CORRUPT RELIGIOUS LEADERS: PASTORS AND SEX CRIMES

It is obvious what proceeds from the flesh: lewd conduct, impurity, licentiousness (Galatians 5:19).

While comparing evangelicals to Catholics on abuse response, Boz Tchividjian, a Liberty University law professor who investigates abuse said (at the Religion Newswriters Association conference), "I think we are worse." According to him, too many evangelicals had "sacrificed the souls" of young victims (Please read Evangelical Sex Abuse Record 'Worse' Than Catholic, Says Billy Graham's Grandson Boz Tchividijian). So it seems that Protestant pastors are worse than Catholic priests when it comes to sexual abuse. However, very few people are willing to discuss about these corrupt Protestant pastors and their sex crimes. But why point an accusing finger at the Catholic Church for covering up child abuse when sex crimes are more prevalent among Protestant pastors? Is it because they are married  and it is alright for married men to become sexual abusers?

The prevalence of sex crimes amongst Protestant pastors should not be ignored just because they are married as one cannot deny the fact that married men can be much worse when it comes to sexual abuse. After reading Horus Gilgamesh's “25 MORE SHOCKING ARRESTS”: PASTORS CHARGED WITH SEX CRIMES, I decided to google for some sexual abuse cases involving Protestant pastors out of curiosity and it did not take me long before I found 40 such cases. The scandalous behavior of these Protestant pastors has clearly proven that sex scandals have got nothing to do with priestly celibacy but rather it is sexual license that breeds sexual abuse. Below is a list (of 40 cases) of some of the most recent cases on sexual crimes involving pastors (dated from October 2017 to January 2018). Please click on the titles of each case to read more about it.

Case 1: Cops probe Murang'a pastor for sexual abuse at children's home
A pastor cum director of a Murang'a children's home has been accused of sexually exploiting an 18-year-old girl. According to the victim, the pastor took advantage of her poor family background to force her into sexual intercourse with him "numerous times" inside his church and at the children's home. She also said this "man of God" had promised to pay her school fees and transfer her from a day to a boarding secondary school (Source dated 25 January 2018).

Case 2: Mwazha pastor gets 11 years for rape
A Senior pastor at African Apostolic Church (Mwazha) has been jailed for 11 years for raping a nine-year-old congregant. Cain Kandororo, 52, was convicted by Harare magistrate Temba Kuwanda who initially sentenced him to 16 years behind bars (Source dated 20 January 2018).


Case 3 : Ontario youth pastor arrested on suspicion of child sexual abuse

Police are searching for more victims who may have been sexually abused by Gerardo Custodio Jr, a 30-year-old youth pastor in Ontario who was arrested Sunday for alleged lewd acts with two minors. According to the statement from the Ontario Police Department, two women accused the youth pastor of their church, Iglesia La Familia De Dios, for sexually abusing them between 2012 and 2015. One woman said the incidents happened between 2012 and 2014 and she was 14 when the alleged abuse started. The second victim said she was 15 when Custodio allegedly abused her and the incidents happened between 2014 to 2015 (Source dated 16 Jan 2018).

Case 4 :  Tennessee Pastor Accused Of Sexual Assault Placed On Leave Of Absence
A Tennessee pastor, Andy Savage, accused of sexually assaulting a high school student almost 20 years ago has been placed on leave, according to a statement from his Church (Source dated 16 Jan 2018).

Case 5: Former Harrison pastor pleads guilty to sex crimes

A former Harrison pastor, Larry Berkley, was accused of sex crimes and pleaded guilty to being a habitual pedophile in Boone County Arkansas Court. For two years, he has been stealing money from his church to buy drugs and alcohol to molest teenage boys whilst watching porn (Source dated 12 Jan 2018). 

Case 6: Dallas Center pastor pleads guilty to sexual abuse crimes
According to court documents, former Dallas Center pastor, Randy Johnson, accepted a plea deal and will plead guilty to charges of sexual abuse. He was accused of sexually abusing a girl repeatedly whilst she was 12 and 13 years old (Source dated 12 January 2018).

Case 7: Former Alabama pastor gets 20 years for rape of minor
A former Alabama pastor, Camerius Mills, pleaded guilty to raping a 15-year-old girl who was a member of his congregation and has been sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of rape, sodomy and traveling to meet a child for the purpose of unlawful sexual conduct. According to Henry County Sheriff’s investigator, Keith Cauthen, Mills befriended the victim on the pretense of teaching her piano lessons (Source dated 11 January 2018).

Case 8: Fayetteville pastor facing 142 charges in connection with sexual abuse of four children
A former Fayetteville pastor, Glen Collins, was arrested in connection with multiple sex crimes over the last two decades. Police had received a report that he had sexually abused four children repeatedly from 1996 to 2008. At the time of the offenses, Collins knew the victims as he was a pastor of a church in east Fayettevill (Source dated 9 Jan 2018). 

Case 9:  Former Deerfield pastor pleads guilty, receives probation in sex abuse case
A former Deerfield pastor, Samuel Kee, was charged with criminal sexual abuse of a 16-year-old girl and has been sentenced to two years of sex offender probation in exchange for his guilty plea. Kee was a pastor at North Suburban Free Evangelical Church and his victim was a member of his congregation (Source dated 28 December 2017).

Case 10: Former Belton pastor charged with statutory rape of girl, 14, he met at church
A former associate pastor at the Belton Assembly of God, Wesley Ian Lamb, has been charged with two counts of statutory rape for allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old girl who attended the church. Lamb had two sexual encounters with the victim. In the first encounter, they had sex in a van. A week later,  Lamb picked her up from school, guided her to his bedroom, took off her clothes and had sex with her (Source dated 19 Dec 2017).

Case 11: Pastor guilty of coercing parishioners to have sex for 'spiritual' purposes
A Toronto pastor, Wayne Jones, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting three female parishioners and stealing $20,000, jewelry and a car belonging to one of the victims' boyfriend. He was also convicted of aggravated assault for biting and kicking one of the victims and slicing her breast with a razor blade in an exorcism ritual. The three women testified that Jones extorted sex from them under the pretext that it was required for a “spiritual purpose” (Source dated 14 Dec 2017).


Case 12:  Bond denied for Quincy pastor facing sex abuse charges in Virginia
A Quincy pastor and former Marine colonel, Todd Shane Tomko, was arrested for three counts of aggravated sexual battery, three counts of indecent liberties with a child, and one count of felony cruelty to children. According to prosecutors,Tomko made children learn about sex through porn when they were as young as 4 years old and then carried out sexual acts when they were older (Source dated 14 Dec 2017).

Case 13: What we know about pastor, founder of Christian rock festival accused of sexual assault

Pastor at Come Alive Church in Medford, Harry L. Thomas, is accused of sexually assaulting four minors over a 16-year period. The charges against him include aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child. The Come Alive Church in Medford was founded by Thomas in 1983. He is also the founder of Creation Festival, the largest Christian music Festival in the country (Source dated 13 Dec 2017). 


