A Roman Catholic diocese in California is warning its flock to beware of wolves in priestly clothes.

The Diocese of Stockton sent out an alert over the weekend to other churches to be on the lookout for people “purporting to be Spanish-speaking Catholic bishops and priests” who charge “exorbitant fees for celebrating the sacraments, teaching classes, and issuing certificates.”

“These imposters are misappropriating the identities of genuine priests in Mexico and conducting unauthorized celebrations of baptism, confirmation, First Communion, and house blessings under false pretenses,” the diocese said in a news release.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I like the idea that there can be a ‘fake priest’ and a ‘real priest’ when the whole foundation is nonsense.

  • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    Roman Catholic diocese warns fake priests are preying on California parishioners

    I guess that’s a change from real priests preying on parishioners.

  • Haus@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    This is a pretty Halloweeny topic. Which is scarier: a fake priest or a real priest?

  • Pons_Aelius@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    The only thing worse than allowing a fake catholic priest to perform baptisms, confirmations, First Communions, and house blessings is to allow a real one near your children…

    • Carvex@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The young boy down the street didn’t get raped by a fake priest, a trans person, a gay couple, Al Quaeda, a Guatemalan caravan, brown voters, or liberals, but we did get assigned a new priest in our church which is weird being the 3rd new one this year… /s

  • CatZoomies@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    So unfortunate that these scams happen all the time, and it’s shocking that we’re still seeing it today.

    I remember the huge scandal back in the 90’s about this. Kent Brockman covered the exclusive story:

    “Police say the fake Pope can be easily recognized by his high-top sneakers and incredibly foul mouth.”

  • Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Here me out! I think all priests should carry like a Priest ID badge.

    It has their physical stats like height, weight.

    But also a checklist like:

    1. Believes gays are fine
    2. Doesn’t diddle kids
  • superguy@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Aren’t all priests fake since anyone can become a priest and organized religion is a load of bullshit anyways?