This joke was published in the May-June 2003 issue of JIVAN, a Jesuit magazine for South Asia, which perhaps suggests that priests today also have a sense of humour:
With so much turmoil in the world, God decided to pay a visit to earth to check things out. He strolled into a bar and approached the first man he saw. "If you believe in meenough to give me $50," he said, "I will grant you eternal life." "Sorry, I'm an atheist," the fellow replied, "and have never really believed in God." God walked up to another man and made the same offer. "Well, I'm an agnostic and not really sure if I believe in you or not," the guy said, "but here's 50 bucks, just in case." As the Lord turned away, a third man ran up to him. "I'm the local preacher here and don't really care if you're God or not," he said excitedly. "Just teach me the trick you did with the agnostic and I'll give you $100." (###) Another report in the same issues says "parents and others" have expressed happiness that the Bombay archdiocese has returned to the Jesuits a school entangled in a management crisis. In an official statement on 25 March, Cardinal Ivan Dias of Bombay said an "unpleasant situation prevalent" at Campion High School in Mumbai led to the decision. Since mid-February, teachers, parents of children at the school and concerned Catholics have staged three protest demostrations alleging "mismanagement" of the 60-year-old school. They urged Cardinal Dias to reinstate Fr Philip Falcao, who resigned as principal in early February citing "failing health", and to remove Guilherme Vaz, the cardinal's official representative on the management council, the Jesuit-run UCAN news agency reported. The Bombay Jesuit province opened the school in 1943. It decided in the mid-1980s to involve the archdiocese in the school's management so that members of the province could focus more on educating the poor inv illages. However, the Jesuits withdrew from the administration, "considerably" affecting the school's "Catholic ethos", Cardinal Dias said in a statement. He said he wanted the Jesuits to take "a more active role" in the school management and took up the matter with their superior general... ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################