Clergy Shame in Florida

Several months ago I posted about a Greek Priest being assaulted in Florida by a member of the US Marine Corps. The initial report made it sound as if the priest was lost and simply stopped and asked directions of a person on the side of the road. It was said at the time that the man thought he was a Muslim and beat him with a tire iron. I was enraged by this attack, not simply because it was a priest but because of the justification the man used for beating the priest.

Thanks to the AOI blog it seems the truth is coming out. Click here for the whole story and a video of a press conference but the long and short of it is this priest pursued this man into a garage and grabbed him. It appears that the garage is very close to a known gay hang out and you would not get lost by driving into a garage that you can see clearly in the video he follows closely to anther car to get into this gated area.

Files this under snap judgements and I will apologize to this Marine who was simply defending himself from an attack. If you watch the video you will see at the end when he speak he is not crazy but well spoken. He finally got his day in court but where has this priest gone. If I remember this story he has been sent back to Greece. Well this is not right and I believe this priest should be brought back to the US to face charges of assault on this man. At the very least this disgrace to the priesthood should never be allowed to serve at an altar again. If bishops are hiding him then they need to go as well!