Case 14:  Another pastor ‘rapes’ teenage congregant
A MARRIED Christ Wonders Ministries Church pastor in Bulawayo, Busani Dube, allegedly raped and impregnated a 17-year-old congregant who went to his house in the belief that she could be delivered from evil spirits. Dube allegedly told the girl that her problems would end if they had sex. He also warned her that she would die if she divulged this information to anyone. When the girl discovered that she was pregnant, Dube promised to give her some money to terminate her pregnancy but did not fulfill his promise until the baby was born (Source dated 7 Dec 2017).


Case 15: Former Boone pastor sentenced to 4 years in prison for sexual relationship with minor
A former Boone youth pastor, Joel Mark Waltz, pleaded guilty to having inappropriate contact with a now 20-year-old woman off-and-on since she was 16 and was sentenced to four years in prison. The woman met Waltz when she was 11 and they met regularly until she was 18. He has been a father figure to her before he confessed his love for her when she was 16. The two then began a sexual relationship (Source dated 6 Dec 2017).

Case 16:  Baptist pastor charged with child abuse, criminal sexual conduct
Pastor of Living Lighthouse Church, Renato Capili Bosi, was arrested and faces multiple criminal sexual conduct and child abuse charges. The alleged victim is a 14-year-old parishioner who lived with the pastor while her mother was away and her father became too sick to look after her. The pastor allegedly touched the girl's butt and genitals several times, kissed her on the lips, sent her sexually suggestive messages, and told her to break up with her boyfriend. The victim got stressed out and became suicidal and reported the incidents to her parents  (Source dated 5 Dec 2017).

Case 17:  Charleston Pastor charged of Sexual Conduct with a Minor
Charleston pastor, Gregory "Kevin" Richardson was arrested and charged with criminal sexual conduct with a minor. The sexual assault occurred on several occasions over a five month period inside his vehicle while he was teaching his victim how to drive. During these driving lessons, Richardson would tell his victim that he needed to touch her private parts and begged her to have sex with him. At that time, Richardson knew that the girl was his girlfriend's daughter and that she was between 11-12 years old (Source dated 2 Dec 2017).


Case 18:  Sex Scandal: Church Worker Threatens To Drag Christ Embassy, Pastor To Court
Mrs. Brenda Nwanguma, a worker with Inner City Mission for Children (ICM4C), a subsidiary of Christ Embassy Church, has threatened to drag her boss, Pastor Kenechukwu Kanu aka Kaycee to court for alleged persistent sexual harassment. According to her, Kenechukwu had pestered her for sex on many occasions but she did not give in to his demands which led to her being victimized (Source dated 1 Dec 2017).


Case 19:  Moravian 'Sex Pastor' pleads guilty
Pastor of the Nazareth Moravian Church in Manchester, Rupert Clarke, pleaded guilty to having had sex with two sisters under the age of consent. He was allegedly seen in a "compromising position" with a 15-year-old girl in his car. Further investigations revealed that he also had a sexual relationship with the child's sister when she was under 16.


Case 20: Pastor in sex scandal; beaten to pulp by angry youth
Head Pastor of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E) Zion Church, Anyinam district, Reverend Kwasi Awiakye,  was reportedly caught in the room of a married woman virtually naked in his attempt to sleep with her. He was subjected to severe beatings by some youth of the area. The woman had some problems with her husband and was staying alone.  The pastor claimed the problems she was encountering in her relationship were spiritual and the only way to overcome them was for him to give her a bath. After the bath, the pastor proposed love to her and kept pestering her until Wednesday night when he visited her. When she let him in, he  removed all his clothes and tried to pounce on her (Source dated 24 Nov 2017).

Case 21: Ex-Youth Pastor Pleads Guilty to Sexual Abuse Charges

A former youth pastor and school volunteer, Joseph Niemeyer, has admitted to sexually abusing a girl younger than 12 years old. During the four years she was in his custody, he raped her, sodomized her, and sexually abused her. Niemeyer and his wife worked as youth pastors at the church in Walton (Source dated 21 November 2017).

Case 22: Three Pastors Charged With Sex Trafficking of Children in Ohio

Three pastors, Kenneth Butler, Anthony J. Haynes, and Cordell Jenkins were charged with conspiracy for child sex trafficking. Prosecutors say all the three of them worked together to entice underage girls to engage in sex acts in exchange for money (Source dated 16 November 2017).

Case 23: Canby pastor charged with 9 counts sex abuse of minor

Pastor of Canby First Baptist Church, Lee Philip Wiegand, is out of jail on bail after being arrested on charges of sex abuse involving a minor for alleged crimes that happened between October 2011 and October 2012. Prosecutors alleged his victim did not consent to the sexual contact (Source dated 16 November 2017).


Case 24: Founder of Florida's Biggest Megachurch Accused of Molesting a 4-Year-Old
A woman told Coral Springs Police that a South Florida man had molested her 17-year-old daughter for years. It all started when the girl was only 4 years old. According to the victim, the man forced her to perform oral sex, inappropriately touched her and made her touch his penis. The abuse lasted until she was a teenager. The accused was no ordinary suspect. His name was Bob Coy, founder of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale in Florida. He had been the most famous Evangelical pastor in Florida (Source dated 14 November 2017).


Case 25: Guyana: Pastor allegedly drinks Guinness before having sex with rape victim
A 37-year-old Parfaite Harmony pastor was arrested following an accusation made against him. A female member of his congregation  alleged that he raped her at his Diamond home. According to the victim, the pastor invited her to his house, pushed her onto the bed, stripped her, and then forced her to have sex with him. He drank a Guinness and performed a ritual before raping her (Source dated 10 November 2017).


Case 26: Muscoy United Methodist Church pastor convicted on 32 counts of sexual child abuse
The pastor of the Muscoy United Methodist Church, Stephen James Howard, was charged with multiple counts of child molestation involving boys who attended the church. His conviction involved four boys. He was the pastor, mentor, and father figure to all his victims. Howard was found guilty by a San Bernardino County jury and was convicted of 32 counts of sexual abuse (Source dated 31 October 2017).

Case 27: Thornton church pastor gets prison for sexual assault of 13-year-old girl
Assistant pastor at Agape Bible Church in Thornton, Robert Duane Wyatt, was sentenced to 13 years in prison after he was found guilty for repeatedly sexually assaulting an underage congregant who was home-schooled at his place of residence. The female victim, now 15, told the police that Wyatt began inappropriately touching her when she was 12. In March 2016, when she was 13, he invited her on a field trip but instead took her to a hotel where he sexually assaulted her (Source dated 31 October 2017).

Case 28:  Two Limpopo pastors accused of two minors' rapes
Two Limpopo pastors have been arrested for the alleged rape of two underage girls in separate incidents in the Phalaborwa area. In Lulekani, police arrested a 52-year-old pastor for allegedly raping his 14-year-old half-sister. It is alleged that the pastor started raping her when she was 11 years old. In another incident, a 46-year-old pastor was arrested in Namakgale. It is alleged that he had raped his 14-year-old stepdaughter on several occasions until the victim's mother lodged a police report (Source dated 22 October 2017).

