Joe Gorman was on the "fast-track" since being ordained in only 2008 and clearly on the preferred team. The Gorman family is prominent in the Aurora and Newmarket area with significant business holdings and even municipal facilities named after the family. He was considered by Toronto's Catholic Register to be a "popular priest."
At Gorman’s request a letter was distributed after Mass this weekend wherein he states:
“I first want to thank you for all the good wishes and support you have shown me over the last number of months,” said Fr. Gorman in his letter. “I love this parish. It is such a community of faith, I loved being a part of it. As your Pastor, I was always in awe of how you ministered to each other. You literally lived our Lord’s message of faith, love and peace. It was so inspiring to me. This journey we have been on, and I say ‘we’ because it affected all of us, has not been easy, but after a lot of prayer, thought and family support, I have decided to leave the priesthood. My heart and my mind are made up and I am happy with my decision. It is my decision and mine alone. Although I will miss seeing the parishioners of Our Lady of Grace on a daily basis, I feel truly at peace with myself and with God. Life is a gift that is meant to be lived with great love and faith, and always with hope. My hope for you is that you will continue to live your life in faith and love, and care for one another as you always have.”
This poor parish and the people of Aurora have suffered the presence of a previous Pastor who sodomised boys in the rectory and an Associate Pastor who was one of Canada's most notorious sodomite pederasts protected and covered up by Emmett Cardinal Carter in both London and Toronto.
Gorman spent his homilies on sports, allowed dogs in the sanctuary and did his own thing at Mass. It was the Father Joe Show! He misdirected intended funds from the collection plate, performed an invalid marriage in the Church of two Catholics not able to marry and he even presided at a "marriage" in an Anglican Church of two Catholics and then forged the register to indicate that it was someone else. We should ask why the Anglican layman in a priest collar could not perform the supposed "nuptials."
There are two questions that the people of Aurora, indeed the curia in Toronto need to ask:
The first is, why was Joe Gorman ever ordained to the priesthood?
The second is this:
Will the suffering faithful of Aurora ever get a truly Catholic pastor who cares for their souls?