Tom McMahon and George Bouchey for this link to the MSNBC coverage... (It has attracted 339 comments in feedback from viewers and over 800 Facebook recommends).

http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/02/11497228-catholic-priest-in-australia-i...

I just think that this situation is ludicrous, far beyond any satire. Reality beats satire any time. As to the players here I would hate to think that anyone was hurt, particularly the little bugger, sorry budgie. I wish this priest and his wife a long and happy life. But if he is going to dump on other priests it will not make them happy. Similarly his critics will not enjoy castigating him. He had the option of becoming laicised and married like so many other priests, but he chose a different course. We do not know the circumstances that drove him to it, particularly as he was such a dyed in the wool Opus Dei trad. Now the Trads have turned on him, as well as the hundreds who signed petitions for Optional Celibacy, and the ordination of married priests.
Now the the laughter has died, there is a real sense of sadness. It is not the first time that violent disputation has racked the Church. We need peace and harmony. Trouble is if you talk like that you are accused of being a cafetaria Catholic, a Kumbaya type. Incidentally, what the heck is wrong with Kumbaya?
I hope that I have not been cruel to the trio, the Filipana, the married priest or for that matter Budgie boy.

Where's it all coming from?

Do a script for Channel (now let me think), get that Father Joe bloke, and you have an easy life.

Thanks. You are cruel and kind at the same time. Have you been managing that your whole life long?

No shadows in what you write:

I had written a follow up to that : but deleted it. All too sensitive for either party - but not some third parties?

good one

I'm a great believer in that priests should have the choice of marriage or celibacy - would be a great solution - but not while Benny is in charge

Must say, it sure is looking very 'tabloid' around here of late!

I thank you for new bugger in cage, I no got grumps no more, Daddyman. Good little bugger.
FATHER, REVEREND FATHER...and HOW MANY TIMES I GOTTA TELL YOU ? And not bugger, but budgie.
Okay, Rebn Fadder. Now you give me grumps again. I getting headache.
Stop it. Did you feed the little bastard., little bugger, sorry budgie.
Yes,Daddyman I give it it round little bikkie from your black box.
Oh no, Heresy, Heresy, Heresy, SACRILEGE MOST HIGH.
You got grumps now ?
Most Pernicious of Sins...or horror of horrors. O Dominus, forgive this humble Servant of the Lord... Mea culpa, mea culpa.
Wassamatta, it Jatz Cracker from Box with Parrit on box.
Thank you, thank you, O Lord. I would have KILLED THAT HERETIC BIRD OF APOSTASY.
He nice little bugger.
BUDGIE, BUDGIE, BUDGIE. How many times I got to tell you?
Look at him in cage. He my Bubba. You listen to him. I teachie him. Soon I tell him, You Love Filipina?
Budgie: Dominus Vobiscum. Et cum spirit tuam...
That’s great.
You listen some more to Little Bugger
Budgie: Dominus Vobiscum, Shithead, Shithead, Shithead.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
You not got grumps, Daddyman?

http://observatorycatholic.wordpress.com/

Sorry about my spelling again i was abuse today and feel a but off so the shaking has started again in my hands.

Macbee

PatrickW

I wonder if he married in the Catholic Church in the Phillipines or just in a civak ceromany,

Macbee

Dennos

Just spoke with someone and they spoke of that to me he was a little of a "one out man" i was told. I notice no one has mentioned his Brother who is also a Priest I wonder what he thinks about all of this. I suppose he was on Holiday in the Phillipines when he met his wife. I was wondering why she was mot beisde him when he spoke to the media, and yes i am very interested in what he will have to say. I read the book priest in love it was a very interesting read i was pretty shocked at some things that was said about their sexual life it was pretty open.

Macbee

Social Media and the People of God as described in the Congress report on CathNews?

Well, these falsely pious fools, these anonymous character assassins, these self-proclaimed prophets, these fleas off the backs of rats lurking in the dung of cloisters, these purveyors of self-righteous nonsense,these spiritual poltroons and hypocrites - they would say that, wouldn't they ? I knew one of their number, one of their leaders, who when he left Polding House did not have one person prepared to come to his farewell, but was still prepared to foster lies, defamation, and scandal.
A poltroon is craven, dastard, an ignoble or total coward, a mean-spirited wretch.

