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Priest resigns after botching thousands of baptisms with single phrase

<p dir="ltr">An Arizona priest has voluntarily resigned from his church after it was ruled that he botched thousands of baptisms over the past 25 years - all by using one incorrect phrase.</p><p dir="ltr">Father Andres Arango left the St Gregory Catholic Church in Phoenix this month <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10511635/Phoenix-Catholic-priest-forced-resign-incorrectly-performed-THOUSANDS-baptisms.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">after</a> revealing he used an “incorrect formula” that made the baptisms invalid.</p><p dir="ltr">Rather than invoking the power of God by saying “I baptise you”, as required by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Father Arango said “we baptise you”, referring to the community.</p><p dir="ltr">As a result of his phrasing, every baptism he has performed since he was ordained in 1995 until June 2021 has been invalid.</p><p dir="ltr">This could also mean that subsequent confirmations and First Communions for those baptised by Arango could also be invalidated.</p><p dir="ltr">The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix said even some marriages could possibly be affected, though they did not expand on how.</p><p dir="ltr">Father Arango will now work full-time offering spiritual guidance to Catholics whose baptisms have been deemed invalid so he can baptise them again.</p><p dir="ltr">In 2020, the Vatican issued a doctoral note clarifying that baptisms performed with the phrase “We baptise you in the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit” were invalid, prompting church leaders to investigate faith leaders including Father Arango.</p><p dir="ltr">His invalidated baptisms also came from his time working in churches in Brazil and San Diego.</p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b2bb13ae-7fff-280b-bab7-d38f8c5653e4"></span></p><p dir="ltr">In a letter announcing his resignation, Father Arango apologised to those affected and asked the community for “prayers, forgiveness, and understanding”.</p><p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/02/father-arango-letter.png" alt="" width="322" height="826" /></p><p dir="ltr"><em>Father Arango announced he would leave the church after the Vatican ruled that baptisms he performed over the past 25 years have been invalid. Images: St Gregory Catholic Church Bulletin</em></p><p dir="ltr">“It saddens me to learn that I have performed invalid baptisms throughout my ministry as a priest by regularly using an incorrect formula,” Father Arango wrote.</p><p dir="ltr">“I deeply regret my error and how this affected numerous people in your parish and elsewhere.</p><p dir="ltr">“With the help of the Holy Spirit and in communion with the Diocese of Phoenix I will dedicate my energy and full time ministry to help remedy this and heal those affected.”</p><p dir="ltr">The Diocese has said Father Arango remains a priest in good standing and that he has not been disqualified from his vocation or ministry as a result of his mistake.</p><p dir="ltr">Diocese of Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said he didn’t believe Father Arango intentionally harmed or deceived parishioners through his error.</p><p dir="ltr">“On behalf of our local Church, I am too sincerely sorry that this error has resulted in disruption to the sacramental lives of a number of the faithful,” Olmsted said in a <a href="https://www.stgregoryphx.com/note-on-baptism-validity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.</p><p dir="ltr">“This is why I pledge to take every step necessary to remedy the situation for everyone impacted.”</p><p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-a7665fe9-7fff-43e3-b9f2-e43368b1e9d8"></span></p><p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Padre Andres Arango Phoenix AZ (Facebook)</em></p>

Family & Pets

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55-year age gap: Former priest moves to Romania with model husband

