Romanian bishop advises priests to diet for Lent

A Romanian bishop has advised his priests to lose weight this Lent, local media have reported. Bishop Calinic, who is in charge of the Arges region, said that if a priest is overweight it gives a bad example to parishioners. "Oversized bellies only prove to people that priests have a good life and are not concentrating on their holy mission," he said. However, Bishop Calinic said he would not recommend they take up sport, as it was not appropriate for men of the cloth. "Marathon prayer sessions will work much better," he said. His priests have all agreed to follow the advice, although some were quoted in the papers as saying they had always been "big boned" and thought that dieting would not make any difference. A Father Popescu said he did not think God judged people for being fat or thin. But he said he would do his best to follow his bishop's advice. Source: CL Comms