An old priest was getting fed up with the number of people in his parish who were confessing to adultery. One Sunday in the pulpit, he announced “If I hear one more person confess to adultery, I’m quitting!”
Since he was so popular, the parishioners came up with a code word to avoid incurring his wrath. Anyone who had committed adultery would say they had ‘fallen’.
The arrangement appeared to satisfy the old priest right up until his death. His young replacement soon settled into parish life and visited the town Mayor to express his concern about safety in the town. “You have to do something about the pavements” the new priest told the Mayor. “When people come into the confessional, they keep talking about having fallen.”
The Mayor began to laugh, realising that nobody had told the new priest about the code word. Before the Mayor could explain, the priest shook an accusing finger at him and said “I don’t know what you’re laughing about. Your wife has fallen three times already this week!”
