Roman Catholic diocese warns fake priests are preying on California parishioners

A Roman Catholic diocese in California is warning its flock to beware of wolves in priestly clothes.

The Diocese of Stockton sent out an alert over the weekend to other churches to be on the lookout for people “purporting to be Spanish-speaking Catholic bishops and priests” who charge “exorbitant fees for celebrating the sacraments, teaching classes, and issuing certificates.”

“These imposters are misappropriating the identities of genuine priests in Mexico and conducting unauthorized celebrations of baptism, confirmation, First Communion, and house blessings under false pretenses,” the diocese said in a news release.

MushuChupacabra,
@MushuChupacabra@lemmy.world avatar

I bet it’s a lot like receiving medical treatment from a fake naturopath.

aesthelete,

Or receiving a reading from an unlicensed psychic.

iforgotmyinstance,

Catholic church cries out, “Someone is cutting in on our business, and maybe doing it better.”

superguy,

Aren’t all priests fake since anyone can become a priest and organized religion is a load of bullshit anyways?

paddirn,

As opposed to the real priests preying on parishioners.

Potatos_are_not_friends,

Here me out! I think all priests should carry like a Priest ID badge.

It has their physical stats like height, weight.

But also a checklist like:

  1. Believes gays are fine
  2. Doesn’t diddle kids
atzanteol,

Roman Catholic diocese warns fake priests are preying on California parishioners

I guess that’s a change from real priests preying on parishioners.

PrincessLeiasCat,

And, at least these are preying on adults.

CatZoomies,
@CatZoomies@lemmy.world avatar

So unfortunate that these scams happen all the time, and it’s shocking that we’re still seeing it today.

I remember the huge scandal back in the 90’s about this. Kent Brockman covered the exclusive story:

“Police say the fake Pope can be easily recognized by his high-top sneakers and incredibly foul mouth.”

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/cc9e9882-d50c-418d-be0d-04b32fb1f862.png

Haus,
@Haus@kbin.social avatar

This is a pretty Halloweeny topic. Which is scarier: a fake priest or a real priest?

AnUnusualRelic,
@AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world avatar

How can you tell one from the the other anyway? It’s not like there’s that much of a difference.

jay9,

One touches children. The other does not.

FlyingSquid,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

I like the idea that there can be a ‘fake priest’ and a ‘real priest’ when the whole foundation is nonsense.

Carvex,

Could you imagine if dunking the baby under the Jesuswater was done by a NON-virgin man in a dress?! It may come out gay!

Nougat,

They’re just defending their turf.

Pons_Aelius, (edited )

The only thing worse than allowing a fake catholic priest to perform baptisms, confirmations, First Communions, and house blessings is to allow a real one near your children...

Carvex,

The young boy down the street didn’t get raped by a fake priest, a trans person, a gay couple, Al Quaeda, a Guatemalan caravan, brown voters, or liberals, but we did get assigned a new priest in our church which is weird being the 3rd new one this year… /s

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • random
  • uselessserver093
  • Food
  • [email protected]
  • aaaaaaacccccccce
  • test
  • CafeMeta
  • testmag
  • MUD
  • RhythmGameZone
  • RSS
  • dabs
  • oklahoma
  • Socialism
  • KbinCafe
  • TheResearchGuardian
  • SuperSentai
  • feritale
  • KamenRider
  • All magazines
    •