Dear Prudence,
My priest is leaving the priesthood because he’s fallen in love with me. I don’t know what to do. I’m not a religious person, but after my father died, I became close with the priest who provided his last rites and ministered to us during the funeral. Over the past year, we grew close, and I started to think of him as a good friend. Last week, he gave me a letter and asked me to read it when I got home. In it, he confessed his feelings for me, that he no longer felt like a father in the ecclesiastical sense, and that he wanted to be with me in Holy Matrimony. I am shaken, confused, and feeling guilty. He’s already begun the process of being laicized, but I don’t share his feelings.
—Thorn Birds
https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/08/priest-proposal-dear-prudence-advice.html