Posted on 07/27/2005 4:56:03 PM PDT by A.A. Cunningham
Priest in child-support tangle
Group liable for boy fathered before man was ordained
By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
July 27, 2005
A Denver-based province of Catholic priests has agreed to continue child support for a 12-year-old boy fathered by one of its own.
"We want to do more than the letter of the law to provide for the needs of this boy," said the Rev. Thomas Picton, leader of the province of Redemptorist priests based in Denver. The province has jurisdiction over 31 states.
Since the mid-1990s, the Redemptorist Province has been quietly paying support for a son born of a consensual relationship between a man who is now a priest, the Rev. Arturo Uribe, and a woman he met in Oregon before he became a priest, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times.
However, it was only on Sunday, when the story broke, that Uribe's parish of more than 1,200 families in Whittier, Calif., learned of the situation.
Picton said the newspaper account of the child-support proceeding, held earlier this month in an Oregon court, was unexpected. Uribe, who had already left for a previously scheduled trip to his native Mexico, composed a statement that was read at Sunday's Masses.
"I had an adult relationship with a woman," Uribe, now 47, wrote, adding that the relationship between them now is "strained." Nevertheless, "The child, my son, is a wonderful gift from God no matter what the circumstances of his parents or his birth. . . . I have taken my obligation of support for him seriously."
Uribe was accepted for the priesthood after he told the Redemptorists he had a child out of wedlock. The order agreed to pay for the child's support. Picton believes it's the only such case in the order.
The woman, identified in the news story as Stephanie Collopy, is contesting the support amount for her son, who reportedly has severe asthmatic problems.
Uribe testified he has no money to help because he's a priest. The judge ruled that the Redemptorists, who were represented by a Chicago law firm, must continue to pay the $323-a-month child support as prescribed in Oregon law.
In the early '90s, Uribe had emigrated from Mexico to Oregon and was considering the priesthood. He met Collopy while working as a layman in a parish and began a consensual sexual relationship, Picton said. Later, when he asked to join the order, "he was very upfront and honest" about the relationship.
Picton said it's true Uribe hasn't significant money for support, but the Redemptorists do. He declined to say how much has been paid but said the province has set up annuities for the boy.
"We want to do more, but we begin by following the statutes of Oregon," he said.
"There are disagreements over what (the boy's) real needs are," Picton said. He added that he'd like a mediator to sit down with the mother and negotiate such issues as health insurance, education and counseling services.
He said Uribe is "quite distressed" over the publicity.
"Father Uribe hasn't done anything wrong since he's been a priest," Picton said. "Now it's about how to be a priest and a responsible father of a child."
He said orders have discretion over whether to accept a man with such a past and there are disagreements among church leaders about whether it's a prudent thing to do.
The Redemptorist order was founded by St. Alphonsus Ligouri, a 17th-century Italian lawyer turned priest. The Denver province has about 200 priests. Only administrative staff remain in Denver since earlier this summer, when the Redemptorists retired from 122 years of parish work at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 605 W. Sixth Ave.
Copyright 2005, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.
I went to your linked site. This is the first I have heard about the Redemptorists.
I don't recall seeing him. Thanks for the pic.
Really??? The Redemptorists were founded by St. Alphonsus Ligouri. St. John Neumann was a Redemporist. Blessed Pius IX entrusted the order to spread the devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
Yep, really. I really cannot recall reading about the Redemptorists.
Uribe joined an aptly-named order given his circumstances. He sinned yet seems to have repented.
Fr. Uribe sounds like an undesirable alien, impregnating women with no intention of supporting the children.
He should be deported.
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