Illinois – The pastor of St. Aloysius church on Springfield’s north end has been granted a leave of absence after he called 911 from the rectory and told a dispatcher that he needed help getting out of handcuffs.  “I’m going to need help getting out before this becomes a medical emergency,” Father Tom Donovan told a dispatcher who sounds a bit incredulous during the Nov. 28 call.  “You’re stuck in a pair of handcuffs?” the dispatcher asks.  “(I was) playing with them and I need help getting out,” Donovan responds.

Donovan told the dispatcher that he was alone in the rectory. It’s not clear exactly how he ended up in handcuffs or why he feared a medical emergency. His voice sounds garbled or muffled on the tape, and sources say that police discovered some sort of gag on the priest when they arrived.  The diocese has been tight-lipped about the matter, saying only that Bishop Thomas Paprocki granted Donovan’s request for a leave of absence at some point before Christmas. 

 

All things considered this pastor handled calling 911 while stuck in church in handcuffs and a ball gag about as well as you possibly can.   Nice and calm and polite, staying level headed.  Just got to explain the situation, nothing out of the ordinary here, just a priest finishing up mass playing around with some handcuffs and gagging himself, you know, for fun.  Totally no gay sex going on or anything, don’t be ridiculous.   I’m a pastor for Christ’s sake, why would I be involved in anything like that.     You don’t gag yourself and strap your hands behind your back when you’re alone?

Also when did it become OK to release 911 calls to the media?  Like who decided that was a good idea?  I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m glad for it from the sake of a blog standpoints.  Awesome material.  Nothing better than a respected priest getting a 911 call of  himself stuck in handcuffs and a ball gag spread around the internet.  But in the event that something like this ever happened to me I’d kind of want that to be private you know?