Boston archbishop reveals pain of closings

boston.com ^ | 11-13-04 | Ken McGuire

[Salvation]

 

Boston archbishop reveals pain of closings

By Ken Maguire, Associated Press Writer  |  November 13, 2004

BOSTON -- Archbishop Sean O'Malley made an emotional appeal Saturday to Catholics who oppose the downsizing of local parishes, saying the cuts are so painful that he sometimes asks God to "call me home and let someone else finish this job."

In a letter directed at protesters, O'Malley said the church's financial status is "much worse than people realize" and that a plan to close or consolidate 83 of the 357 parishes is for the good of the archdiocese.

Parishioners from at least seven churches that have been shut down have refused to leave the buildings in protest of the archdiocese's downsizing plan.

"Closing parishes is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in 40 years of religious life," O'Malley wrote. "At times I ask God to call me home and let someone else finish this job, but I keep waking up in the morning to face another day of reconfiguration."

But even as the three-page letter was released Saturday, groups supporting the vigils at closed parishes met in Worcester to strengthen their resolve.

They say the closings have not been adequately explained and healthy churches are being closed for no good reason.

[Salvation]

Any comments from the Massachusetts' Catholics or anyone else?

[Salvation]

[AlbionGirl]

Not concerning Massachusetts, but here in Rochester, NY the closing of 4 Catholic schools was announced on Friday. I work with a woman who has her last child in a school which all her other children went to. Based on my recent conversations with her, I don't think she saw this coming at all. It's so serious, but it's also so, so sad.

[Pandora the Great]

The priest read the ArchBishop's letter at Mass today. My Church is closing but has no date yet except sometime in June. It has been hard for us to hear our Church is closing especially my Church as we are the only TLM in the area. Groups like Voices of the Unfaithful said they would break the Church by withholding funds. Everyone that didn't give or that thinks the Church can live on a buck a week has no one but themselves to blame. You want to save the Churches open your wallet!
Kathy

[AAABEST]

Everyone that didn't give or that thinks the Church can live on a buck a week has no one but themselves to blame.

I wouldn't give one single dime to this God forsaken diocese. If it burns to the ground they have only themselves to blame. What was once a great center of Catholicism has become a corrupt nest of homosexuals and pinkos. What was once a source of comfort and faith is now a moral wasteland - now the chickens are coming home. Why anyone would be surprised is beyond me.

After all that's gone wrong, this pathetic excuse for a bishop is forcing the homo-leftist inspired "Talk about Touching" program down the throats of parents that send their children to the schools there, with the threat of expulsion or denial of the sacraments if they refuse.

I guess some never learn.

Lay Catholics should open their eyes and start realizing that they are being led by a morally bankrupt episcopal and clergy. Weak on their best days, evil on their worst. There is no springtime and their leadership in the AmChurch is an abject failure.

Traditional chapels don't have these problems. We're all in the green financially and these craven clergyman that have infested the New Order don't exist. I wonder why?

[dsc]

"...especially my Church as we are the only TLM in the area."

Can I get an "Aha!" on that one?

Just my subjective impression, of course, but it seems that whenever they start with the church closings they never miss the ones that offer the Traditional Latin Mass.

[Land of the Irish]

Aha!

[Salvation]

**It's so serious, but it's also so, so sad.**

Definitely.

[Salvation]

Must agree with you there, however, at this time, people want to put their money toward something specific. At least that what people are telling me.

[Salvation]

**Voices of the Unfaithful**

Well said!

From Our Lady's Warriors>Dissent>Organizations

Voice of the Faithful (VOTF)

From their mission statement, they are attempting to "3. Shape structural change within Church." This is intended to make a "democratic" Church which clearly violates the hierarchical structure which has always existed and is reemphasized in Vatican II Lumen Gentium. The chairman James Muller states in a National Catholic Reporter article on April 26, 2002, “We have donation without representation, and we have to change that.” Also on a CNN interview dated April 29, 2002, the chairman desires cafeteria Catholicism: "... our goal is to provide a democracy for the laity, so that the laity can decide what they want and then counterbalance the absolute power, which we have now of the hierarchy." See more details below.

[Salvation]

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=53981

O'Malley ties closings to sex-abuse scandal: Archbishop calls decision `personally repulsive'
By Franci Richardson
Sunday, November 14, 2004

In a letter issued yesterday to parishioners, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley for the first time acknowledged a link between church closings and the sex-abuse scandal, saying his mission is so painful, he sometimes asks ``God to call me home.''

     ``Closing parishes is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in 40 years of religious life,'' O'Malley said in a three-page letter released by his public relations firm. ``I never imagined I would have to be involved in anything so painful or so personally repulsive to me.''
     By the end of the reconfiguration process, 83 parishes and 67 churches will have closed.
     ``At times I ask God to call me home and let someone else finish this job,'' the letter read.
      Parishioners going to Mass at St. Peter's in South Boston voiced some empathy, but urged O'Malley off his mission. St. Peter's is one of the churches slated to close.
     ``The price of leadership is that you have to have the (courage) to do what you have to do,'' said Barbra Trybe of Dorchester. ``As a man of God, he should be doing the right thing.''
     Since the archdiocese began thinking about closing churches, officials have adamantly denied any connection to its abusive priests.
     But O'Malley hinted yesterday that the church has lost half its donations since the scandal. He also said there's an $80 million pension deficit.
     ``The only way to avoid a catastrophic debacle is for us to downsize,'' the letter read. ``This is not so much a result of the settlements for the sexual-abuse cases which have been paid in great part by the sale of the archbishop's residence and adjacent property, as well as by insurance.''
     O'Malley's public relations firm would not make him available for comment.
     The Council of Parishes called the financial news ``staggering'' and questioned accounting practices while calling for full disclosure.
     ``The archbishop is asking for more sacrifices to atone for the mismanagement,'' said Council Co-chairman Peter Borre.

