Posted on 09/01/2009 7:47:40 AM PDT by tcg
This heroic man stood up against the “gates of hell”, doing what all Bishops are supposed to do, guarding the flock of God against the wolves.
The Bishop was correct to challenge the poor judgment of Misericordia University, a Catholic College in his Diocese which sponsored, through its scandalous “Diversity Institute”, an advocate/activist of the movement among some practicing homosexuals to obtain a legal equivalency between homosexual paramours and those who are married. ...
...His heroic defense of the dignity of every human life during the last Presidential campaign was inspired and refreshing! Some, even in the Catholic press, have referred to him as a “fierce anti-abortion” Bishop. Well, it seems to this writer that what is really fierce is the killing of our first neighbors in the womb by surgical strikes and chemical weapons - for any reason - protected by the raw police power of the State. Thank you Bishop Martino for not backing down, we need more Bishops to follow your heroic example!
He was correct to challenge, as a good spiritual father should, the poor judgment of a son of his own Diocese, Senator Robert Casey, in the last Presidential campaign. The Senator did not act in a manner consistent with his Catholic faith and the obligations it places upon his public service. Many believe it actually bore good fruit as the son of the last great truly, pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-poor and pro-peace Democratic politician, Governor Bob Casey, now seems to once again be pursuing the defense of unborn human life.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholic.org ...
“The words of the Bible and of the Church fathers rang in my ears, those sharp condemnations of shepherds who are like mute dogs; in order to avoid conflicts, that let the poison spread. Peace is not the first civic duty, and a bishop whose only concern is not to have any problems and to gloss over as many conflicts as possible is an image I find repulsive.”
—Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, 1997
Agreed. Evidently his resignation is a done deal, but he certainly deserves our prayers and thanks. And we should hope for another strong and loyal bishop to follow him.
This is an endless and thankless job, straightening out a parish full of dissidents who have come in under previous neglectful or dissident bishops. It’s not just the publicized moments, but the everyday task of dealing with dissident priests who must be kept on because there is no one else to run the parishes and bring the sacraments to the people, and dissident catechists, and poorly catechized congregations.
All the while the funds are running short and there isn’t enough cash to keep the parochial schools open or pay the fuel bills. Straightening things out will be a long and painful process.
Some believe that Martino was forced out by the Church simply because the pro-abortion politicians have so much power of them.
I’m not sure I believe that, but I do believe that the Catholic Church must be more forceful against those who do not believe or adhere to its principles. The Church should prepare itself to be smaller, yet more focused as a result.
Over time, the flock will return.
IMO, his statement reveals the very sad primary reason for his request to 'retire' (my emphasis):
“For some time now, there has not been a clear consensus among the clergy and people of the Diocese of Scranton regarding my pastoral initiatives or my way of governance. This development has caused me great sorrow, resulting in bouts of insomnia and at times a crippling physical fatigue.”
God bless this faithful Bishop and I do agree with you that the flock will return.
Mutiny?
I think "some" are wrong. The Catholic Church has been the most consistent, vocal, 'institutional', pro-life voice in this country. Sure, there are some outspoken pro-abortion politicians who consider themselves Catholic, but the Church itself is, and consistently HAS been, pro-life.
Bp Martino had to make some hard decisions on closing schools and parishes, and people didn’t like this. He also invested his personal prestige in bringing a group called the “Community of St John” from Argentina, where they ran traditional mass communities (of clergy and lay people), and then there was a gay scandal involving some of the priests or brothers in this group. It turned out that the group (former SSPXers who were kicked out) is well known for this in Argentina, but he obviously didn’t know it and was too trusting.
I think the thing that really did him in was the opposition of the USCCB. He was one of the first bishops to oppose the Church’s automatic canonization of any Democrat and their giving breaks to pro-abortion politicians, and I think that was what finally brought him down.
There was an interview with one of the head honchos at the USCCB just a couple of days ago in which he said he was disgusted by the “minority of bishops” who had opposed Obama and he wanted Obama to know, in the post Kennedy funeral times, that it wasn’t that way anymore. The “minority” was about 1/3 of the American bishops, which seems pretty signficant to me. But obviously something has happened at the USCCB in the last few months that has made the old guard liberal wing (Mahony et al.) much more powerful, and I think this is why Martino couldn’t take it anymore.
Agreed. May God grant you, Bishop, some rest and restore your strength and courage. Bishop, you will be greatly missed until you return to The Arena.
Priest[Father Brian Harrison, O.S.]: Imagine the Funeral if Kennedy was an Anti-Semite Rather Than Pro-Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09083109.html
Those of us who are pro-life, likely didn't bother watching; I know I didn't.
I'm sorry to hear that the Cardinal presided. I thought he wasn't going to even be there.
That said, Martino added that he "clearly" wasn't "prostrate with illness" and, freed from the burdens of office, was "feel[ing] fine" at the hourlong session.
To handle the bulk of the diocese's affairs, the freshly-named apostolic administrator, Cardinal Justin Rigali, tapped Msgr Joseph Bambera, a well-regarded local pastor, as his delegate. A former chair of the diocese's Presbyteral Council and member of the Board of Trustees of the Jesuit-run University of Scranton, Bambera notably comes to the post from outside the current diocesan curia.
While the temporary caretaker of the Scranton church reappointed the bulk of Martino's eight vicars to continue in their current capacities on an interim basis, one of two figures to not make the cut was Msgr Kevin McMahon -- the highly-regarded moral theologian Martino recently recruited as his episcopal vicar for "Catholic Doctrine, Identity and Mission."
Before the Scranton post was created for him last month, the priest of Wilmington served in St Louis as resident counsel on bioethics and health care issues to another prominent "lightning rod" prelate: Archbishop Raymond Burke, who was transferred to Rome last year as the global church's "chief justice."
Grist for the mill.
I saw Bishop Martino and listened to his comments on a televised portion of one of the USCCB meetings and had underlined my own opinion which was that he was going to be a great Bishop and help bring the Church in America back to orthodoxy.
I believe the comment I remarked on concerned his observation that the Bishops needed to recatechize the dissident catholics and teach them what the "common good" really meant.
We don't have too long before that slickster bishop Kikanis takes the helm,I pray that he either has an epiphany,converts and turns Catholic or resigns.
I didn’t think the transfer of Msgr McMahon was a particularly encouraging sign.
If you mean the transfer *out*, that’s the impression I have.
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