{"id":2048,"date":"2007-11-07T09:01:00","date_gmt":"2007-11-07T09:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2007\/11\/ewtn-priest-steps-down-over-relationship-with-widow.html"},"modified":"2007-11-07T09:01:00","modified_gmt":"2007-11-07T09:01:00","slug":"ewtn-priest-steps-down-over-relationship-with-widow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/11\/ewtn-priest-steps-down-over-relationship-with-widow.html","title":{"rendered":"EWTN priest steps down over relationship with widow"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.catholic-convert.com\/?p=1675\">This news<\/a> escaped my attention earlier this week, but it&#8217;s quite a surprise, coming from one of EWTN&#8217;s most visible personalties.  <\/p>\n<p>According to the letter read on the air the other day:   <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>  <a href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/RzHF1adIc4I\/AAAAAAAABaU\/V0d1Sqhzgu0\/s1600-h\/FrFrancisMary.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:left;margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer;cursor:hand\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/RzHF1adIc4I\/AAAAAAAABaU\/V0d1Sqhzgu0\/s320\/FrFrancisMary.jpg\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a>   Dear Family: Regretfully, I have a message that does not come without significant pain to both you and me. I have to tell you in all honesty and truth, that I have been personally involved with helping a widow and her struggling family. Over the course of time, the mother and I have grown very close. As a result, I am compelled to take some time off to prayerfully and honestly discern my future.<\/p>\n<p>    I am truly sorry of the impact this may have on so many. I am not unaware of the gravity and magnitude of the situation, yet after much wise counsel, it is really something that I must deal with now for the good of all.<\/p>\n<p>    With that said, it is best that I deal with it away from EWTN. Therefore, I have asked for and graciously been granted some extended time to prayerfully discern my vocation.<\/p>\n<p>    FrFrancisMary3.jpgTo those who are part of the EWTN family locally, and others throughout the world, especially all those who have supported me so faithfully in my priestly vocation and ministry here on Life on the Rock, I sincerely apologize. I ask for your prayers and understanding during this time that is so very difficult, but yet so very necessary.<\/p>\n<p>    Please lift me up in your humble prayers to Jesus through Mary, our Mother, in Grace and Mercy.<\/p>\n<p>    Fr Francis Mary, MFVA<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> Those cannot have been easy words to write.  Let&#8217;s remember him in our prayers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This news escaped my attention earlier this week, but it&#8217;s quite a surprise, coming from one of EWTN&#8217;s most visible personalties. According to the letter read on the air the other day: Dear Family: Regretfully, I have a message that does not come without significant pain to both you and me. I have to tell&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,12,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media","category-ripped-from-the-headlines","category-vocations"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>EWTN priest steps down over relationship with widow - The Deacon&#039;s Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/11\/ewtn-priest-steps-down-over-relationship-with-widow.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EWTN priest steps down over relationship with widow - The Deacon&#039;s Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This news escaped my attention earlier this week, but it&#8217;s quite a surprise, coming from one of EWTN&#8217;s most visible personalties. According to the letter read on the air the other day: Dear Family: Regretfully, I have a message that does not come without significant pain to both you and me. I have to tell&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/11\/ewtn-priest-steps-down-over-relationship-with-widow.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon&#039;s Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-11-07T09:01:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/RzHF1adIc4I\/AAAAAAAABaU\/V0d1Sqhzgu0\/s320\/FrFrancisMary.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"deacon greg kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"EWTN priest steps down over relationship with widow - The Deacon&#039;s Bench","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/11\/ewtn-priest-steps-down-over-relationship-with-widow.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"EWTN priest steps down over relationship with widow - The Deacon&#039;s Bench","og_description":"This news escaped my attention earlier this week, but it&#8217;s quite a surprise, coming from one of EWTN&#8217;s most visible personalties. 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