Cooees from the Cloister are trying to blame it on +Bede Heather...

http://cooeesfromthecloister.com/2012/05/03/theres-something-about-kevin/

The reality boys is "he's one schooled in your cloister". You can't very well go and blame Bede Heather!

Enda, Gilbert and Sullivan wouldn't know where to start with this. Perhaps Brian and John ...., could give it a whirl on 7.30 Report tonight? Their 5 minute commentary is usually very pointed and hilarious.

This excommunicated priest in an interview attacked what he called ‘frustrated celibate nuns’. He went on to say:
‘The average Catholic does not give a shit if a priest is male or female,’
He claimed the Church ‘ has been castrated by feminist nuns who, at the post-menopause stage and are looking for meaning as celibate religious.
‘They are angry women looking for a fight, and fighting for a cause. Creation spirituality and environmentalism have become the religion of the nineties’
What rough beast is slouching its way to Bethlehem to be born ? to quote Yeats.
This man was a bag of trouble in the priesthood and he will be a bag of trouble now he has left. I feel sorry for his beloved Opus Dei and their trad friends. I am sorry for his bishop.
For priests who are campaigning for optional celibacy he is a danger.
For women seeking greater identity in the Church he is bad news.
For victims of clerical sexual abuse he has no answer.
For traditional conservatives who respect Church authority such as myself he is a disaster.
For gossips and troublemakers he is a blessing.

if you appoint idiots you get idiotic situations...in idiotic institutions.
Just the wrong state for this poor Lee bloke in Victoria if a priest sodomizes a 16 yo he is pronounced fit enough to say Mass by Pell. Little and Hart and to add an international flavour to the Idiocy even an American cardinal helps out with the cover up.

http://brokenrites.alphalink.com.au/nletter/page224-barry-robinson.html

Fixed the tag ...sorry about that!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-03/smart-budgie-returns-to-owner/3986454
What's with the shitty face,get out of the wrong side of the bed?
I got grumps. You no speak, just pray.
I am a priest for LIFE, REMEMBER THAT ! I HAVE MADE YOU AN HONEST WOMAN.
No shout, darlink, I hear you.
Well, HEAR THIS. I did not leave the HOLY APOSTOLIC AND CATHOLIC CHURCH FOR A SOURPUSS.
What sourpuss?
A cat with a bad temper like yours,
I like animals. I want little bugger.
A what?
A bugger in cage. Like lady in Japan.
You mean a budgie, not a bugger.
Yes. I need someone to talk to.
I gave you a BLOODY PARROT AS A WEDDING PRESENT if you recall.
It only say Rosary and Shithead, shithead, shithead.
It fly away. No have name and Hadress.
Okay, okay. I get you a budgie. But promise you teach it Latin and NO HERESY.
You good man, good priest. Here your chains and hair shirt. I not got grumps no more.

I once heard a Jesuit remark--That the greater "sin" for a priest is not getting in bed with a woman (man), but getting in bed with power?!
georgeh

I am very pissed off, my dear,WHERE IS MY BLASTED HAIR SHIRT ?
Here, my darlink.
You ironed it ? You know I get the shits when it's wrinkled.
Yes, my darlink.
Wassamatter with you this morning? Turn that smile upside down !
I got the grumps. I miss Mindanao. Now you put me on televish like freakie show.
No, we have to expose all of these other bloody LIBERAL priests. Those who are not SHIRTLIFTERS or PEDOS.
They do jig a jig?
Yes.
Like us?
Yes, but we are married.
My family say you are real bastid.
Who takes any notice of them? Ever seen them saying the Holy Office every day? They are probably Shithead Liberals.
No speak bad talk please.
Where's my chains, my cincture?
I put with dog, I thought it his.
Well hurry up, I have a press conference.

If he had any mates /real mates it could/would never have happened ...would have been straightened out years ago.

Roy, who is the "he" you refer to?
Kevin Lee . . . or . . . Anthony Fisher . . . OR both???

Where I sit, they've both lost the plot!