Case 29: Senior pastor, assistant jailed for drugging, raping women in the church
Assistant pastor at the Liberty Pentecostal Church in Keighley, Laurence Peterson, has been jailed for more than 8 years for helping a church minister, Reverend. John Wilson, to sexually assault six female parishioners. On several occasions, Peterson blocked doors and in the church and held victims down while Reverend John Wilson performed “grotesque” exorcisms on them. Reverend Wilson was jailed for 21 years. His wife, Mary Wilson, was also found guilty of aiding and abetting him (Source dated 21 Oct 2017).


Case 30: Pastor claims trial to sexual assault, carnal intercourse on adopted daughter

A 49-year-old self-proclaimed pastor is alleged to have performed carnal intercourse against the order of nature by forcing his 11-year-old adopted daughter to perform oral sex on him. He was also charged with committing physical sexual assault on her. The victim was in his care for eight years until a police report was made. He was accused of committing the offences at a house in Petaling Jaya. According to his lawyer, the pastor is a respected member of his community and a family man. Sources claimed that the suspect was based in a church in Puchong (Source dated 25 Oct 2017).

Case 31: Unholy abuse: Well-known minister guilty in teen sex case
One of Chicago's most well-known churchmen, Reverend George Waddles Sr., former president of the National Baptist Congress and ex-pastor of Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 15 year-old-girl. He has known the girl since she was a toddler and started counseling her when she was 13. Prosecutors said that the girl and her mother confronted Waddles and secretly recorded his admissions to the inappropriate touching on the cellphone. Waddles, however, asked them not to go to the police. He was sentenced to 30 months' probation and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. The prominent pastor is married with children and grandchildren (Source dated 20 October 2017).


Case 32: Indiana pastor accused of molesting young girls
Rushville Police arrested the pastor of the Rushville Baptist Temple Church, Garry Evans, on child molestation charges. The investigation began after a 3-year-old girl alleged that Evans took her to his office to get candy but once she was there, he pulled down his pants and made her touch his penis. One pair of sisters (5 and 7 years old) had similar allegations involving him. The 5-year-old girl alleged Evans put his hands in her pants and touched her when she was alone with him in his office. Her 7-year-old sister alleged that Evans touched her "nearly every time she went to church (Source dated 19 October 2017).


Case 33: Former Omaha youth pastor jailed for sexual assault of a child
A former youth pastor at Omaha's Christ Community Church, Klint Bitter, is accused of having sex with a 15-year old human trafficking victim. The pastor of kids and student ministry allegedly answered an online classified ad posted by a sex trafficking suspect in Bellevue. Church officials said Bitter has been fired from that position after the church learned of the criminal charges against him (Source dated 17 October 2017).


Case 34: Hunter Pentecostal Christian pleads guilty to sexually abusing boys
He was the committed Pentecostal Christian youth pastor who praised Jesus during Assemblies of God church services during the day and a sexual predator at night. Former Assemblies of God Youth Pastor, Christopher Laban Bridge of Yarramalong, has entered guilty pleas to sexually abusing four boys at Assemblies of God churches in Dubbo and the Hunter in the 1970s and 1980s while in a position of trust. There was no record of any child sexual abuse allegations against Bridge until 2014 even though one of the victim's mother said she told a senior church pastor about Bridge's sexual assaults in the early 1980s (Source dated 18 October 2017).

Case 35: East Palestine pastor facing sex charge involving minor
Pastor at the New Life Outreach Church in East Palestine, Rodney McManus, is accused of having sexual contact with an underage girl for nearly three years. According to the criminal complaint filed by East Palestine police, McManus became involved with an underage female member of his congregation when she was 13. The police say that between January 2014 and August 2017, McManus had touched the girl inappropriately on multiple occasions (Source dated 14 October 2017).

Case 36: Lexington pastor accused of sexual abuse
A former pastor at St Luke's United Methodist Church, Reid Buchanan, is accused of sexually abusing two juveniles. The minors accused him of touching them inappropriately on multiple occasions. One of the victims told the police that the abuse started when she was 12. Another victim testified that she had been abused from the time she was in third grade and one of the incidents happened when she and Buchanan were on a mission trip to Nicaragua (Source dated 13 October 2017).

Case 37: Pastor and his wife in Canada face 28 sexual offense charges
A Canadian evangelical pastor and his wife have been charged with a total of 28 counts of sexual offense cases. Samuel Emerson of the Cloverdale Christian Fellowship Church and his wife Madelaine, are both facing several accusations made against them involving sexual assault and molestation (Source dated 5 October 2017).


Case 38: Pastor sentenced to 15 years for sexual abuse of teen girls
A Texarkana pastor, David Wayne Farren, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the sexual abuse of two teenage girls and must register as a sex offender upon release from prison. The girls were members of youth ministry groups he led at several churches. At the time of his arrest, Farren was the lead pastor of Anchor Church in Texarkana (Source dated 3 October 2017).


Case 39: Oregon Court of Appeals upholds pastor's child sex abuse conviction
In 1997, seven girls complained that co-founder of the North Clackamas Bible Community, Mike Sperou, had molested them but no charges were brought. In 2013, the girls brought their complaints to the police again. However, the statute of limitations had expired on all the complainants except those raised by one woman. A Multnomah County jury convicted Sperou in 2015 and he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction (Source dated 3 October 2017). 


Case 40: Pastor rapes girl, 10, infects her with HIV
A 50-year-old Pastor is in police custody in Ntcheu for raping a ten year old girl and infecting her with HIV. Ntcheu police publicist, Hastings Chigalu, identified the suspect as Pastor Philip Palibe Ndipo of New Covenant Assemblies of God based at Kalindira village in Ntcheu. According to Chigalu, the victim was alone at home when the pastor, who lived nearby, raped her. When the mother returned home, she found the girl crying uncontrollably. When the girl revealed that the pastor had raped her, her mother reported the matter to Kandewu police. The victim was later referred to the Kandewu Health Centre where tests confirmed that she had been raped. The victim was also treated for sexually transmitted diseases (Source dated 2 October 2017).


If you like this article, you may also like to read Beware of Greedy, Selfish and Money-Hungry Pastors & If You Want to Get Rich Quick, Start a Church. To view the contents of this blog, please click here. For further reading, you can refer to Jeri Massi's Big Book of Bad Baptist Preachers: 100 cases of Sex Abuse of Children and Exploitation of the Innocent.

WHY POPE BENEDICT XVI CLARIFIES, REAFFIRMS, REINFORCES AND DEFENDS CELIBACY?

Guess who is the handsome lad in this photo? None other than our beloved Pope Benedict XVI. And who would ever think that such a handsome young man would choose to live a holy life and become the Pope one day? With his good looks all the girls in town would queue up for him and gladly do anything for him. But our Pope Benedict said "No" to the beautiful young ladies of his time and took up his cross to follow Christ. Today, Pope Benedict XVI is one of the greatest heroes of our time. A man with good looks and great intelligence who has attained perfection in life - Pope Benedict XVI is a living example of the beauty and importance of priestly celibacy.


