# Holy Hit and Run, Bishop! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 17, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361 "2003-06-17T02:17:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/1 "2003-06-17T02:17:50Z")
[From this AP story](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&ncid=514&e=5&u=/ap/20030617/ap_on_re_us/bishop_warrant) > [@](#): > > The Roman Catholic bishop of Phoenix was arrested Monday in a deadly hit-and-run accident after police traced a license plate number to his car and found the windshield caved in. And this: > [@](#): > > The bishop “does admit that he was driving the vehicle and in the area at the time,” Williams said. Yet another sterling example of how our social leaders accept responsibility for their own actions. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/2 "2003-06-17T02:26:09Z")
Bad Bishop! No young boys for you! ---
**Author:** ![the\_Lady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@the\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Lady)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/3 "2003-06-17T02:27:33Z")
Clearly he is a model citizen to be emulated and respected. I’m just a little unclear on the details on the accident - hit by TWO cars which fled the scene? What on earth happened? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/4 "2003-06-17T02:40:29Z")
I’d guess it’s not all that uncommon. One car hits him and knocks him into the path of another. Or he goes under the first car, and the following car doesn’t see him. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/5 "2003-06-17T03:30:18Z")
That same mother fucker was just relieved of duites for protecting child molesting priests. Unbelievable. Time for some serious punishment. I know. We’ll transfer him to a new church. That’ll teach him. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/6 "2003-06-17T03:36:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hajario \* > \*\*That same mother fucker was just relieved of duites for protecting child molesting priests. Unbelievable. Time for some serious punishment. I know. We’ll transfer him to a new church. That’ll teach him. > > Haj \*\* By any chance, do you work for the Catholic Church? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/7 "2003-06-17T07:02:00Z")
Too bad you can’t scare forensic evidence into silence by threatening it with eternal damnation. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/8 "2003-06-17T13:24:02Z")
I’m not worried: God will whack him good with the “Mallet O’ Spiritual Realignment”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/9 "2003-06-17T14:47:23Z")
His windshield gets caved in, and the bishop claims he thought he hit a dog or a cat. Maybe if he was driving a Mini-Cooper and hit a really big dog, OK. But this was a Buick. _"Diocese spokesman Jose Robles would only say the bishop “was very exhausted.”_ Yeah, lying your butt off is _very_ tiring. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/10 "2003-06-17T16:38:09Z")
Read the article in the paper this morning. What a minute. He “thought” that he hit a dog or a cat and didn’t bother to stop??? WTF? And when I posted the message well above, I didn’t know about the ‘removed from duties’ thing. And to think, this piece of work is a Bishop. A stalwart defender of God. Give this man a ticket on the B - Ark. Fast. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/11 "2003-06-17T19:55:49Z")
My first question is, why hasn’t he resigned as bishop yet? My second question is, why hasn’t he been removed? This is NOT what the Catholic Church needs just now. I can’t help seeing this incident as symbolic of what’s been going on in the sex-abuse scandal. For God’s sake! If he’s not doing a Jimmy Swaggart number on TV right now, bawling his eyes out as he resigns, the church needs to remove him NOW. Not tomorrow. Not after an inquiry. Not “reduced duties”. Boot. Out. Now. What the hell do you have to do to get fired from leading in the Catholic Church, anyway? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/12 "2003-06-17T19:57:28Z")
Maybe he was on his way to arrest Mr. Devious. “The Bishop!” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/13 "2003-06-17T20:52:48Z")
It’s easy to imagine scenarios in which the bishop was entirely innocent in the accident: maybe the other car hit the guy first, and knocked him in into the bishop’s path, or he appeared so quickly there was no time to avoid [In another AP story, a police spokesman says:](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=533&ncid=533&e=4&u=/ap/20030617/ap_on_re_us/bishop_charged) > [@](#): > > If the bishop had remained at the scene, in all likelihood he would not have been charged with any crime. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/14 "2003-06-17T20:57:32Z")
Sure, **Boyo** , nobody’s saying it was hitting the guy that was the crime. It’s fleeing the scene afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/15 "2003-06-17T20:58:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by masonite \* > \*\*My first question is, why hasn’t he resigned as bishop yet? \*\* This story was highlighted on the _Today_ show this morning. It seems at one point he tried to resign but the Church didn’t accept his resignation. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/16 "2003-06-17T22:52:10Z")
From the [L.A. Times (registration required)](http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bishop17jun17000417,1,7171101.story?coll=la-headlines-nation) > [@](#): > > Reed was crossing a busy Phoenix street in the middle of the block, said Force, the police spokesman. He was struck by a tan Buick later found to be registered to the diocese. Immediately afterward, Reed was hit by another car. Both vehicles sped away, Force said. and > [@](#): > > According to court documents, O’Brien also told police that he thought he had hit a dog or a cat or that someone had thrown a rock at his car. A dog? Maybe, just maybe. A cat? Where did he think he was driving, outside of Segfried and Roy’s house? Did you see the picture of the hole in the windshield? Oh my freakin lord, it’s huge, the photo in the paper this morning showed it to be almost as high as the windshield of the Buick and good two feet wide. A cat Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Or a rock. Thrown by the incredible Hulk perhaps? :wally ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/17 "2003-06-17T23:14:27Z")
Maybe he thought it was his practice cat. Though usually, they spraypaint a red band around them so this sort of screwup doesn’t happen. At least the guy he hit wasn’t corked. … What were we talking about again? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/18 "2003-06-17T23:31:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hajario \* > \*\*That same mother fucker was just relieved of duites for protecting child molesting priests. Unbelievable. Time for some serious punishment. I know. We’ll transfer him to a new church. That’ll teach him. > > Haj \*\* Hajario: no kidding? Not that I doubt you, but in the interests of preventing a hijack, would you kindly produce a cite for this information? (That you read it in a newspaper or heard it on the radio or TV news will satisfy me, though a website cite would be nice.) ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/19 "2003-06-17T23:35:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rick \* > \*\*From the [L.A. Times (registration required)](http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bishop17jun17000417,1,7171101.story?coll=la-headlines-nation) > > and > A dog? Maybe, just maybe. A cat? Where did he think he was driving, outside of Segfried and Roy’s house? Did you see the picture of the hole in the windshield? Oh my freakin lord, it’s huge, the photo in the paper this morning showed it to be almost as high as the windshield of the Buick and good two feet wide. A cat Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Or a rock. Thrown by the incredible Hulk perhaps? > :wally \*\* Now, let’s be fair – he may have thought he hit Clifford the Big Red Dog! If you don’t have kids, you won’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361/20 "2003-06-17T23:47:31Z")
Here you go, **Polycarp.** [http://www.communitypapers.com/DAILYCOURIER/myarticles.asp?P=778063&S=400&PubID=10894](http://www.communitypapers.com/DAILYCOURIER/myarticles.asp?P=778063&S=400&PubID=10894) > [@](#): > > O’Brien made headlines earlier this month when it was announced that he relinquished some of his authority in an unprecedented agreement with prosecutors that spared him from indictment on obstruction charges for protecting child-molesting priests. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-hit-and-run-bishop/182361.md?page=2)