From
Jane Anderson’s “Priest in Love: Roman Catholic Clergy and Their Intimate
Friendships” (a book of interviews with Australian priests) (p. 173):
“Lydia
was this ex-religious who was working with the homeless. I would contact her if I found someone who
needed help. Sometimes I met these
people near the [city] toilets [where I cruised].” Occasionally, she would pop into the
presbytery.
“One
night when she visited, I was in a terrible state, almost on the edge of a nervous
breakdown. Everything was building
up. I just felt an overwhelming sense of
loneliness, frustration, isolation. I
felt like I was falling apart. Nothing
made sense anymore. Lydia saw that I was
a bit strained and asked if I felt well.
Then I burst into the longest, deepest spell of sobbing. I really felt I would crack in two. The months went by, and she visited me
several times, trying to get some idea of what to do...
“Lydia
and I talked about it, and she said, ‘Look I have tried to think of what to
do. It seems to me that you desperately
need a personal friend. I know you are
getting help, but that doesn’t seem to be enough. Look, I’m willing to be that friend; I’m
willing to commit myself to be there for you as a friend.’
“I
remember sitting there in a kind of numbed misery. Then she came over to me. She said that she was about to make a gesture
to reassure me that she would not abandon me.
Something in me knew she meant well, that I could trust her.
“She
hugged me and kissed me with great feeling.
Then she asked if she could touch me.
I said yes. So she loosened my
clothing, and fondled me intimately.”
. . .
(The
book goes on to specify that that was the beginning of a journey of healing,
since for the priest it made sex less impersonal, and part of his humanity.)
No comments:
Post a Comment