Why does Pope Benedict XVI reinforce and defend celibacy? Our Pope is a wise man and he certainly has good reasons for that. According to him, "The true foundation of the priest's life, the ground of his existence, the ground of his life, is God himself. Celibacy is a great sign of faith, of the presence of God in this world. When God is no longer central to a priest's life, he loses his zeal. In a world where the 'now' of the present and tangible seems good enough, celibacy is a great scandal. Celibacy seems difficult to understand in an agnostic world in which God doesn't enter the picture," in which "we no longer think of a future with God, because the presence of this world seems sufficient. Celibacy is an anticipation. To live the celibate life is to acknowledge the presence of God, the certainty of the next life, and the value of both. A priest is drawn into the life of Christ, including Christ's condition after the resurrection, so celibacy is an anticipation of this new world ... in which we are beyond matrimony. Through the priestly life of celibacy, the future breaks into today. Celibacy opens the door to this great truth of faith by living the future as if it is already in the present." We certainly cannot deny the fact that there is truth in every word that he says. However, in this materialistic world not many could accept this great truth of faith as illustrated in the examples below.

On the first day of Chinese New Year this year, I saw a church member giving an angpow (a red packet containing money) to a priest. Without even looking at its contents, this priest put the angpow into the donation box. What does this mean? Money and material things have no importance to this celibate priest. He does not have to go for expensive holidays with his wife nor does he need money to pay for his children's college fees. His whole life is filled with God and this we can see by the way he lives his life. As what Pope Benedict XVI says, "With the eschatological life of celibacy, the future world of God enters into the realities of our time." A priest who is living in the future world of God as though it is already in the present is more interested in living a holy life than gathering earthly wealth and indulging in carnal pleasures. And of course this is the kind of priest that our Pope would like to have in the Catholic Church - a priest who makes us feel proud of the Catholic Church and makes us want to be Catholic.

On the other hand, there is this married Indian pastor who keeps saying to everyone that "Pastors serve God by serving people." Well, this sounds good but is it really as good as it sounds? You should have seen how he polishes the shoes of the rich men in his church. But lo and behold! When a poor lady came to him to seek help (albeit a very minor one) he ignored her and purposely did not take her calls. What do I mean by "purposely"? This lady told me she called him countless times but he did not answer her calls. Don't tell me that this pastor did not use his mobile phone for weeks. Why is it so? The rich businessmen can give him big angpows and provide good employment for his children in their companies whilst the poor lady has nothing to offer him. He needs money to give his family a comfortable life. With his children growing up, he needs money to send them to college. When his children have graduated from college, he needs to seek the help of the rich men in his church who can provide good job opportunities for his children. Who is this pastor serving? God or his family?

I know of a retired Chinese primary school headmaster who during his days as the headmaster of the school got to know many company directors in the Parents and Teachers Association. What kind of man is he? Well, it depends on whom he is dealing with. If you are rich and famous, he would polish your shoes but if you are poor and lowly, he would look down on you. After his retirement, he worked for one of the directors and bought the most luxurious car he ever had in his life. And of course his children had good job offers from these directors too after they graduated. We cannot blame the pastor and the headmaster though as what they are doing is to be expected of every married man . Family firstlah. This is human nature. In Malaysia, we have politicians who leap from one political party to another. Why is it so? Because the pasture on the other side is greener. Well, there is nothing wrong with that. It is only natural that people should think of themselves and their families first. A priest, however, should be different from all the Toms, Dicks and Harrys on the streets. If he is as selfish as the pastor, headmaster or politicians aforementioned then what is so special about him?

When the 'now' of the present seems good enough and the presence of this world seems sufficient and when people no longer think of a future with God, carnal pleasures and material things become very important to them. In fact, this is what the world is all about today. According to Pope Benedict XVI, "The great problem of the West is the forgetfulness of God and this forgetfulness is spreading." In actual fact, not only the West but almost the whole world is infected with this forgetfulness disease. Those who have forgotten about God tend to live only for themselves and only for the present as there is no future without God. Sad to say, sex has become more important than God in the world of today. This clearly explains why not many men can become celibate priests today. That's why Pope Benedict XVI is having a tough time defending celibacy!

People tend to create their own values and pass their own judgment to accommodate their own selfish purposes. Values change with time and in a way our world has changed a great deal since the time of Jesus. If that was too ancient, let's not talk about the time of Jesus but Father Damien's time instead. During those days, the priests did not pester the Pope to allow them to get married. They served God and His people faithfully. Father Damien was ready to die for the lepers just as Jesus has died for us. But nowadays, we have priests who want the best of all worlds - a wife, children, and a respectable "job". These are their conditions for joining the priesthood. They cannot take up the cross and follow Jesus as long as they cannot benefit from it. The cross is too heavy for them. Just because they cannot live the life of Christ, celibacy has become a scandal to them and they keep pestering our Pope to change the rules of the Church for them and allow them to get married. When they found that the Church couldn't satisfy their selfish desires, they left the Church to get married. Of course there are those ex-Catholic priests who go to the extreme of writing books trying to justify themselves portraying themselves as victims as though the Church has wronged them. But are they really victims? In actual fact, it is the Church that is being victimized by them for they have betrayed the Church by their hypocrisy. Why take the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience when they cannot keep them? No one forces them to do it. As what Pope Benedict XVI says, "Celibacy is not a matter of compulsion. Someone is accepted as a priest only when he does it of his own accord."

Pope Benedict XVI has always defended the value of priestly celibacy.in the Catholic Church

To say that they have to make a choice between faith and love is rubbish. If a priest really loves Jesus and intends to serve the Church faithfully just as our Lord has done, this question does not arise. If he is determined to follow Christ and has sincerely chosen the way of the cross nothing could make him change his mind. To say that the woman that he has fallen in love with shares the same passion for Jesus as much as he does is also rubbish. If the woman has a strong passion for Jesus she would not tempt a priest to jump into bed with her. Just imagine how much time and money the Church has wasted on these ungrateful priests who later become traitors?

Father Damien has lived in my heart since I was a young child. I become Catholic because of him and I model every priest after him. Each time I look at a celibate priest, I feel so proud of him because his life is a reflection of the life of Christ. But then values change with time. We now have priests who enjoy premarital sex and behave like sexually obsessed teenagers on the beach whilst the paparazis are busy taking photos. A priest who has the guts to have sex with his girlfriend on the beach (or elsewhere) after taking the vows of chastity does not deserve our respect at all. This idea reduces men to animals as they cannot live without sex.

A priest is supposed to set a good example to the world but what if he himself is not much better than a sexually obssessed teenager? What is he preaching then? What kind of example is he setting to the world? Is he trying to prove that premarital sex is fine and that caressing and kissing a woman vigorously on the beach is a good thing to do? What does the Bible say about premarital sex? Is it okay for a priest to do it? Maybe he has really "lost his zeal" as what Pope Benedict says and therefore the presence of this world seems sufficient to him. Be it rain or shine, sex must come first. But then, he must also have a good job or how is he going to survive? This is his 'dilemma'. He must be given the best of all worlds or he wouldn't become a priest. Pope Benedict XVI is right. This kind of priest is only living for the present thus forgetting about his future with God. That's why he is so concerned with carnal pleasures and tangible things and lives for the "now" of the present.

