#3677: Aristide is NOT an ex-priest: Graves comments

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: archim <archim@globelsud.net>
     
Dear Kathy 
Just a little corrective note; positively connected with Haiti: The former 
President Aristide is not a "former priest"! Many persons don't seem to know 
this. Aristide was suspended from his former religious order (The Salesians), 
but he was never "deposed" from the Priesthood. He is still a priest as far as 
the Roman Catholic Church is concerned. He was given an "indult" by the Pope of 
Rome to be married, and that marriage was performed by a valid Roman Catholic 
bishop (Willy Romulus). Had an indult not been given by the pope, both Bishop 
Romulos and Aristide would be deposed and excommunicated, because a clergyman of
the RC Church who marries a priest is automatically deposed!
   Aristide is still a RC priest, according to RC theological 
understanding...and according to official documents. If he wishes to "say mass" 
in his private chapel (and he has one), it is a valid mass and the faithful 
would be receiving Holy Communion if they received. The rule for Aristide is 
that he cannot function publicly as a priest.
   Merfely for clarification.   Fr. Michael Graves (Greek Orthodox Priest) in  
Haiti.