Bishop Lucas Speaks to Msgr Costa's Parishioners

SHERMAN - It is unlikely that Monsignor Eugene Costa will ever return to his ministry at St. John Vianney Church in Sherman and Holy Family Church in Athens, Bishop George Lucas told parishioners Wednesday night.

Costa, whom the diocese says was engaged in inappropriate and immoral behavior, resigned last week after being attacked Dec. 21 and found critically injured near the band shell in Douglas Park, 400 N. MacArthur Blvd., which has a longstanding reputation as a meeting spot for gay men.

Nevertheless, church members expressed support and sympathy for the priest as they questioned Lucas after the regularly scheduled 5:30 p.m. Mass. One man stood up and told Lucas that parishioners had known about Costa's behavior for years but still supported him.

Evidently, they did not love him enough to assist him in seeking help for his problems of "immoral behavior". One does not stand idlely by while someone near and dear to him commits spiritual suicide. One does all that one can do to ensure that the loved one abandons grave sin, embraces and commits to virtue, and, with God's grace, makes it to heaven.

The bishop declined to specify Costa's inappropriate behavior but said he had no knowledge that it involved minors. Costa remains a priest.

I thought the teenage boys arrested were 15 & 17...???

Dec. 21 was not the first time Costa had been in unusual places late in the evening, Lucas said.

"Police uncovered a pattern of behavior inappropriate for a priest," he said. "They wanted to see if there was a reasonable explanation for him being at these places at these times."

When grave sin becomes a habitual,usually harsh remedies are needed to rid the sinner of the sin and one's propensity to continue in that sin...

This priest, and no doubt several others, are in grave need of spiritual help and rebirth...Certainly, far too many of us have that same need - to be purged of the bad sinful habits we have developed over time, some of which are grave matters needing immediate attention and others, while not mortal, also must be addressed at the earliest possible moment to avoid the tendency for them to develop into habits of vice.

We must keep this priest in our prayers as well as others who may have embraced the deadly sin of hmosexuality.