(Ex) Padre Martin is kind of a cool guy. And Cipriani is still a douchebag

I don’t usually have a very good image of priests. Most of those I’ve known are proud and self-righteous, ready to judge you and teach you “what is good”, as told by Vatican.

However, there are priests and priests, and a priest who is able to break his vow of obedience in order to do something actually good is someone to admire.

That priest is the Padre Martin. Sorry, Ex Padre Martin.

Padre Martin, o Martin Sanchez Terán used to be a priest who worked trying to improve the life conditions of poor children, something Perú really needs. He had a bakery in which he employed poor children and youngsters. He started building a name and gaining reputation.

Then came the scandal:

Father Martin Sanchez, director of the organization "El Hogar de Cristo" was detained during the night along with 3 other people in the Costa Verde shore.

[...]

The policemen who stopped him said they found him drunk and in a romantic attitude with his personal assistant, who was sitting in his legs.

Being a priest, that was very hypocritical. Being himself gay, he belonged to an institution that discriminates and demonizes gay people. At least he did not do it with children, but with adults.

Then came the suspension. Cardinal Cipriani (the Peruvian Bill Donohue, a total catholic douchebag) suspended him. I don’t know to what extent he did it, but apparently, the Padre Martin cannot call himself “padre” since he is not a priest anymore.

According to Martin:

“I broke Cipriani’s schemes. As a priest I used to do aerobics, I danced Marinera (one of Peru’s most awesomest dances), drank pisco sour and promoted ethnic parties at a restaurant. This kind of stuff upsets a conservative”

After Cipriani suspended him, his work, the “Hogar de Cristo” (Christ’s Home) stopped receiving 70% of the donations it used to have. Martin studied business and kept working in it.

There was also an accusation for child pornography, which ended up being false and product of some people trying to destroy Martin’s good name. There is no information about who was behind that.

Also, Martin is a very liberal and inteligent person:

Martin supports the ending of celibacy and also supports gay marriage, which are ideas he wouldn’t be able to say while being a priest. He considers that “a sexual option is as valid as any other”, but in his case, he is very clear: he doesn’t deny having a relationship with a woman (he had a girlfriend before being a priest). “I treasure the image of being incredibly happy with whatever God puts in front of me. By now, my priority is to be a successful businessman” he says.

As I said before, it was hypocritical of him to be a priest while also gay. He was suspended from the church, which is an understandable punishment. But here is where the catholic church shows its true colors: after he was suspended, his foundation received much less donation, which affected the poor children. The catholic church cares more about its own pride than the lives of those in need, who are supposedly those who Jesus would have cared the most. It’s the same old catholic hypocrisy.

Martin keeps working for the poor children, even after being shunned by those who were supposed to help him to help those children. Now free from that despicable institution, he is able to say what he thinks is right without having to obey nonsensical and hateful positions. Martin committed some errors, but now works for those in need and is able to think freely.

That’s what makes him cool. If more people were like him, the world would be different.