A foreign-trained priest who laid a mentally and physically disabled girl on an altar during a West Australian mass at the weekend and ordered her to walk has raised a furore among parishioners. Although neither the priest nor parish is identified in a report in The West Australian, the newspaper cites the Vicar-General of Perth's Catholic Archdiocese Brian O'Loughlin saying the "bizarre and unusual service" was largely due to the priest's mental condition.
The priest was later escorted to a mental health clinic by police.
The congregation is being counselled over the event, which left children and adults in tears.
Monsignor O'Loughlin said it also highlighted that foreign-trained priests had a more spiritual approach, while Westerners had a more logical outlook and tended to turn to the spiritual when they could not understand concepts in other ways.
He said the approach by African, Asian and Eastern European-trained priests was sometimes a "difficulty" but while it required adjustment, it was not a problem because overseas priests were an important addition and were welcomed by multicultural congregations.
Catherine Roatch, who saw the faith-healing service, said it appeared to be an attempted exorcism.
"He prayed in some gibberish and then started to demand that this girl speak as well as stand up," she is cited saying.
"The girl would not have even been able to comprehend, let alone follow instructions. It was very undignified for the young lady and she was just crying, howling at the altar.
"People were getting up and leaving. People were crying and they were angry. The children were terrified."
SIC: CTHAU