Catholic Ragemonkey

A Very Small World Indeed

A reader sent this link to me because he thought it would be of interest. Just from the headline, one could gather that this was a sad story. What the reader didn't realize is that I knew the deceased. Fr. Jim Pilsner was my classmate. He was with me on the Spiritual Year at Northampton, PA in 1995-1996. While I had not really kept up with the guys of the Archdiocese of NYC, it is still shocking nonetheless.

I remember Jim as being someone who was very dedicated to the Catholic Faith, especially to the pro-life movement. I in particular remember a time on the Spiritual Year in which I instigated an argument with Fr. Pilsner, then got someone else involved, and then left them to duke it out. I hope that both parties will pardon me for my actions. In general, I had the sense Jim was going to be a good priest -- based upon the news report, it turns out I was correct.

From what some of my friends in the diocese said, Fr. Pilsner struggled with issues of depression. At either rate, please remember Fr. Pilsner, his family, his parishioners, and the priests of the Archdiocese in your prayers.