Posted on 04/25/2002 4:43:48 PM PDT by history_matters
On February 26, 2001 RCF sent the following to Cardinal George of Chicago.
On March 1, 2001 the Cardinal answered RCF’s letter.Your Eminence,
I recently received a letter from a Mr. Matt Abbott regarding his Feb. 24, 2001 conversation with you at St. Rita High School during Parish Leadership Day. According to Mr. Abbott:
‘..he [Cardinal George] doesn’t like the fact that you make accusations with no evidence to back them up. He used the [Bishop] Ryan case as an example: He claims that there as no evidence of wrongdoing, other than Ryan’s “imprudent” association with certain individuals’Surely Mr. Abbott misunderstood your comments, to assume otherwise would suggest you are a liar who has some reason to protect a pervert bishop.The lawsuit filed against Bishop Ryan one week after his resignation mentions Ryan’s homosexual activity with clergy and male prostitutes. Are you suggesting the attorneys who filed the lawsuit had no affidavits to back up their statements? Are you calling them liars as well? How about the statement from the ex-wife of Ryan’s former lover? What about the statements from 3 priests and 2 former male prostitutes?
It seems everybody is lying except you and bishop Ryan – and General Absolution doesn’t happen in Chicago and there has never been a child sexually abused by a Catholic priest.
Maybe RCF’s work in Springfield is not complete. In an effort to defend RCF’s reputation and my good name, we might need to present to the public all the evidence including the size and shape of Bishop Ryan’s penis along with statements and copies of cancelled checks. One wonders what bishop Ryan must know that would cause other bishops to lie for him. Maybe we should take a closer look at others who protect the wolf. RCF has credibility and speaks the truth Cardinal – you do not.
Sincerely,
Stephen Brady, President
Roman Catholic Faithful, Inc.
Dear Mr. Brady:On March 6, 2001 Roman Catholic Faithful responded to the Cardinal’s letterThis is in response to your faxed letter of February 26. I’ll attempt to clarify the report which Matt Abbott gave you of our short conversation in the corridor of St. Rita High School. I had not realized that, in speaking with him, I was speaking with you; but it is good to take the occasion to raise with you the distinction between an accusation and an accusation accompanied by proof.
Let me use a fictitious example. Suppose that, last week, a woman who has been in prison for drug dealing off and on over the years came to me and told me you had committed adultery with her four times last year. She gave me the times and places, describing your physical characteristics in some detail. She also showed me copies of checks you had written to her. Is any of this evidence that you are an adulterer? Since I have no knowledge of your physical characteristics and the checks didn’t say “payment in service for sexual favors”, am I free to assume she has verified her story? Am I morally justified in concluding that her story is true? Am I then free to write and tell anyone willing to listen that Stephen Brady is an adulterer?
The answer, of course, is no. You have a right to your good public reputation which, like anyone’s, can be easily destroyed. In talking to Matt, I did not say that you or anyone else is lying. I said there has been no conclusive evidence given to prove the accusations you’ve made against Bishop Ryan, who also has a right to his good reputation without conclusive proof against him. I had assumed that the lawsuit filed against the diocese might clarify some of the accusations, but I have not heard anything about the case since it was filed. Filling a suit isn’t proof of anything, except of the intent of the one who files. Filling an affidavit isn’t proof of anything until it is contested and adjudicated. I have not seen any the “evidence” you have accumulated. Interviews by Mr. Lago with some of the parties concerned left the accusations unresolved. Bishop Ryan befriended some individuals whom, he explains, he was trying to help. At this point, I am in no position to say anything more: nor have you given me any proof which would justify saying anything more.
You know that your remark about a child never having been sexually abused by a Catholic priest is merely sarcasm, the kind of sarcasm often used by enemies of the Catholic faith who hate bishops and priests.
What does it say when you and Call to Action adopt the same tone? In the Archdiocese of Chicago, at least, every accusation by someone who claims to be a victim of sexual abuse by a priest is carefully investigated. Not every accusation is true, but some are. If there is something I need to know about sexual abuse of a child by one of the priests of the Archdiocese, I ask you to have the victim contact me. You know, as well, that priests have been permanently removed from ministry and their victims helped, to the extent possible, to overcome the effects of such terrible sin committed against them. Also, you may or may not know that the practice of giving general absolution, an abuse which began years ago in the Archdiocese of Chicago, has begun to be addressed.
Finally, I am sorry that you believe you have to make personal innuendoes and threats to get attention, even for causes you believe in sincerely. This is Lent, a time when Christ, through the Church, calls us all to conversion. You are in my prayers; please keep me in yours.
Yours in Christ,
Francis Cardinal George, OMI
Archbishop of Chicago
Francis Cardinal George
Archdiocese of Chicago
Office of the Archbishop
Post Office Box 1979
Chicago, Illinois 60690Your Eminence,
Let me begin my response to your March 1 letter by first commenting upon your remark that the practice of your diocesan priests giving general absolution has begun to be addressed. In this remark, your cowardice and insincerity are laid bare. You have been bishop of Chicago since May 7, 1997, a total of more than three years. At any time you could have ordered this practice stopped by simply commanding your priests to obey, under penalty of discipline. The expression “has begun to be addressed,” is more appropriate for problems like termite control or poor grades in children’s math scores. Such subtle problems are often not subject to readily recognizable remedies. You like to give examples. Let me give you an example. Suppose these priests practicing general absolution were instead handing out pamphlets stating black people do not have souls and cannot go to heaven. Do you have any doubt that you would instantly order this practice ceased? Do you think you would wait four years before “beginning to ad- dress” the problem? Of course not. General absolution places the eternal souls of your flock in eternal jeopardy. Your failure to come to their rescue is a disgrace and a betrayal of your office.
