It almost sounds like a joke.

What happened to the Irish Catholic priest who stood before his parishioners and said that he was not only leaving the priesthood, but doing so because he wanted to spend time romantically with a mother of two children?

This is not joke, however. It happened recently in Ballymagroarty, Derry. 

And though it might be tempting to believe the angry parishioners began tossing rocks and rotten vegetables at the sinner-priest, in fact they applauded. Some even broke into tears.

The priest, for his part, did not mince words. He said he was leaving the priesthood because priests should not be forced into celibacy.

Such a heartwarming, spiritual story just in time for the holiday season.

The rumblings of division within the Catholic Church are painfully evident in the U.S., as well as Ireland.

In a story that just begs a headline containing the phrase “Fighting Irish,” Philadelphia Congressman Patrick Murphy came to the defense of his colleague from Rhode Island, Patrick Kennedy, the son of liberal lion Ted Kennedy, who passed away in the summer. 

The younger Kennedy has been in the news because it was revealed that Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence has asked Kennedy to stop receiving Holy Communion. 

Previously, Kennedy and Tobin had clashed over health care legislation and whether or not abortion should be restricted in whatever health legislation passes. 

Tobin, of course, was raising a broader question about whether or not Catholic lawmakers have a duty to make sure public policy follows church teaching on issues such as abortion and gay rights.

As of Tuesday morning, Kennedy had not commented on the matter. But Murphy defended Kennedy during a speech at Harvard.

"We don't legislate at the orders of the Vatican, we legislate what is in our conscience and what we think is good for our country," said Murphy, a Democrat and Catholic who supports abortion rights and is a leading advocate of ending the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy when it comes to gays and lesbians.

In the past, Murphy has revealed that a priest refused to bless his marriage because of the congressman’s support for abortion.

It’s very tempting to look at this and see a bunch of snooty elites who like to call themselves Catholics but seem very uncomfortable doing the actual work the church asks when it comes to the doctrines of the faith.

But certain Catholic bishops, such as Tobin, have also put themselves in a tough spot.  Is support for abortion a sin of such singular magnitude? 

Or do some in the church advocate limiting the sacraments for all those in a state of sin? Is it simply because Kennedy and others are public figures? 

Is it because Kennedy deems himself a Catholic lawmaker, and thus, Tobin and others want his policy decisions to be guided by faith?

The likes of Al Smith and even JFK himself spent difficult years trying to convince anti-Catholic Americans that their religion should not have anything to do with them being capable public servants. Do Tobin and others want this overturned?

This uncivil war within the Catholic Church comes at a time when Pope Benedict XVI has made very public overtures towards the Anglican Church, in the hopes of recruiting millions of new Catholics.

It begs the question -- what’s the point of welcoming all of these new Catholics if the current ones are at each other’s theological throats? 

The answer could be that there is a feeling within the church hierarchy that it’s time to weed out those who are not walking the doctrinal line. Which is, of course, their prerogative. 

It is also not exactly a recipe for a vibrant 21st century Catholic Church.

It’s not been all doom and gloom for the church of late. Last week, a preliminary report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice found that there is no evidence that gay priests are more likely than heterosexual ones to molest children.

Of course, when that’s what passes for good news, then it’s safe to say this is not likely to be the most festive of holiday seasons in Irish Catholic circles.