There is a malay "gurindam" which sounds something like this: "Jika guru kencing berdiri, anak murid kencing berlari. Jika guru kencing dalam keretapi, murid kencing dalam LRT." Let me translate it. It means that if the teacher pisses while standing, the students piss while running. If the teachers pisses on the train, the students piss on the Light Rail Transit." Priests are supposed to be more important than teachers as they have greater influences on our lives than the teachers. But what if the priest enjoys premarital sex on the beach (or perhaps elsewhere)? Of course many people would emulate him assuming that since a priest can do it then it's the right thing to do and this would only worsen the situation in our already morally decadent world. Can such a priest be a good Church leader? No, I cannot let him lead me. Better stay at home and preach to myself. I cannot tolerate the ugly things that he does. What a shame! It's a good thing Pope Benedict XVI doesn't allow this kind of priest to remain in the Church as he would only bring dishonour to the Church.

During the time of Jesus, premarital sex is almost unheard of. An unmarried woman found pregnant would be stoned to death. But values change with time and when everyone is doing something even though it is wrong, it becomes right. It seems that it is okay for a priest to have premarital sex today. Many people say that he is right and that Pope Benedict XVI is wrong and that the Pope should change the rules of the Church to accommodate his sexual desires. But our beloved Pope knows what is best for our Catholic Church. He doesn't want the priesthood to become an occupation and a money making channel for the family men priests. He doesn't want to have priests who are busy serving their wives and children at the expense of the Church. He doesn't want sexually obsessed priests who after enjoying premarital sex on the beach preach about Jesus and holiness in the Church. The Church is a holy place and not a sexual cult. A priest must walk his talk. He doesn't want priests who cannot live the life of Christ. He doesn't want materialistic priests who only believe in the present and who have forgotten about God. He doesn't want priests who treat the parishioners like their stepchildren because they have already had their own biological children.

What does our beloved Pope Benedict want? Holy priests like Father Damien, Father OC Lim and Father Slavko Barbaric just to mention three examples. Priests who can devote their entire lives selflessly serving God and His people. Priests who can set good examples to the world. Priests who are not keen in accumulating wealth for the sake of their families. Priests whose lives are filled with God and not carnal pleasures or material things. The Catholic priesthood is a vocation and not an occupation for the jobless men on the streets. Having a married priesthood would mean that every Tom, Dick and Harry on the streets can become a priest. What is so unique about the Catholic priesthood then? The fact that the Church only chooses bishops from among their celibate, unmarried priests clearly indicates that there is an inherent value in the nature of celibacy.  To those young men who can live holy lives and travel the path that Jesus has traveled more than 2000 years ago, why not join the priesthood and save our Catholic Church? Remember, a good priest does not ask himself what benefits he can get as a priest. He will ask himself what he can do for the Church.

If I were born a man I would have become a priest a long time ago. The celibate priesthood is a beautiful journey with the Lord. There are lots of things that I could have done for the Church if I were a priest! (Those who like this article may also want to read "Should Catholic Priests be Allowed to Marry" and "Taxi Driver Wanted to Become a Married Catholic Priest").

SHOULD CATHOLIC PRIESTS BE ALLOWED TO MARRY?

Priestly celibacy has been guarded by the Church for centuries as a brilliant jewel, and retains its value undiminished even in our time when the outlook of men and the state of the world have undergone such profound changers - POPE PAUL VI, SACERDOTALIS CAELIBATUS

I would like to begin with some quotations from the Bible:

Everyone who has given up home, brothers or sisters, father or mother, wife or children or lands for my sake will receive a hundred times as much in return and inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:29).

A man is better off having no sexual relations with a woman (1 Corinthians 7:1).

I tell you dear brothers and sisters, the time is short. From now on, those who have wives should live as though they had none (1 Corinthians 7:29).

I would like you to be without care. The unmarried man is busy with the Lord's affairs and concerned with pleasing the Lord; but the married man is busy with the things of the world and occupied with pleasing his wife. This means his interests are divided (1 Corinthians 7:32-33).

What do these quotations mean? These are beautifully explained in one of the "Quote for Priests" from Father Anthony Ho's blog that I would like to share with my readers. Here it goes:

It is true, one reason why the Church requires celibacy in her priests is that one who is free from the cares and responsibilities of family life can more completely and wholeheartedly devote himself to the work of the sacred ministry. But the deeper and more spiritual reason is that the soul which is free from the bonds of earthly love, however noble and pure it may be, is better disposed for an ardent and unselfish love of God.

One cannot deny the fact that celibate priests can devote themselves completely and wholeheartedly to the Church since they are free from the burdens and responsibilities of family life. Truly, priestly celibacy is a blessing bestowed upon the Church and celibate priests are our greatest gifts from God - so rare, valuable and precious. They are another Christ (Alter Christus), men taken from among men to serve and lead the Church through their priestly ministry. They are selfless and holy men who offer their whole humanity to God for our salvation. The priestly vocation is not a job or a career but a calling - it requires lots of sacrifices. Since celibacy is an altruistic act, not many men can take a lifelong vow of celibacy because only those with a heroic soul can afford to do that. I pray that God will grant us more celibate priests who will walk in the footsteps of Jesus to serve the Church. In this morally decadent world, those who can relinquish sex are hard to come by and that is why our celibate priests have become our priceless treasures today.

I have never had sex before and I don't know how enjoyable or important it is. But I do know that it certainly has got nothing to do with holiness, purity and chastity. Here I would like to share a real life story that my grandmother used to tell me when I was still a little girl. This is how it goes: When my uncle got married, someone gave him a wooden crucifix. He hung it on the wall just above his marital bed. Both my uncle and his wife suddenly fell ill but they didn't know what was wrong. They just coudn't get well. When my grandmother visited them, she saw the crucifix in their bedroom and suggested that they should remove it and put it elsewhere. After removing the crucifix from their bedroom, my uncle and his wife were immediately healed from their mysterious illness. Whether it is a coincidence or not, having sex in front of Jesus doesn't seem to be the right thing to do. If sex is something which is holy, pure and chaste, then, why not have sex in the Church?

