Illinois Catholic Priest Calls 911 To Help Get Him Out Of Handcuffs

While Cardinal George are busy pushing the Catholic Church's anti-gay jihad and opposing all efforts to enact marriage equality in Illinois, it appears that George and his fellow anti-gay senior clerics should perhaps be paying more attention to what is going on within the ranks of the clergy.  Let's face it, there's something bizarre about a Catholic priest (pictured at left) having to call 911 to get released from a hand cuffs.  Oh, and the priest was apparently gagged.  His diocese is staying mum as to whether this was some sort of kinky sex play gone wrong or what.  Here are highlights of details from the Illinois Times:   

The pastor of St. Aloysius church on Springfield’s north end has been granted a leave of absence after he called 911 from the rectory and told a dispatcher that he needed help getting out of handcuffs.

“I’m going to need help getting out before this becomes a medical emergency,” Father Tom Donovan told a dispatcher who sounds a bit incredulous during the Nov. 28 call.

“You’re stuck in a pair of handcuffs?” the dispatcher asks.

“(I was) playing with them and I need help getting out,” Donovan responds.

Donovan told the dispatcher that he was alone in the rectory. It’s not clear exactly how he ended up in handcuffs or why he feared a medical emergency. His voice sounds garbled or muffled on the tape, and sources say that police discovered some sort of gag on the priest when they arrived.
The diocese has been tight-lipped about the matter, saying only that Bishop Thomas Paprocki granted Donovan’s request for a leave of absence at some point before Christmas. The diocese knows about the incident, given that Brad Huff, an attorney for the diocese, has been given a copy of the 911 tape by the Sangamon County Emergency Telephone System Department. Kathie Sass, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Springfield, said that the diocese also has a copy of a police report on the matter.

Sass would not disclose Donovan’s whereabouts or say whether he is staying at a church-affiliated location.

“He came to the bishop before anyone was aware of the incident,” Sass said. “He came to the bishop and asked for help and was granted leave.”  Paprocki reviewed the police report after speaking with Donovan, and the police account jibed with what the priest told the bishop, Sass said.

Seriously, it would be hard to make up stuff this bizarre.  Obviously, there is more to the story that the diocese is suppressing.