[Pandora the Great]

I go to the Tridentine Mass. I think you missed that.
Yes Law was a crappy Cardinal to say the least but the blame can be spread pretty widely. O'Malley was given a total nightmare to resolve. Law left a financial crisis and he had loans from Fleet and the Knights which all have to be payed back. All I hear from the weepers is about the Church is rich. Guess what? Only in land. Till they sell they have no cash.
The American Church is in a shambles because liberal hippies hijacked Vatican II. There is no spirit of Vatican II. I hate the herds moving around the alter. It was high time we reclaimed the Church from radicals. Younger priest are more conservative. My Mass is said by 80 year olds or men 40 and younger. Not everyone here is a flaming liberal. Bush got well over a million votes here. My Church was pretty out spoken over non negotiable issues and voting.
If people want the closing to stop they must pay. Churches don't run on air or a buck a week. Enough of the crying and pay up!
Dominus vobiscum

[Stubborn]

I agree to give a dime is a crime. If the real issue were only lack of funds, there would be no closings.

[sinkspur]

If the real issue were only lack of funds, there would be no closings.

Lack of funds is the ONLY issue.

[AlbionGirl]

"Closing parishes is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in 40 years of religious life,'' O'Malley said in a three-page letter released by his public relations firm. ``I never imagined I would have to be involved in anything so painful or so personally repulsive to me.''

I know absolutely nothing about Fr. O'Malley, except that I really like his face. But imagine being a good Priest or Cardinal, and having to deal with this? He's Job, and this is one of his trials. And imagine being the Pope and being surrounded by quislings? What can he do? He rebukes a gay celebration at a MN Diocese, it doesn't make much difference.

Another poster (Thor76) who I really like, posted something that keeps coming back around. It was a Scripture verse where Jesus is telling Peter, that as he ages people will lead him where he will not go. It's really hearbreaking to watch this for me.

I belong to a Latin Mass Community here in my area, made offical a few weeks ago, and I'm with you, I'm going to contribute as much as I can. We don't have a Parish, per se. We're allowed to hold Mass at a beautiful local Church, and I want to make sure I do my part, so that we can continue.

[vox_freedom]

Lack of funds is the ONLY issue.

The real issue is the ultimate loss of faith and trust in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church. Congregants are able to vote with their pocketbooks and what has transpired in Boston and other US dioceses has shown the results of a collapse in trust. Cardinal Law and his fellow enablers are "the issue."
I am grateful that the Truth is finally coming out on these horrendous abuses. Unfortunately, the consequences involve the very real pain of victims and the lifelong parishioners of these churches now recognize what has occurred. We will/must never forget those who caused this pain and hold them accountable for their actions and inaction. Our Almighty God will ultimately hold all accountable, but those who can see the bright light of His Will now must act now to right the wrongs.

[thor76]

, but it seems that whenever they start with the church closings they never miss the ones that offer the Traditional Latin Mass."

Indeed. In NYC "Cardinal" Egan closed St. Ann's (est. 1954) which for 20 years had been used as the Armenian Rite Cathedral. The parish had just rise $500,000 by itself to restore the interior, and was self sustaining financially with some 800 or more people on Sunday.

It also had the Tridentine Latin Mass every week.

So, naturally it was the first one Egan closed.

[thor76]

ok - perhaps, at heart O' Malley is a good man who is forced t do the unthinkable. I detest what he is doing, and I think its cowardly.

But I do not know what he knows......I am not under the pressures he is under.

In charity, I would even be willing to believe that Cardinal Law did what he did as he had NO choice......the pressure of the "superforce" within the church put him in a position where he was damned no matter what he did.

Whether or not that was literally true in Law's case, it may well be the case with at least some bishops.

But ultimately those who are responsible - who force the hand holding the pen - will pay before God.

[torqemada]

Where is the righteous indignation & the resolve to cut out the cancer that has infected the Body of Christ?

Homosexuals, through their overt and covert actions, have wrought nothing but destruction in the church (small c). Those of us who've been browbeaten into "acceptance" and "tolerance" of unrepentent sinners are beginning to feel the sting of God's judgement. The child molesters that have rocked the Roman Church and necessitated the wholesale closings of parishes, are non-celibate homosexuals. Don't let anyone fool you into believing it's pedophilia and not homosexuality. If that were true, an almost equal number of boys AND GIRLS would have been victimized. In fact, if pedophilia was the real pathology here, MORE girls than boys would have been victimized because girls are more likely to trust and submit themselves to male authority figures.

The whole of the Anglican Communion is at the brink of schism because of the non-celibate homosexuals the Episcopal Church US has allowed to infiltrate and insinuate themselves into positions of power all the way to the episcopate.

Wake up and smell the coffee, folks. Time and again, the Scriptures warn us to not yoke ourselves with unbelievers or associate with the unrepentent sinner. These folks need to be cast out from our midst and those of us who allowed them to hijack the church ought to be down on our knees before the Almighty seeking his forgiveness & mercy.

[Stubborn]

Lack of funds is the ONLY issue.

No, not so. Lack of funds is the result, not the cause of the closings. Its the result of the loss of faith that came from the loss of the Eternal Sacrifice. Six simple words: "It Is The Mass That Matters"; repeat until you understand.

Without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, why should they NOT all close? Without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, God has no use for those buildings - even though you suppose God prefers the social nature of the weekly gatherings of a congregation over the Eternal Sacrifice of His Divine Son, God is showing that He is not pleased.