Mother

A priest was in hospital for an exploratory operation to determine the cause of abdominal pains from which he had been suffering.

In the hospital, at the same time, a young unwed girl came and gave birth to a baby boy which, she explained to the doctor, she did not wish to keep. The quick-thinking physician approached the priest’s bed as he awoke after the operation and explained to him that a miracle had occurred:

God had given him a son. The priest, at first shocked, took the baby boy in his arms and bowed his head in prayer, thanking God for the miracle. What else to do?

Many years passed.

The priest and boy were living together as father and son. The time came for the boy to leave home to go to college.

The night before his departure, the priest approached the boy and chokingly said, “My son, I have a terrible confession to make to you.”

The puzzled boy looked up as the priest continued to speak. “I have always led you to believe that I am your father. Well, my son, it is not true. I am your mother. The bishop is your father.”