Tie the Millstone, by Matt Kappadakunnel

By Matt Kappadakunnel, Crisis Magazine, Sept. 16, 2021

Matt Kappadakunnel is a finance professional who lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two young children. He is from the Syro-Malabar Rite. Previously, Matt spent a few years studying to be a Catholic priest, culminating in graduate studies at Fordham University. …

After reading David Larson’s two-part series in Crisis on the horrific abuse that members of the clergy enacted on vulnerable adults, I became aware, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, of a troubling experience of sexual misconduct that occurred over ten years ago that I had completely forgotten and buried out of shame.

In my last Crisis article, I described explaining to my coworkers my decision to enter religious life. In 2009, I began my application to the Society of Jesus.

One of my hesitations in considering a vocation to the Jesuits were the stories I heard of conservative entrants who received harsh treatment in the novitiate and throughout formation, some of whom were even denied ordination as well as dismissed from the congregation. …