But, I do say good luck to Kevin Lee . . . specially if his Opus Dei family are by now thundering on the telephone at him! At least, now, he has the support of a wife!

Thanks Brian for your well thought out empathetic post.
georgeh

Where is Geoffrey Chaucer when you need him - or even Gilbert and Sullivan?

I'd like to hear Choppers opinion ....usually concise

In the words of the late senile President Ronald Reagan who was under the delusion that he actually served in World War Two rather than do a recruitment movie,WHERE DO WE GET SUCH MEN !

Some institutions breed 'em!
I think the proof is in the pudding with this one.
The guy doesn't even see how crazy this looks to mr average ...and expects all to understand.
If he had any mates /real mates it could/would never have happened ...would have been straightened out years ago.

The research is facinating. I hope there are further editions. There are sure to be more stories!

"Priests in Love: Roman Catholic Clergy and Their Intimate Relationships." Jane Anderson.

It is unfortunate that Fr Gerry Iverson has passed away. He could have shed a great deal of light on Kevin Lee's years as a student at St Patrick's Seminary, Manly.

For now, we can only wait for Kevin Lee's promised publication. My bet is a full and frank "reveal all" plus pictures in the Womens Weekly.

One of the signs of a dying institution, or maybe one about to be radically reformed, is that for some time it has been appointing lame ducks and fools to positions of power.

In communist countries they often appointed idiots in charge of schools etc because they were good party men or women. That they had no talent for the job didn't seem to matter. They followed the party line.

A person with no leadership talents when put in charge of something usually makes really foolish mistakes. They take themselves very seriously and talk with authority about things they know nothing about.

The idiots are often 'conservative' in the sense they are party line but they often collapse and do outrageous things. This is not surprising as they are seldom free agents or integrated people. That they are ordained or appointed to ofice at all shows how incompetent and unwise those who appoint or ordain them are.

I feel sorry for all the people involved in this, especially the wife, and angry that yet another cockup has taken place in the Church but there is a delicious irony here. It is not as if they were not warned (see Dan Donovan's letter for example).

Where is Geoffrey Chaucer when you need him - or even Gilbert and Sullivan?

Given the information that is coming to light in this case a big question that might be included in the many questions on the table is this:

Is this perhaps a portent of the "nuclear explosion" the institution is building for itself that will eventually detonate in 10, 20 or 30 years time with a significant cohort of the so-called "John Paul II priests" that some have been so enthusiastically recruiting in recent decades?

Thanks Brian, and your expression 'brain snap' is what I was attempting to describe. Apologies for not saying that very well.

Sandra (foot and mouth disease!)

Sort of a Father Cutie (Florida, USA 2009) type of situation in Oz, except that Fr Lee got married first??
Have to feel sorry for the woman & his family a bit-- did they know that he would "open up" on TV??

Don't believe all your read in the media, Macbee. I doubt the expression was used in a strict legal sense. An action like the one Fr Lee has taken might incur automatic excommunication — we'd need a canon law expert to advise us on that. The more likely course of action is that the bishop has merely withdrawn his "faculties" at present — i.e. his authority to celebrate the sacraments (even in that situation though I was just reading the other day that under canon law a priest still retains some responsibilities to do things like administer the last rights in emergency situations). From Anthony Fisher's media statement it seems he's even having difficulty trying to contact Kevin Lee at the moment. That is hardly surprising.

I actually feel some sympathy for Kevin Lee at the moment. He must be under enormous pressure himself. I suspect, but don't know for sure, that this might be some kind of "brain snap" from a very repressed upbringing type situation. Was it his vocation, or someone else's? Was he trying to live up to the expectations of others and in the end it just got too much? Just recently I was writing of my observation that people brought up under very orthodox regimes often eventually rebel in very extreme ways in adulthood. I have seen it many times both in the wider community and even in my extended family.

.........how long it will take for him to be de-frocked?

Sandra

As they say once a Priest always a Priest well lets see if he is xcommunacated is he still a priest in their eyes if not he will get no support.

Macbee

Brain

the late news just said father Kevin Lee has been excommunicated.

Macbee

Cliffy

Thanks for being so honest and i agree with you that they are screwing themselves silly and the idiots do not realize that everybody knows.

Macbee