<p>An 81-year-old former Anglican priest and his much younger husband have settled down in Romania to finally live in the same country together.</p> <p>Philip Clements and Florin Martin, 27, tied the knot three years ago after meeting online – with the majority of their married life spent long-distance.</p> <p>But last month, Philip moved to Bucharest to be with his husband and the pair are now looking forward to celebrating their third wedding anniversary with a home-cooked meal.</p> <p>Philip said he was gradually adjusting to the new city as his home, with the couple determined to make their marriage last despite Florin partying every weekend.</p> <p>“He understands me much better and I understand him much better,” Philip told<span> </span><em>The Sun</em>.</p> <p>“I know when he’s busy not to disturb him and to give him space.</p> <p>“He goes to the gay club in Bucharest once a week and I’m fine with that.</p> <p>“He must have space to be with younger people, it’s very important when there’s this big age difference.</p> <p>“We’ve both learnt a lot.”</p> <p>Philip had previously sold his home in England to help fund his new life with Florin, as they spent thousands of pounds travelling the world together.</p> <p>But now, the couple are living off Philip’s teaching and church pension.</p> <p>Florin quit his job at a car rental company at the Ali Cante airport in Spain and is hoping to score a manager’s position in the future so the two can continue to travel together.</p> <p>“We do have to watch the money but Romania is cheaper than England so the money goes further,” said Philip.</p> <p>“We have enough to live on and enough to go to the cinema and out for a meal occasionally.”</p> <p>The pair have a 55-year age gap between them and met on Gaydar four years ago.</p> <p>They married in April 2017.</p>

International Travel

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Priest shares hilarious reply to flirty text message

<p>Everyone is guilty of accidentally sending a text message to the wrong mobile number. But what if that wrong number actually belonged to a priest? </p> <p>That’s what happened to Father Simon Rundell, who received a flirty late-night text message which asked him, amongst other things, if he was working tomorrow.</p> <p>The priest from Devon in England received the random text late on Saturday night, and was asked, “U ok sexy? Are u in work tomorrow? X”</p> <p>The witty priest delayed his response, choosing to reply first thing the next morning, and hilariously writing: “Yes, I’m saying Mass at 9.30 &amp; 11.15, but I’m guessing you didn’t intend to text a priest on this one. Fr. Simon.” </p> <p>Father Simon shared the funny text message exchange on his Twitter account, saying, “I get the *best* wrong number texts…”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">I get the *best* wrong number texts... <a href="https://t.co/Xs9tEVZYQB">pic.twitter.com/Xs9tEVZYQB</a></p> — Fr Simon Rundell (@frsimon) <a href="https://twitter.com/frsimon/status/1003163629846396928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2018</a></blockquote> <p>His post has been liked almost 5,000 times and attracted a huge number of entertaining comments.</p> <p>One amused follower responded, “Maybe it was meant for you. No reason why someone can’t think you are sexy father.”</p> <p>While another fan of the priest shared, “Maybe you should have told her the time at which you were taking confessions.”</p> <p><img width="500" height="374" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7818988/screen-shot-2018-06-06-at-90829-pm_500x374.jpg" alt="Screen Shot 2018-06-06 At 9.08.29 Pm"/></p> <p>Have you ever accidentally sent a text message to the wrong mobile number or received a message that was not meant for you? Tell us in the comments below.</p>

Technology

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Priest and cat 2016 calendar is hilarious

<p>Russian Orthodox priests have posed as models for a glossy 2016 calendar, cuddling their pet cats.</p> <p>This is the reportedly the first calendar to depict priests in such a style.</p> <p>One of the calendar’s creators, Ksenia Luchenko, a journalist at the Pravmir website, told ABC News Russia’s powerful church was not generally open to such informal depictions of its clerics.</p> <p>"That's why we did it ourselves. We're not linked to official structures," Ms Luchenko said "It's all their own cats - nothing was staged. It was whoever had a cat and was ready to pose for a photo."</p> <p>The photos are admittedly a little odd, and while we probably wouldn’t get this calendar ourselves, there’s no denying it’s all in good fun.</p> <p>To view some of the photos, scroll through the gallery above. </p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/news/news/2016/01/girl-tries-to-scam-extra-holiday-with-letter/">Girl tries to scam extra week's holiday with fake letter</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/news/news/2016/01/disneyland-star-wars-attraction/">Disneyland's Star Wars attraction takes over park</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/news/news/2016/01/sheep-missing-six-years-finally-gets-sheared/">Lost sheep has 20 kilos of wool shorn at first haircut in 6 years</a></strong></em></span></p>

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