Father Thomas McHale is the priest at Our Blessed Lady Immaculate in Blackhill, Consett, County Durham (Picture: Stanley, Dipton and Byermoor Catholic Parishes)A Catholic priest has kept his job despite outraging parishioners with a ‘vulgar’ sermon over the Easter weekend. Father Thomas McHale, priest at Our Blessed Lady Immaculate in Blackhill, Consett, County Durham, shocked his flock by claiming during his Good Friday sermon that Jesus died with an erection. The 53-year-old American prelate told the roughly 100 gathered that execution by crucifixion would have sent all the blood rushing down to Christ’s lower body. One dismayed worshipper told The Times: ‘He told people Jesus died with an erection. Last month, a Catholic ministry in the US pulled the plug on the world’s first AI priest.