Name: Lisa Invited By: Ann Other characters you (may) have: Rachel, Constantine, Ava
Character Info
Name: Mike Walsh Canon (if applicable): Original Character Canon point (if applicable): n/a Background, etc: Michael Walsh is the youngest of four boys. He grew up in a fairly devout Irish Catholic family in Chicago. He felt called to service at a very young age; he was an altar boy, a youth leader at his neighborhood church, and eventually enrolled in a Catholic high school and college seminary with the aim of joining the priesthood.
He was ordained at 25 after earning an M.Div. and an MSW. He joined the staff of a large church in an affluent suburb, and all was quiet for almost five years. Father Michael organized youth groups and activities, led CCD classes and charity drives, and delivered communion to the elderly and ill who could not attend Mass on Sundays.
Two years ago a college student returned to the parish after abandoning her semester partway through. The more Father Michael worked with the young woman and her family, the more he became convinced that what church superiors believed were mental health issues and physical illness was in fact demonic possession. After being rebuffed several times when he tried to escalate the case so it would receive the necessary attention, he took matters into his own hands and performed an exorcism himself. He and his parishoner were both found unconscious in her home after nearly 24 hours' effort on his part; she was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital, of an apparent heart attack, and Michael was treated for exhaustion.
The Church's position was that Michael was seriously out of bounds, acting without authority, and performing the exorcism may have aggravated his parishoner's issues to the point of harm; Michael believed what he'd done was in fact too little, too late, and the young woman could have been saved if he hadn't had to battle church bureaucracy. He knew the Church would want this covered up and could at best defrock and at worst excommunicate him. He instead applied for dispensation from Rome to be relieved of his priestly obligations.
It was granted and he left about a year following the exorcism. As part of his laicization (being made laity) he is no longer permitted to offer communion, teach at Catholic schools, teach theology at any educational or religious institution, and reside in any place where he was a priest--so he was supposed to leave Chicago. He's been trying to adjust. He's found work that lets him use his training and background, but he's still trying to figure out what being a layperson means to him and his service.
And while he has doubts at times about the way things happened before he left, he has never wavered in his belief that he faced a demon, and he is preparing himself in case he ever has to do so again. Icon of choice:http://www.dreamwidth.org/userpic/5372035/1854601 Anything else:
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Date: 2014-06-16 03:19 am (UTC)Name: Lisa
Invited By: Ann
Other characters you (may) have: Rachel, Constantine, Ava
Character Info
Name: Mike Walsh
Canon (if applicable): Original Character
Canon point (if applicable): n/a
Background, etc: Michael Walsh is the youngest of four boys. He grew up in a fairly devout Irish Catholic family in Chicago. He felt called to service at a very young age; he was an altar boy, a youth leader at his neighborhood church, and eventually enrolled in a Catholic high school and college seminary with the aim of joining the priesthood.
He was ordained at 25 after earning an M.Div. and an MSW. He joined the staff of a large church in an affluent suburb, and all was quiet for almost five years. Father Michael organized youth groups and activities, led CCD classes and charity drives, and delivered communion to the elderly and ill who could not attend Mass on Sundays.
Two years ago a college student returned to the parish after abandoning her semester partway through. The more Father Michael worked with the young woman and her family, the more he became convinced that what church superiors believed were mental health issues and physical illness was in fact demonic possession. After being rebuffed several times when he tried to escalate the case so it would receive the necessary attention, he took matters into his own hands and performed an exorcism himself. He and his parishoner were both found unconscious in her home after nearly 24 hours' effort on his part; she was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital, of an apparent heart attack, and Michael was treated for exhaustion.
The Church's position was that Michael was seriously out of bounds, acting without authority, and performing the exorcism may have aggravated his parishoner's issues to the point of harm; Michael believed what he'd done was in fact too little, too late, and the young woman could have been saved if he hadn't had to battle church bureaucracy. He knew the Church would want this covered up and could at best defrock and at worst excommunicate him. He instead applied for dispensation from Rome to be relieved of his priestly obligations.
It was granted and he left about a year following the exorcism. As part of his laicization (being made laity) he is no longer permitted to offer communion, teach at Catholic schools, teach theology at any educational or religious institution, and reside in any place where he was a priest--so he was supposed to leave Chicago. He's been trying to adjust. He's found work that lets him use his training and background, but he's still trying to figure out what being a layperson means to him and his service.
And while he has doubts at times about the way things happened before he left, he has never wavered in his belief that he faced a demon, and he is preparing himself in case he ever has to do so again.
Icon of choice: http://www.dreamwidth.org/userpic/5372035/1854601
Anything else: