Kenny’s [Everett] first ambition was to become a priest – in his early teens he spent a year at a seminary run by the Verona Fathers. Heroes of Comedy: Kenny Everett, ITV 1997
Some of my best friends are priests. Mind you, I wouldn’t let my daughter marry one. Dave Allen
I really think they should be allowed to get married. I think if a priest meets another priest and they like each other they should be allowed to get married. Dave Allen
In all ages of the world, priests have been enemies of liberty. David Hume, Essays: Moral and Political 1741-2
Harvington Hall contains the finest series of priest-holes to be found anywhere in the country. Fred Dibnah’s Building of Britain: The Age of the Carpenter, BBC 2002
There is in every village a torch – the teacher, and an extinguisher – the clergyman. Victor Hugo
I am surrounded by priests who repeat incessantly that their kingdom is not of this world, and yet they lay their hands on everything they can get. Napoleon Bonaparte
The mere act of putting on a dog collar turns him into a condescending wank. Rab C Nesbitt s10e4: Fight, Rab to camera, BBC 2011
Will no-one rid me of this turbulent priest? Henry II, attributed
cf.
What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and brought up in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric? Henry II, cited Edward Grim, biographer
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. Genesis 14:18
Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for everything of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. Numbers 18:7
Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.
Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:
And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel. Numbers 25:11-13
But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them. Joshua 18:7
And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the Lord: because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord. I Samuel 22:17
Her priests have violated my law and have profaned my holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Ezekiel 22:26
Therefore, all those who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved.
But whoso breaketh this covenant after he hath received it, and altogether turneth therefrom, shall not have forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the world to come. Mormon Doctrine & Covenants 84:40&41
I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved – the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief has produced! With the rational respect that is due to it, knavish priests have added prostitutions of it, that fill or might fill the blackest and bloodiest pages of human history. John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson September 1816
That God cannot lie, is no advantage to your argument, because it is no proof that priests can not, or that the Bible does not. Thomas Paine
The priest is the personification of falsehood. Giuseppe Garibaldi
The very birth of a priest [Brahmin] is the eternal physical form of religion; for he is born for the sake of religion and is fit to become one with ultimate reality. Laws of Manu 1:98
Eichmann’s Red Cross passport: we’ve got the addresses of the priest who signed these documents. This is an exciting moment for me, because I have been studying these documents for quite a few years about how the Nazis came through Italy on their way to South America. But now we’ve got the exact addresses of where they stayed in Genoa, and the names of the priests who helped them. Uki Goni
With his white collar he forges God’s name on every word he speaks. John Updike, Run, Rabbit
We are a four-person investigative team … We keep our work confidential. Spotlight 2015 starring Mark Ruffalo & Michael Keaton & Rachel McAdams & Liev Schreiber & John Slattery & Brian d’Arcy James & Stanley Tucci & Gene Amoroso & James Sheridan & Billy Crudup & Richard Jenkins et al, director Tom McCarthy
Apparently, this priest molested kids at six different parishes over the last thirty years and the attorney for the victims … says Cardinal Law found out about it fifteen years ago and did nothing. ibid. Baron meets the staff
Twenty grand for molesting a child? ibid. Sacha
This guy was shuffled around from parish to parish … There’s a pattern. ibid. Rezendes
How do you say no to God, right? You see, it’s important to understand this is not only physical abuse, it’s spiritual abuse too. ibid.
This is not just Boston, it’s the whole country … I know thirteen [priests] here in Boston. ibid. victim
My estimate suggests 6% act out sexually with minors. 6% of all priests. ibid. researcher
87 priests in Boston. ibid. Rezendes
We’ve got two stories here: we’ve got a story about degenerate clergy and we’ve got a story about a bunch of lawyers turning child abuse into a cottage industry. ibid. Robinson
Show me this was systemic, that it came from the top down. ibid. Baron
Church allowed abuse by priest for years. ibid. newspaper headline
Over the course of 2002, the Spotlight team published close to 600 stories about the scandal. 249 priests and brothers were publicly accused of sexual abuse within the Boston Archdiocese. The number of survivors in Boston is estimated to be well over 1,000. In December 2002 Cardinal Law resigned from the Boston Archdiocese. He was reassigned to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiori in Rome, one of the highest ranking Roman catholic churches in the world. ibid. captions
And don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter at Father Tony’s hashtag God’s true. Join my mailing list. Lilyhammer s3e8: Loose Ends, Tony post-baptism of infants, Netflix 2014
He said, ‘Not to worry,’ so gentleman-like. A real gentleman. The Gentleman Bandit 1981 starring Charlie Mattera & Peter Greene & Ed Lauter & Ryan O’Neal & Justine Micelli & Kristina Malota & Todd Newman et al, director Jonathan Kaplan, victim of hold-up for $3000
This is too fucked up even for me to think about ... The guy spends the night here with you, and all he [priest] does is slip you a wafer? The Sopranos s1e5: College, HBO 1999
My priest said I should try and work with him. Help him to be a better man. The Sopranos s3e7: Second Opinion, Carmela to new shrink