Priests’ Dispute Escalates To A Blow And An Arrest (Martin Weil/The Washington Post; Dec 2)

A Catholic priest was arrested in an assault on a fellow priest during a dispute at a Northern Virginia parish, authorities said Tuesday night.

The Rev. Charles C. Smith 45, of Woodbridge was arrested on a charge of unlawful wounding in connection with the Nov. 22 incident at Our Lady of Angels parish in Woodbridge, one of the larger parishes in the Washington region.

The alleged victim was identified by a spokeswoman for the Catholic Diocese of Arlington as the Rev. Paul Eversole, parish pastor.

He was treated at a hospital for what the spokeswoman, Joelle Santolla, described as facial injuries.

In a letter to the parish, Bishop Paul S. Loverde, head of the diocese, called the news distressing.

He also wrote that priests are human, with “faults and shortcomings like the rest of us.”

The spokeswoman said she thought the dispute broke out in the church office, where “a simple disagreement” over office matters ” escalated quickly.”

Smith has been relieved of duties as parochial vicar pending resolution of the matter. A Dec. 14 court date has been set.

Our Lady of Angels has more than 10,000 registered parishioners.

Smith had been there since 2006; Eversole, since 2005.

So, priests are human with “faults and shortcomings like the rest of us”?

Hmmmm…. I know I’m not perfect, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t recall ever assaulting anyone, let alone hurting anyone enough to send them to a hospital.

And I can’t recall ever hearing about fisticuffs erupting at an atheist meet-up, meeting, or convention.

I *can* recall lots of similar stories involving theists, however. I’ve shared many of those stories in my diary over the years, so maybe you recall them, too. If not, here’s just one entry that you might want to check out.

I dunno. It seems to me that Christians are fond of claiming they’re morally superior to us mere atheists, agnostics, and other gOdless types right up until the moment they get caught doing something wrong, then all of a sudden they’re “only human” and just like everyone else – even when (almost) everyone else is in fact morally superior (in the sense of being much better behaved).

At least Bishop Loverde didn’t try to blame the behavior of these priests on demonic possession. Or witchcraft. Or their being gay.

And at least the arrested priest chose to pick on one of his peers instead of on a child.

That may not seem like much progress to you, but I suppose we should be glad for any form of progress whatsoever when it comes to the Catholic Church.

You know, it’s like what the man said about the dancing pig. So what if the pig is dancing badly? The wonder of the thing is that the pig can dance at all.