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July 14, 2004

I'm Not Drunk, Officer, I'm A Priest

by Red Wolf

Croatia: Croatian priests are seeking exemption from a tough new drink driving bill on the grounds that drinking wine is part of their job description.

In an effort to improve road safety the government is planning to scrap the 0.05% limit for blood-alcohol content.
The proposed zero-tolerance approach has alarmed some clergy in the heavily Roman Catholic country, according to Jutarnji List newspaper.
Many travel between parishes to say Mass, which includes ritual drinking.
Consumption of wine is the main component of the Eucharist, priest Zivko Kustic told the newspaper.
Since we serve Mass daily, sometimes up to three times a day, half the clergy is to bound wind up behind bars, he is quoted as saying.
Another priest told the newspaper: It could happen that we enter the category of the worst offenders.

I'm wondering exactly how much drinking is going on amongst the clergy.

Mr Kustic added that he was not calling for clergy to be allowed to drive drunk.
We need to agree on at least a bare minimum of tolerance, he is quoted as saying.
The Croatian government decided to clamp down on driving and drinking after a sharp rise in road fatalities.

Croatia clergy resist drink curbs - BBC, 12th July 2004 (via Overheard On LiveJournal).

Posted in Church and State at 05:00. Last modified on July 14 2009 at 16:45.
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Only one comment so far

user-pic 1: Posted by Feòrag
July 14, 2004 11:22 AM | Reply

They are, of course, engaging in the ancient religious ritual known as 'bullshitting'. Many churches, including Roman Catholic ones, use non-alcoholic wine. According to a friend who took Holy Communion at the Vatican a few weeks ago, they even use 'bloody grape juice' there.

Wax lyrical

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