With regard to Bishop Ryan, you know fully well that Fr. Hardon flew to Rome with statements from priests and personally vouched for the accuracy of the charges. This is in addition to the sworn statements that I referred to previously. To respond to your analogy, if in addition to the sworn statements from these drug addicts, Fr. Hardon flew to Rome with two women who claimed to have committed adultery with me, and he vouched for their accuracy, I would consider this a sufficient basis in which to conclude that the adultery had occurred. When combining this information with the affidavits filed with a civil lawsuit, for which attorneys can be disbarred for unfounded allegations, any possible doubt would be removed from my mind. It therefore appears that the only way you would acknowledge that a priest or bishop was engaged in sexual misconduct is if we sent you photos of the priest performing these acts. However, when we attempted to provide you with photos of clergy misconduct last year in connection with the St. Sebastian Website, you faxed me a letter in which you said that you would not look at these homosexual photos because they could be a near occasion of sin for you. You have thus built a wall around yourself which guarantees plausible deniability on your part for any sexual misconduct on the part of your clergy. Although this is shameful and cowardly, we must at least congratulate you on the genius of this scheme.
Yes, Cardinal George, we will continue to pray for you. It is clear we have not been praying hard enough.
In Jesus’ Name, The Way, The Truth, and the Life,
Stephen Brady
Tell me about it. Guess where I am.
If I could, I would move to the Diocese of Rockford, which is only a few miles away. God bless Archbishop Doran!
...the bishops needs to know that Catholics will not simply defer to their judgements, since these have been so flawed.You summed up well how many of us feel. But we must not allow ourselves to become embittered and forget to fast, pray, sacrifice and work as hard as we can for Christ the Lord.
I was kind of on the fence about Cardinal George (I don't have enough info about him to decide what I think) but if NOW hates him, that might be all I need to know! He must be doing something right.
Why doesn't he stop the wreckovations then?
Then why did he invite the gays to a special Mass? He knew the group he invited were the radical type and would be in mortal sin. Everyone was scandalized!
Cardinal George does have a problem -- he has a family member -- a niece or a nephew -- who is gay. This affects his decision-making ability when it comes to homosexuality-related problems.
On Fox News, the day the cardinals were travelling to Rome, they caught him at the airport. (For some reason Archbishop Justin Rigali was with him.) In answer to a question I don't remember, he said (actual quote),
Does that sound like a man who's going to do anything about the root cause of the scandal?
General Absolution, and why it is bad?Absolution here refers to one element of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession). In the Catholic Church Reconcillation must be by individual confession of sins and absolution (the part where the priest pronounces that your sins are forgiven). That is, you have to go speak in person to the priest, one on one.
General absolution is where you don’t do that. You sit in a large group of people and the priest simply waives his hands and pretends that you are all forgiven. It is not a valid form of the Sacrament, and thus is an abuse.
patent +AMDG
patent
Taking the case of 911, the fire department chaplain definitely issued a General Absolution to his men. What of the people who died in mortal sin, choosing to jump instead of being incinerated? Would that be considered a mortal sin? And would a General Absolution cover that?
Taking the case of 911, the fire department chaplain definitely issued a General Absolution to his men. What of the people who died in mortal sin, choosing to jump instead of being incinerated? Would that be considered a mortal sin? And would a General Absolution cover that?Well, general absolution wasn’t issued to them, and they didn’t seek it so far as I know.
The jumpers committed suicide, which is perhaps a sin, but I don’t see how on earth that could be a mortal sin. Fortunately I am not the judge of these things. To my limited understanding the severity of any sin depends a great deal on the circumstances in situations like that. With thousands of gallons of jet fuel and the unimaginable horror of that situation it is hard to place blame on the jumpers. They were going to die anyway, they just chose the different and clearly less painful method.
May they rest in peace.
patent
P.S. Please put me on your bump list.
the other people who died that day, in terrible fear and pain and without a chance to make their peace with God, are they hell-bound?I can’t answer that and would hesitate to trust anyone who thought he could. We don’t know the shape of their souls, only God can judge that. All we can really say is that if they were in a state of mortal sin when they died (IMHO jumping would not be enough to put you in mortal sin) and they did not repent, then yes they are headed down.
We need Grace to be able to go to God after our earthly death. Grace is spiritual life, a free gift from God. If our soul does not have Grace it is dead, incapable of life. Mortal sin causes this death. As for what you have to do to repent in a situation like that, I don’t know. I imagine some of those people were praying for salvation as they died, and God truly knows their hearts, I don’t. I pray that He does have mercy on their souls.
Death is truly a hard thing. It can come at any time, so as the Bible warns we need to be prepared at all times, even when we go to work in a skyscraper. We could die on the way there, we could die while there. Undoubtedly of the 3000 people who died some went to God, some went to hell. I can’t say which are which.
I’m not giving you a good concrete answer here, I know that this is vague and apologize for that. If I were capable of giving a better answer I would give it.
P.S. Please put me on your bump list.Certainly. patent +AMDG
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.