'The church was shocked. There were young families there.’
A Catholic priest has kept his job despite outraging parishioners with a ‘vulgar’ sermon over the Easter weekend.
Father Thomas McHale, priest at Our Blessed Lady Immaculate in Blackhill, Consett, County Durham, shocked his flock by claiming during his Good Friday sermon that Jesus died with an erection.
The 53-year-old American prelate told the roughly 100 gathered that execution by crucifixion would have sent all the blood rushing down to Christ’s lower body.
One dismayed worshipper told The Times: ‘He told people Jesus died with an erection. The church was shocked. There were young families there.’
Despite complaints Fr McHale is understood to have kept his position.
A spokesman for the diocese of Hexham & Newcastle told the newspaper: ‘A complaint was received and has been investigated in keeping with our diocesan complaints policy.
‘The investigation has been very recently completed and the complaint is upheld.’
It is not the first time a clergyman’s comments have caused uproar.
The diocese of Chelmsford apologised in 2019 after the Rev Dr Anand Sodadasi, of Holy Trinity Church in Chrishall, Essex, questioned whether Father Christmas was real during a children’s service.
Last month, a Catholic ministry in the US pulled the plug on the world’s first AI priest.
The avatar, named Father Justin, was created to ‘provide users with faithful and educational answers’ about the faith.
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But it quickly went rogue, suggesting a baby be baptised in Gatorade and advising a woman on how best to prepare to wed her brother.
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