Would the Catholic Church be better served if priests were allowed to marry? No doubt a celibate priest can offer his entire self and devote all his time to the service of God's people but a married priest would be unable to give himself fully to the Church as he tends to get bogged down with earthly things. If he gives more importance to his wife and children and puts them above everything else, there would be conflict between his spiritual and familial duties. With a family to support, he will also ask for more money but can the pay raise increase his work performance? According to Patricia Dixon, the wife of a former Protestant pastor in her article entitled "Why a Married Priesthood Won’t Remedy the Priest Shortage" (summarized below):

Supporters of a married clergy should consider the realistic consequences of their optimistic views. For instance, let's consider a typical, moderately large parish in a rich community in America where three priests are living in a rectory which houses the parish office. What would happen to this parish if these three priests were married? Needless to say, the parish would need a few more priests because married priests cannot give all their time to the Church as their families are their top priority. This would mean that the parish may end up having five or six priests instead of three, thus leaving no sensible solution to the priest shortage even if the number of priests were to double in America following the abolition of celibacy rules. To keep their families above the federal poverty line, those married priests would need a salary raise of three times their current earnings. Of course, we cannot expect those six families to live in that rectory with the parish office in the home of one of them. So, they would need six houses and more space elsewhere instead of just one rectory. Therefore, supporting six married priests and their families will cost the parish more than six times of what it used to spend on three celibate priests. The priests may also have to take on second jobs to boost their income and would have less time to serve God and His people. So, even if the parishioners could support their six priests, they will still lack priestly attention. Every married pastor has to face the tensions of meeting the needs of the Church versus the needs of his family since both the Church and his family demand half of his time and energy. The church members may also feel uncomfortable when the pastor's wife gets pregnant as she is the living symbol of his active sex life.

How right she is! Patricia Dixon's article, Why a Married Priesthood Won't Remedy the Priest Shortage, does have a lot of truth in it. Well written, precise and straight to the point, it tells us what exactly will happen to the Catholic Church if priests were allowed to get married. Jesus was pure and chaste and he was free from worldly anxieties as he did not have to worry about how to make more money to give his wife and children a comfortable life. What would be the fate of Christianity if Jesus were busy working multiple jobs to earn extra money for the sake of his family? 

Can a married priest give all his time and energy to the Church? During my college days, I used to visit a home for the former drug addicts and it was fun chatting with them and playing table tennis with them. We also washed the dishes together after lunch. When I asked them how often their pastor (who were caring for people with drug addictions) visited them, they told me that he seldom came to see them after he got married. And after his first baby came, they saw even less of him. What does this suggest? That a married pastor will put his family first and and in doing so, he has to neglect his pastoral duties. Like all married men, a married priest wants to finish his work fast and go home early to be with his wife and children. He cannot be late because he has to fetch his children from school and drive his wife to the supermarket to shop for groceries. And of course he shouldn't miss dinner. His wife doesn't like that - family meals are important for family bonding. Thus the priesthood seems to be more like an occupation to him - a 9-to-5 job that provides him with an income to support his wife and children. And a married man is particularly happy when he sees the happy faces of his wife and children receiving unexpected presents. That is why church members like to buy gifts for their pastors' family members. According to one of my former classmates, her pastor is exceptionally kind and friendly to all those who always buy presents for his wife and children. These presents are not cheap - his son got a bicyle recently from one of the church members! But of course we cannot blame the pastor. He certainly wants the best for his wife and children even if it is at the expense of the church members.

A married man is always busy thinking of ways to increase his income because he wants to give his wife and children a good life. With a family to support, money will never be enough. His wife and children may want him to purchase luxury items for them such as jewelry, watches, smartphones, Birkin bags, or even a sports car and a new mansion. If a priest is only concerned with making money to give his wife and children a comfortable / lavish life, the priesthood is no longer a vocation but some kind of occupation or money making institution for a family man. Can anyone imagine what would happen if we have priests who are always busy doing direct selling (such as Amway or Cosway products) in the Church together with their wives? Business would be good for sure because of the church members' support since many of them treat their pastors like God. But is this the kind of priests we can honor, respect and love?

On the contrary, a celibate priest has all the time in the world to do God's work. He doesn't have to be on time for dinner with his wife and children. He doesn't have to keep thinking that he must finish his work fast so that he can go home early. He doesn't have to think of ways to increase his income. And most of all, he can devote all his time to the parish and the parishioners will never find themselves short of priestly attention. As such, the priesthood is only suitable for those men who are ready to live the life of Christ and willing to devote their entire lives to walk in His footsteps.

How would the church members feel when the pastor's wife gets pregnant? To answer this question, let me share what my classmates used to do whenever a teacher got pregnant. Well, the things they said were so funny that the whole class would burst into laughter because their minds were so imaginative. Today's children are the same - not only will they joke about their teachers' pregnancy in class, they will also make their remarks on Facebook. If school children can be so imaginative, what about the congregation in church especially when the pastor's wife's baby bump is a symbol of his sexual activities?

We call a priest Father. Can we marry our own father and have sex with him? Priests are supposed to live the life of Christ. But is the life of a married priest a reflection of Christ's life? Christ is celibate and he was ready to die on the cross for our sins because it was His Father's will. Had Jesus ever said, "Father, please spare me my life. I want to take care of my wife and see my children grow up. I can't die on the cross. Family firstlah." If these were His words, Christianity wouldn't have existed at all!

There is no such thing as the Church denying the priests the human rights to get married. Priesthood is a choice and the vows of chastity are to be taken freely. Those who feel that they cannot live the life of Christ can always get married and get a job elsewhere to support their wife and children. They don't have to keep eyeing the priesthood and pestering the Pope to change the rules of the Church for them. No doubt it is not easy to get a respectful and secure job that can provide well for their families during this period of recession but it should be remembered that the priesthood is a vocation and not an occupation. If they really love to help out in Church, they can always come to Church to lend a helping hand. Many lay preachers are doing that free of charge in Malaysia.

Should priests be allowed to get married then all the jobless men on the streets would be fighting for this job. Where on earth can they find such a respectful and secure job nowadays? Their wives and children would be well provided for by the Church and live a comfortable life. Who doesn't want that? Of course there would be no more shortage of priests when the Roman Catholic priesthood becomes an occupation!

Who says that celibate priests cannot give advice on family matters? The capability to give advice does not depend on whether they are married or not. I give advice and help to single mom, divorcees, and women suffering from broken relationships to help them live their lives again. I don't have to be a divorcee or a single mother or suffer from some kind of broken relationship to do that. I may never have been married or fallen in love before but this does not deter me from observing and analysing the world around me and learn from the experiences of others. I also give counseling and help to rape victims but this does not mean that I have to be a rape victim myself! Celibate priests understand the sacrificial nature and sanctity of marriage in a way that few married men could do and are certainly better counselors in the ways of keeping the wedding vows and maintaining a good marriage relationship (including fidelity in marriage) compared to married priests. 

Who says that married men would not get involved in sex scandals? Maybe some of you would have read about the case of Ahmad Najib - a married man who raped, killed, burnt and chopped off the legs of the beautiful Canny Ong. He was sentenced to death. No doubt he was married but this did not deter him from raping another woman. Then there was Lily Chua's case back in 1993 where the pastor turned music teacher, murdered her and cut her into eleven pieces before he dumped her body parts in a drain and a ravine. Fearing that his wife would discover his affair with Lily Chua, the pastor had no choice but to kill Lily Chua and then destroyed her body completely so that no one would discover his extra-marital affair. The pastor was sentenced to 12 years in prison but was released from prison after 8 years because of good behavior. Extra-marital affairs are so common nowadays. When a man is married it doesn't mean that he wouldn't be interested in another woman. Most sexual abusers are not celibate. It's licentiousness that breeds sexual abuse, not celibacy! 

