p/c Globe photo/Lisa Kay, St. Luke Institute, Silver Spring, MD.>By now, most American Catholics who are at least 30 years old know of one Catholic priest (or two) who has been sent away for “treatment” by the diocese. If the priest was liked by the parish, most of the faithful remained hush-hush about why he got sent packing. If he was a distrusted priest, well, lay-lips might be a little looser: Was Father sent away for alcoholism? Did he have a girlfriend? Did he have a boyfriend? Did he harm a child? Maybe he just reached a point of burnout and needed a break…>The world of behavioral care centers or psychological care centers for priests is a mysterious world for most lay Catholics. The 2015 movie Spotlight starring Michael Keaton opened up a bit more on this front. The movie covered the true story of the Boston Globe “Spotlight” section which released the names of priests across the Archdiocese of Boston who had molested children for decades. Many of them were sent to such a psych unit, but only until being recycled back into active ministry.

Originally published in Padre Peregrino. Read original article