Posted on 05/25/2004 11:13:01 AM PDT by tridentine
I just can't figure out how the good Bishops can overcome the evil ones,and I don't us the word evil lightly,without a lot of help from us. Here on Free Republic,there are many fine,bright and caring Catholics and even we bicker and spar pretty constantly.
I think we need to side with the few B/bishops who want more time because somehow I think that the enemy within,is really hoping for more programs for priests,parents,staff,children and viictims,more audits,more studies,more consultatiion with "professionals" in order to pick up the pace which is already dizzying. I am advocating taking a breather and really evaluating what we have.But it would help f those pesky,recalcitrant guys would step down and if someone would issue a warning to priests that they will be gone if they are "gay".
Thanks for the support,I agree,things have been worse and we will get through this,just wish it were smoother sailing.
I heard the last half of Howie Carr's local hour yesterday (if I'd realized the topic, I would have listened from the beginning). A number of people from the suburbs called, saying that their parishes were being closed, although they had good attendance and could easily pay their bills. In each case, though, the pastor was described as "outspoken." I doubt they were outspoken against abortion, gay marriage, or dissent in general. Just call it a hunch.
I'm hoping he meant to send a message about orthodoxy. (Too bad the Paulist Center isn't one of the places he could close.)
Sorry, not buying the line that he has more important matters than saving immortal souls. Did he close that parish in Newton with all the heretics? Has he said he would deny communion to Kerry, Kennedy and the rest who favor evil acts? He even allowed Kennedy communion at his installation mass, right?
First he tells his priests not to allow the washing of female feet at Easter time, then apologizes to the feminists.
No, he gets no breaks. In several years I will be hearing the same song and dance. His plate is too full to deal with...
He goes in the category with George, Egan and the others who claim to be orthodox, but act like politicians more than Shepherds.
I don't know which parish you refer to, but, as I've posted elsewhere, from several calls to Howie Carr last night, a number of the parishes closed were in wealthy suburbs, had plenty of money, and pastors who were "outspoken." At least one had an active VOTF chapter. (The Newton parishes closed were St. Bernard and Mary Immaculate of Lourdes.)
He has said publicly they should not receive. Kerry's parish belongs to an order, not to the archdiocese. Kennedy MA home is not, AFAIK, in the archdiocese of Boston.
The "line" would seem to be yours. He didn't say it, and I didn't. He undoubtedly has the cure of souls uppermost in his mind, but I'm afraid he has to use his own best judgment of how to go about it. His views apparently do not agree with yours.
In all things, charity.
Not the way I remember it.
What an extraordinarily Christian attitude!
Good point and one I have wondered about myself having fended off the sexual advances of a prominent middle aged lawyer who's kids I babysat for while I was in 8th and 9th grades. One time I even went so far as to jump out of a car and run when he stopped on the side of a deserted road. I was very naive, but aware that what he wanted me to do was wrong (and made me sick).However, these priests preyed on sexually awakening teenaged boys, often plying them with alcohol and pornography and the boys were probably carried away by the siren call of awakening hormones and sexual curiousity - thus the guilt associated with the sexual abuse of minors. Also the priests mainly picked boys from broken homes or disfunctional families (as mine was and as the lawyer knew).
It's easy to forget how vulnerable teenagers are - not sure of themselves, not sure of their place in the world and not sure what to with or how to channel the sexual energy most of them have. I think you also have to put the abuse years in context... the role priest played in Catholic society and the reaction of parent(s) at that time - very different from today in most cases.
I'm with you! A few months ago I quit the archdiocese and found a priest who actually teaches the faith, says a beautiful and holy Mass and who is unabashedly Catholic and not afraid to say the word "Catholic" during the homily. My kids are the better for it and they see the difference from out old parish home. If it were just me, I would have stayed in my parish but I could see my kids drifting away slowly, especially my son. Since this priest only has a local hospital ministry, I kind of do feel like we are out in the desert!
Do you mean you attend Mass at a local hospital? How did you find him? (I forget whether your kids have been confirmed yet; would that be a problem down the road?)
My current parish is very good.
Dang! I missed Howie Carr after 5 PM because I was in work. One thing I thought of immediately after I read your post was that our parish Masses are fairly full as well (although there are still plenty of seats unlike when I was a kid and you had to arrive 15 minutes early or risk standing in the back of the church for the entire Mass) but that's because the Mass times have been curtailed - same with the parishes around our area. Just try to find a Mass at 5 PM on Sunday afternoons. So the 20% of Boston area Catholics who do attend Mass weekly have fewer Masses to attend in the parishes... hence, the appearance of full pews. Another thing are the full to bursting CCD classes (my parish doesn't have a school) and the non-attendance at Mass of most of the families - send them to CCD and then play sports on Sundays and finally never go to Mass as soon as the kid makes his/her Confirmation.
The way I look at it, most of the suburban people can get into their cars and find a Mass much easier than the people of the poorer areas can do. I'm glad O'Malley didn't just close the poorer parishes. In one closing suburban parish in Weymouth, the parishioners are considering 'opting out' and creating an American Catholic Church because they are so mad... the priest is Fr. Ron Coyne - beloved and heterodox. Even members of my own family are devoted to him because of his love for the people.
I am waiting to see if the parishes remaining open will experience a priestly 'reconfiguration' process.
It will cause problems later on because my daughter is slated to be Confirmed in May of 2005. She attends Catholic HS and doesn't have to attend the (fake) Confirmation classes in our home parish BUT, next year I will put her in them and wing it - honest to God, she is the only kid in Confirmation class who actually does attend Mass on Sundays - plus a rosary plus Benediction - but not in our home parish. My son is in 4th grade and I have homeschooled him in catechism since he made his First Communion. I'll just deal with the problem with him when it comes along.
I saw that in the paper today! Apparently a good choice to close -- since it would seem they've already 'opted out' in spirit, they might as well do it in fact.
The way I figured it was that although my son may never have a calling, IF he did, our local parish would do more to discourage it than to encourage it. That's when I knew I had to find a holy priest who was in line with the Magisterium and who shows the sheep the joy of the priesthood.
Your points are well made. I only posted my thoughts because they reflect the views of many others who dare not speak them, lest they be accused of being insensitive.
The only experience I can draw from is my own and the people in my family and circle of friends. It is true teenagers are often confused and vulnerable. It is also possible that some of these abused teenagers have more to their stories then any of us know.
Thanks, I am glad you see the charity in speaking the truth.
St. Brigid's is great, though. The church building was built in, I think, 1932, to replace the old St. Eulalia's, which burned down. It's pretty ordinary. But the lower church is great -- they seem to have kept an old-fashioned altar from St. Eulalia's, and the Sacrament is reserved in the Tabernacle (right in the middle, where it belongs, IMHO); the altar table is in the usual place. The communion rails are still there, should there ever be a need for them again.
There's a lovely statue of Joan of Arc (really the nicest church statue I've ever seen), dedicated by the then-pastor to the men of the parish who served and died in WWI, and a nice old-fashioned statue of St. Eulalia.
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.