Sexual abuse in Protestant Churches is not uncommon and many pastors in the various Protestant denominations have turned out to be sexual predators as well even though they are married. The case of the pedophile pastor, Dawid Volmer (a married father-of-two), who has been jailed for more than 10 years for raping a 13-year-old girl and stupefying her with amyl nitrite vapour, as she was lying naked and blindfolded on a bed, is a very clear example of this. And of course one cannot deny the fact that there have been many arrests involving Protestant pastors who were charged with sex crimes. Please read CORRUPT RELIGIOUS LEADERS: PASTORS AND SEX CRIMES to find out what Protestant pastors can do to their sex victims. These 40 cases are amongst some of the pastors' sexual abuse cases reported to the authorities and the media from October 2017 to January 2018. How come no one is making a fuss over the wicked things that Protestant pastors did to their sex victims? Is it because they are married and it is alright for married men to do such things?  In Horus Gilgamesh's “25 MORE SHOCKING ARRESTS”: PASTORS CHARGED WITH SEX CRIMES, out of the 25 sex crimes involving pastors that hit the local news in May 2014, only one of the perpetrators was Catholic. What about the rest? Your average Protestant pastors that no one would have ever suspected of being sexual predators preying on vulnerable women and children! Celibacy is therefore not to blame for sexual abuse in the Catholic Church as the problems of sex abuse are greater and more serious among Protestant pastors. It seems that married Protestant pastors have stronger sexual needs and are more obsessed with sex than unmarried priests.

If you like this article, you may also want to read Why Pope Benedict XVI Clarifies, Reaffirms, Reinforces and Defends Celibacy; Taxi Driver Wanted to Become a Married Catholic Priest; and Beware of Greedy, Selfish and Money-Hungry Pastors.

FRENCH GRAMMAR: THE FUTURE TENSE

In French, the future tenses include the simple future (le futur simple), the future perfect (le futur anterieur) and the near future (le futur proche). According to Eliane Kurbegov (French Grammar Drills, 2007:179), "The near future is used to talk about what is going to happen. Similarly the simple future talks about what will happen. Both tenses refer to future events. However, the near future is more frequently used in familiar conversation while the simple future is more formal. The future perfect, found less frequently in familiar conversation, is used to say that something will be done by the time something else happens."

The Simple Future (le futur simple)
The simple future expresses an action or a state that will take place after we speak. As the action or state has not happened yet, it is only more or less probable. To distinguish the simple future from the near future, let's say the near future expresses a fact that will take place more probably than the simple future (Jean Severy, Essential French Grammar, 2008:174).

In English, the simple future consists of will or shall + verb. In French, the simple future has no auxiliary, it consists of one word only. The future stem of regular -er and -ir verbs is the entire infinitive. Regular -re verbs drop the final -e of the infinitive before adding on the endings. The future endings are -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont. For example:

travailler (to work)
je travaillerai (I will work), tu travailleras, il/elle/on travaillera, nous travaillerons, vous travaillerez, ils/elles travailleront

finir (to finish)
je finirai (I will finish), tu finiras, il/elle/on finira, nous finirons, vous finirez, ils/elles finiront

perdre (to lose)
je perdrai (I will lose), tu perdras, il/elle/on perdra, nous perdrons, vous perdrez, ils/elles perdront

Where the irregular verbs are concerned, many have regular stems, that is, the entire infinitive or (with -re ending verbs) the infinitive minus final -e. For example:

boire (to drink) ------ je boirai
croire (to believe) ------ je croirai
dormir (to sleep) ------ je dormirai
lire (to read) ------ je lirai
ouvrir (to open) ------ j'ouvrirai
partir (to leave) ------ je partirai

However, there are also irregular verbs with irregular stems:

aller (to go) ------ j'irai
envoyer (to send) ------ j'enverrai
falloir (to be necessary) ------ il faudra
recevoir (to receive) ------ je recevrai
venir (to come) ------ je viendrai
vouloir (to want) ------ je voudrai

The Future Perfect (le futur anterieur)
Whereas the simple future describes an action or situation which will be taking place at some time in the future, the future perfect refers to an action which is seen as completed by or at a specific time in the future. In English, the future perfect consists of will have or shall have + past participle. In French, the future perfect consists of the simple future of avoir or etre + past participle. For example:

aller (to go)
je serai alle(e), (I will have gone), tu seras alle(e), il/on sera alle, elle sera allee, nous serons alle(e)s, vous serez alle(e)(s), ils seront alles, elles seront allees

devenir (to become)
je serai devenu(e), (I'll have become), tu seras devenu(e), il/elle/on sera devenu(e), nous serons devenu(e)s, vous serez devenu(e)(s), ils/elles seront devenu(e)s

It should be noted that the past participle of verbs conjugated with etre should agree in gender and number with the subject.

The Near Future
The futur proche implies the action will be completed soon, while the simple future is open-ended as to completion of the action. Thus, if you ask for a book at the library desk, the librarian's response would normally be in the futur proche as follows: Je vais chercher votre livre (I'll get your book). Were the librarian to respond with the simple future tense, Je chercherai votre livre, you would be left wondering how long you might have to wait.

In English, the near future consists of to be going to + infinitive. In French, the near future consists of the present tense of aller + infinitive. For example:

Je vais essayer (I am going to try)
Il va faire froid dehors (It's going to be cold outside)

FRENCH GRAMMAR: THE PAST TENSES

In French, the past tenses include the passe compose, the imperfect tense, the pluperfect tense and the passe simple.

The Formation of the Passe ComposeThe passe compose is generally translated into English by the simple past (I lived, she wrote), the present perfect (I have lived, she has written) and the emphatic past (I did live, she did write). The passe compose is used when one knows how long a past action lasted, how many times it occurred, and at what precise moment it happened.

Like the English present perfect, the passe compose is a compound tense. It consists of an auxiliary and the past participle of the verb in question. In English, the auxiliary is always the verb 'to have'. In French, it can be either avoir or etre. Most French use avoir to build the passe compose. The second element of the passe compose is the past participle.

The past participle of regular verbs can be formed in the following ways. With -er verbs, the -er ending is dropped and is replaced with -e: (parler - parle)
j'ai parle (I spoke, I have spoken, I did speak), tu as parle, il/elle/on a parle, nous avons parle, vous avez parle, ils/elles ont parle.

With -ir verbs, the -ir ending is dropped and is replaced with -i: (finir - fini)
j'ai fini (I finished, I have finished, I did finish), tu as fini, il/elle/on a fini, nous avons fini, vous avez fini, ils/elles ont fini.

With -re verbs the -re ending is dropped and is replaced with -u: (repondre -repondu)
j'ai repondu (I answered, I have answered, I did answer), tu as repondu, il/elle/on a repondu, nous avons repondu, vous avez repondu, ils/elles ont repondu.

Irregular verbs, however, have irregular past participles which must be memorized. Below is a list of some of these verbs.

