From
Jane Anderson’s “Priest in Love: Roman Catholic Clergy and Their Intimate
Friendships” (a book of interviews with Australian priests) (p. 25):
“After
we became deacons, we spent sometime [sic] in our home parish. Here I was introduced to an ex-nun. She was very active in the parish. We found much to talk about, and it was all
very open. She was quite apprehensive
about her future as far as relationships went.
She had started at the convent at an early age. Now in her midthirties, she told me that she
felt incompetent in the sexual sense.
She very nervously asked if I could show her how to kiss.
“It
sounds so naive now, but at the time it was a real need. Upon reflection, what was naive was to think
it could stop at a kiss...
“Part of
the deal with the spiritual director was that I would stop seeing the lady in
question. The news of this sudden end
was painful for her. We promised to see
each other twelve months later. After a
long and lonely year, I dropped around at the usual time of evening. She was entertaining the local curate. She was polite but had no wish to resume any
sort of relationship.”
. . .
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