Like Father Ted, Only Not Funny

Throughout the long run of the "Father Ted" series, there was a running joke about Father Ted's penchant for gambling and deep yearning to go to Las Vegas. What a surprise to find out that there really are such priests, except they are not starring in a comedy show.

A monsignor no less, 79-year-old John Skehan is currently residing in the Palm Beach County jail in sunny Florida, not enjoying the sunshine however. Before he returns to the sandy beaches of the Atlantic shore, he'll have to clear up the matter of the missing funds. Not the few pennies out of the St. Vincent box, but in line with a grand theft amount exceeding $100,000.

Turns out he's been helping himself to church funds for ages - maybe for all forty years that he was assigned to a Florida parish. Did well for a poor lad out of Kilkenny, except of course that he had to resort to theft to be a success. So it looks like he may be forced to sell his Kilkenny pub, and the lovely wee cottage in Clare, and then the parish will be looking for him to replace the money.

Can you imagine the sight at the Palm Beach International Airport last Wednesday when the good father got off the plane from Ireland? Rather embarrassing for the old cleric, I'd have to say, to be cuffed and arrested in the public eye. Such a thing would never happen in Dublin, would it? Humiliate a priest, ah no, the Garda would have to be more discreet about it.

There's said to be about $8.6 million gone missing, used for property investment, holidays and the like. But the monsignor was not alone in his little scheme. The police are now searching for his successor at the parish, Father Francis Guinan, who comes from County Offaly. Now, he was not one to waste money on investments and the like. The police are claiming that Father Guinan was fond of those trips to Las Vegas. And then there was the parish bookkeeper to look after, paying her credit card bills and providing for her child's education.

We've got Father Ted, Eammon Casey and Michael Cleary, all rolled into one parish, and the Catholic Church in Ireland has gained yet another humiliating black eye. I know it's not funny, but can anyone help but laugh over the whole fiasco? Maybe that's why "Father Ted' was so funny - it was all about things that you just couldn't make up.