Fr. Michael Kolodziej
Posted on 03/06/2020 11:02:38 AM PST by ebb tide
SAVANNAH, Ga. (ChurchMilitant.com) - Pope Francis has announced that Gregory J. Hartmayer, bishop of Savannah, Ga., will be the new archbishop of Atlanta.
Hartmayer succeeds Washington Abp. Wilton Gregory, who was elevated to his current role when the former archbishop, Donald Wuerl, stepped down in disgrace over his role in the Theodore McCarrick scandal.
There have been two distinct periods in Hartmayer's career — one as an educator and one as a pastor.
A member of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (a branch of the Franciscans) since 1970, Hartmayer completed an undergraduate degree in 1974 and began teaching. Between 1974 and 1994, he was either earning one of his three masters degrees, teaching or acting as principal of a school.
The entirety of Gregory J. Hartmayer's service as bishop of Savannah was under the leadership of Wilton Gregory. Tweet
Hartmayer did two stints at Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore, Maryland, a boys school run by his order, the Conventual Franciscans. His first teaching position was there in 1974–75. He returned in 1979 and served as teacher and then principal until 1988. According to records supplied by the archdiocese of Baltimore, two Conventual Franciscan teachers were credibly accused of molesting boys at the high school.
Fr. Michael Kolodziej
The teachers — Fr. Michael Kolodziej (1975–1979) and Fr. Alfred Ewanowski (1968–1976) — overlap one another as well as Hartmayer's time at the school. So while Hartmayer was teaching at Archbishop Curley High School, two of his fellow faculty members and fellow Franciscans were credibly accused molesters of high school boys.
The other major part of Hartmayer's teaching career was in upstate New York. Hartmayer grew up in the diocese of Buffalo in the 50s and 60s. He was a 1969 graduate of Cardinal O'Hara High School in Tonawanda, New York, a Conventual Franciscans school in suburban Buffalo, where he later served as principal.
From 1989–94, Hartmayer also was principal at another school in the diocese of Buffalo, St. Francis High School in Athol Springs, New York, where Fr. Kolodziej did a stint.
New York attorney Michael Pfau, who has represented many abuse victims in western New York says, "The religious orders have flown under the radar especially in New York state where they operated so many schools. They were caring for children, teaching children and as a consequence had access to children."
The second half of Hartmayer's career has been as a priest and bishop in Georgia. The entirety of his service as bishop of Savannah was under the leadership of Gregory.
Michael Hichborn's reporting also has revealed Hartmayer's close involvement with the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests (AUSCP), a group of priests dedicated to various radical changes to Catholic teaching. According to Hichborn, the AUSCP promotes:
- homosexuality
- pro-sodomy and other heretical organizations
- priestless parishes
- female deacons
- gaining funding from unsuspecting, pew-sitting Catholics
As recently as 2018, Hartmayer served as retreat leader at the organization's annual convention. Both Hartmayer and Gregory are active members of AUSCP.
Hartmayer, 68, will be required to submit his resignation to the pope in seven years.
- homosexuality
- pro-sodomy and other heretical organizations
- priestless parishes
- female deacons
- gaining funding from unsuspecting, pew-sitting Catholics
As recently as 2018, Hartmayer served as retreat leader at the organization's annual convention. Both Hartmayer and Gregory are active members of AUSCP.
Ping
It’s the Chicago Bears!
>>It’s the Chicago Bears!<<
GMTA! LOL!!
Da Bears!
Just to fill out the picture a bit in a way Church Militant can’t...
I can’t speak for his performance as a bishop, but I knew Fr. Gregory Hartmayer when I was a student at Archbishop Curley High School, in Baltimore. My brothers are also graduates of Curley High School, and knew Fr. Gregory while he was serving there.
My brothers and father and I are all conservative practicing Catholics, and we all have a great respect for Fr. Gregory Hartmayer (now Bishop Hartmayer). One of my brothers spent most of his junior year in high school in the hospital with a heart condition. We all owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Fr. Gregory for his ministry and concern for my brother during that time. He visited several times per week and made sure he was able to keep up with his school work. He heard his confession and brought Holy Communion to him. There are other stories like this of how he took care of other students, too, who had health issues.
Many years later I received a phone call from a high school/college buddy with whom I had kept in loose touch over the years. He had led a very rough life and had abused drugs and alcohol for years. He told me he was dying. I asked him if he had a priest he could confess to. He told me that Fr. Greg (Bishop Hartmayer) kept in touch with him over the years, even while he was a bishop, and had been to visit him and heard his confession. He was “ready to go.”
My brothers and father and I have always wished Bishop Hartmayer was a stronger bishop. But we all agree he is a great priest.
As far as his membership in AUSCP, and whether or not he believes in women priests, I can’t comment.
Thank you for sharing this. I have learned to take Church Militant’s reporting with a grain of salt. While the organization allegedly promotes orthodoxy, they have a propensity to fan the flames of hysteria and conspiracy in their reporting, which delves a lot into speculation, innuendo, and guilt by association.
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