Catholic Church.)

One Newsgroup contributor:

c/ A Church who uses rules about sin as set down by a medieval weirdo (St. Augustine)

Another's response:

Augustine of Hippo was no wierdo. He was a sensualist who was fond of wine and women. He had at least one mistress. He took a mistress when he was 17 or 18 and fathered an illegitimate son before he was 20.

Once he became a Christian, he cut back on the multiple women but continued his fondness for wine. He kept his mistress on the side for many years. Once his mistress went back to Africa, " Augustine, not ready for two years of sexual abstinence, lapsed back into promiscuity"

According to his Confessions ( great book ! a must read ! ) he "he seldom lost an opportunity to pursue one sin after another".

He would have been a great bloke to party with !

And the story of how he became a priest is entertaining too:

" It was not his intention to become a priest. He was visiting the town of Hippo (or Hippo Regius, now Annaba, 36:55 N 7:47 E), was in church hearing a sermon, and the bishop, without warning, said, "This congregation is in need of more priests, and I believe that the ordination of Augustine would be to the glory of God." Willing hands dragged Augustine forward, and the bishop together with his council of priests laid hands on Augustine and ordained him to the priesthood. A few years later, when the Bishop of Hippo died, Augustine was chosen to succeed him. "