Tuesday, March 27, 2007

How a Ford Fiesta is too scandalous for a priest

An article on Autoblog!
"Can it get any worse than this? You've managed to arrange the purchase of one of your dream cars. The only one in the country as a matter of fact. You get it and find that it is everything you ever hoped for in a car. This Ford Fiesta 2000 ST has the 150 hp mill that will get you up to 130 mph and beyond when given enough space and time. This being Portugal, those times might not be as frequent as you'd hope, but you love to open it up whenever possible. You haven't kept it a secret that hitting 130 is an easily-achieved thrill that you've thanked God for helping you survive without fines. In fact, you also love to share the thrill with anybody who wants to tag along. Now along comes a Portuguese group campaigning for safe roads and they've made you their poster boy. They have even asked the Vatican to encourage you to "resist the temptations of speed." Why get the Vatican involved? Because you are a priest, that's why. This is the story of one Father Antonio Rodrigues, Portugal's only Fiesta 2000 ST owner. He says he is "no speed freak," but he likes to be able to "arrive on time to the three parish churches." The association's website quotes part of their letter to the Pope: "We ask Your Holiness to help this unfortunate priest to ponder the gravity of his acts and the immodesty of his words and to resist the temptations of speed and boasting," As if that vow of chastity wasn't enough, now you've got to deal with this!"

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

My former novice master (now a layman) was for a time a naval chaplain and drove about in a brand new 5 series BMW.Now that's a scandal, a monk in a 'Beamer'!

Fr Michael Brown said...

Dear Anon, let`s hope it was just standard issue for naval chaplains!