Infinitive ----------------English Meaning --------------Past Participle
avoir -------------------------to have --------------------------eu
boire------------------------- to drink -------------------------bu
construire --------------------to build ---------------------construit
connaitre ---------------------to know ----------------------connu
disparaitre -----------------to disappear -------------------disparu
faire ------------------------ to make, do ---------------------fait
lire ---------------------------- to read -------------------------lu
ouvrir -------------------------to open -----------------------ouvert
apprendre --------------------to learn -----------------------appris

The past participle using avoir to form the passe compose may change under certain circumstances. It should be noted that the past participle of verbs using avoir as auxiliary to form the passe compose agrees in gender and number with a preceding direct object. If the object is feminine singular, -e is added to the past participle, if it is masculine plural, -s is added (except when the participle ends in -s): if it is feminine plural, -es is added. For example:

1. Quels livres avez-vous lus? (Which books did you read?)
2. Il nous a reconnus. (He recognized us)
3. Quelle imprimante ont-ils achetee? (Which printer did they buy?)
4. Quelle chance elle a eue! (How lucky she was!)
5. Combien de photos avez-vous prises? (How many pictures did you take?)
6. La lettre que j'ai ecrite est longue. (The letter that I wrote is long)

However, the past participle remains unchanged if there is no preceding direct object, if the direct object follows the past participle eg Elle a vu la generale (She saw the dress rehearsal) or if the preceding object is indirect eg Ils leur ont repondu (They answered them).
A small number of French verbs form the passe compose with etre rather than avoir. Most of these express motion or a change of state. If the past participle of verbs is conjugated with etre, they must agree in gender and number with the subject. If the subject is feminine singular, -e is added to the past participle, if the subject is masculine plural, -s is added, and if the subject is feminie plural, -es is added. Here is a model conjugation:
aller (to go):je suis alle(e), tu es alle(e), il est alle, elle est allee, nous sommes alle(e)s, vous etes alle(e)s, ils sont alles, elle sont allees.
To form the passe compose correctly, it is necessary to choose the correct form of the auxiliary verb as well as the correct form of the past participle.
The Imperfect TenseThe imperfect tense expresses actions and situations that lasted an indeterminate amount of time (he had a lot of money), occurred an unspecified number of times (she went to church every Sunday), or were in progress often when something else happened (it was raining when they arrived).
The stem of the imperfect tense of all verbs (except etre) is found by dropping the -ons ending of the nous form of the present tense. The imperfect endings are -ais, ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. For instance, here is the conjugation of the regular verb, parler, in the imperfect tense:
parler (to speak)(nous parlons)
je parlais (I spoke, I was speaking, I used to speak)
tu parlais (you spoke, you were speaking, you used to speak)
il/elle/on parlait (he/she/one spoke/was speaking/used to speak)
nous parlions (we spoke, we were speaking, we used to speak)
vous parliez (you spoke, you were speaking, you used to speak)
ils/elles parlaient (they spoke, they were speaking, they used to speak)


Below is the conjugation of the irregular verbs boire, craindre and dormir:

Infinitive --------- Nous Form of Present Tense ----------- Imperfect
boire (to drink) ----------- nous buvons -------------------- je buyais
craindre (to fear) ---------nous craignons ------------------je craignais
dormir (to sleep) ----------nous dormons ------------------ je dormais

It should be noted that "It is in distinguishing between passe compose (used to represent finished actions) vs imperfect (used to describe actions that were going on in the past) that speakers of English have the most trouble (Didier Bertrand, Test Yourself French Grammar 1996:42).

The Pluperfect Tense
The pluperfect (also called the past perfect) is a compound tense consisting of an auxiliary and the past participle. In French as in English, the pluperfect describes what had happened before another action in the past. In the formation of the pluperfect, the imperfect tense of the auxiliary (avoir or etre) is added to the past participle of the verb in question. For instance here is the conjugation of the regular verb partir in the pluperfect tense.

partir (to leave)
j'etais parti(e) --------------- I had left
tu etais parti(e) --------------you had left
il/on etait parti -------------- he/it/one had left
elle etait partie -------------- she/it had left
nous etions parti(e)s --------- we had left
vous etiez parti(e)s ---------- you had left
ils etaient partis ------------- they had left
elles etaient parties ---------- they had left

The Passe Simple
The passe simple is often called the literary or historical past and it replaces the passe compose in formal speeches and writing. The passe simple is not used in conversations or everyday writing but one can see its usage in very formal speeches, newspaper articles, historical texts, and French Literature.

The passe simple of regular -er ending verbs is formed by adding the endings -ai, -as, -a, -ames, -ates, -erent to the stem of the infinitive. For instance:
donner (to give)
je donnai (I gave)
tu donnas (you gave)
il/elle/on donna (he/she/it/one gave)
nous donnames (we gave)
vous donnates (you gave)
ils/elles donnerent (they gave)

The passe simple of both -ir and -re ending verbs is formed by adding the endings -is, -is, -it, -imes, -ites, -irent to the stem of the infinitive. Eg:

choisir (to choose)
je choisis (I chose), tu choisis (you chose), il/elle/on choisit (he/she/it/one chose), nous choisimes (we chose), vous choisites (you chose), ils/elles choisirent (they chose).

entendre (to hear)
j'entendis (I heard), tu entendis (you heard), il/elle/on entendit (he/she/it/one heard), nous entendimes (we heard), vous entendites (you heard), ils/elles entendirent (they heard).

For -cer ending verbs a cedille is added to the c before a (except the third person plural)

For -ger ending verbs, e is added after g before a (except the third person plural). Eg:
manger (to eat)
je mangeai (I ate), tu mangeas. il/elle/on mangea, nous mangeames, vous mangeates, ils/elles mangerent.

Where irregular verbs are concerned some take the ending -is, -is, -it, -imes, -ites, -irent whilst others take the endings -us, -us, -ut, -umes, -utes, -urent.

The passe simple of irregular verbs can be derived from their past participle. If the past participle of the verb ends in -i, -is, or -it, the first series of the above endings would be used to form its passe simple. If the past participle of the verb ends in -u, then the second series of endings would be used instead. Eg:

dire (to say)
past participle: dit
je dis, tu dis, il/elle/on dit, nous dimes, vous dites, ils/elles dirent

courir (to run)
past participle: couru
je courus, tu courus, il/elle/on courut, nous courumes, vous courutes, ils/elles coururent

However, it should be noted that the passe simple of certain irregular verbs cannot be derived from their past participle. Eg:

ecrire (to write)
past participle: ecrit
j'ecrivis, tu ecrivis, il/elle/on ecrivit, nous ecrivimes, vous ecrivites, ils/elles ecrivirent

venir (to come)
past participle: venu
je vins, tu vins, il/elle/on vint, nous vinmes, vous vintes, ils/elles vinrent

How can we identify the passe simple? According to Trudie Maria Booth (French Verb Tenses, 2008:147), "If one is familiar with the endings, the verbs in the passe simple are easy to identify, even if the forms are not derived from the past participle. It is evident for example, that mourut comes from mourir and ouvrit comes from ouvrir. Only a few verbs may be difficult to recognize and should therefore be memorized."