'Shoplifter Priest' Hit With Bucket of Pasta

Parishioner expresses his objections with ravioli

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 31, 2009 4:10 AM CST

(Newser) – A British priest who said the poor should consider shoplifting things like tinned ravioli had a bucket of pasta dumped over him by an irate parishioner. The man lay in wait for Father Tim Jones outside his church in York, northern England, and then sloshed half the messy spaghetti and ravioli over the priest's robes. Jones stopped to allow the parishioner to pour the remainder.

"I was offended by what he said," the parishioner told the York Press. "I got this thing in my head where I thought I would make my own little protest." Jones—who stands by his comments—says he was "frightened and humbled" by the experience, but he doesn't plan to press charges.

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Rev. Tim Jones, parish priest of St. Lawrence and St. Hilda in York, England. (AP Photo/BBC News)

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Saying we should help the poor is an utterly unremarkable view that is fundamental to Christian teaching, and I am startled at how much interest has been generated by my sermon. - Father Tim Jones

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'Shoplifter Priest' Hit With Bucket of Pasta