Posted on 01/07/2005 11:43:54 AM PST by Drake Tungsten
Action to remove priest angers parishioners By Lawn Griffiths East Valley Tribune
Bishop Thomas Olmsted’s action to remove the Rev. John Cunningham as pastor of the Gilbert parish he founded in 2002 has infuriated parishioners who say the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix has been unwilling to hear their appeals of support for the veteran priest.
The parishioners of St. Mary Magdalene say the new bishop targeted Cunningham because he is a progressive, liberal priest who embraces diversity.
Cunningham, 55, was first suspended from his duties on April 30 on accusations he violated church law by performing a wedding last spring at nearby St. Anne’s Catholic Church in Gilbert in which he allegedly permitted an Anglican priest from Georgia to have a role in the rite of Eucharist, or communion. Such "concelebration" violates Catholic canon law.
On Tuesday, Cunningham, a priest since 1974, received a four-sentence letter from the bishop saying he was being removed from his pastorate. Olmsted said his actions were based on the same reasons when he asked the priest to resign in a Nov. 30 letter. That day, the Rev. Fred Adamson, vicar general, announced that the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office would be conducting an investigation of alleged irregularities of the parish’s financial records. The priest also was accused of failing to set up a parish finance committee to oversee church spending, which the priest and parishioners have disputed.
"The bogus charges created by the diocese have succeeded in tarnishing the reputation of a 30-year priest and scholar," said parishioner Tom Schildgen. "John Cunningham’s forward-thinking and ability to embrace diversity is a threat to the bishop’s narrow perspective of the Catholic religion."
Schildgen said he tried six times last summer to call Olmsted about the issues but he "was insulated, and I was never able to talk to him."
A spokeswoman at the diocese Thursday said nothing would be said further about Cunningham until a bishop’s letter is read at the Saturday and Sunday Masses at St. Mary Magdalene explaining the action.
"He will be clarifying everything in a letter to the parishioners," said Rebecca Gonzales from the diocese.
Last May, Olmsted asked a Vatican office to review the diocesan findings regarding what took place in the April wedding, but it is not publicly known whether the bishop had received the requested information before taking action to fire Cunningham this week.
Reached by phone Thursday, Cunningham said that he was following the advice of his attorney and brother, James Cunningham, "that I shouldn’t comment until further down the line. The saga just continues."
The Anglican priest allegedly involved in the Eucharist rite, the Rev. Bob Haux, pastor of St. Andrews Parish in LaGrange, Ga., has denied that he concelebrated with Cunningham.
"I am appalled at the treatment that Father Cunningham has received," he said Thursday when told of the dismissal. "I find his manner of treatment to be highly ironic in light of the slogan at St. Anne’s Parish in Gilbert: ‘At every moment, do what love requires.’"
Meanwhile, for months, the suspended priest has been attending the 10:40 a.m. Sunday Mass at St. Mary Magdalene, which meets temporarily in the Williams Community School gym at Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa until a permanent campus is completed. There Cunningham is surrounded by about 40 supportive parishioners wearing green ribbons.
Parishioner Ray Rafford, former building committee chairman, said he expected a "tremendous reaction" when the bishop’s letter is read this weekend. Both Rafford and Schildgen said parishioners have quit the parish and tithes are being withheld in protest, but large Catholic population growth in Gilbert is replenishing numbers.
The Rev. Donald Kline was named interim pastor at the parish after Cunningham’s suspension.
Contact Lawn Griffiths by email, or phone (480) 898-6522
HOW does it happen that the poofters always become vocation directors?
You can read about Cunningham's hijinks as vocations director on page three of the following article, linked from the local liberal "alternative" rag:
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/issues/2004-04-15/news/feature_1.html
Here is the website. LaGrange is a small W Georgia town, right on the Chattahoochee River (at W. Point Lake) and the Alabama border. It's traditionally a mill town but it's probably diversified these days. It's a little far away to be a bedroom community for Columbus.
One particular thing in the "Mission Statement" kinda leaped out at me: "The clergy of this Province hold valid and regular Anglican Holy Orders; the majority in their Apostolic lineage also hold valid Roman Holy Orders as well." Now perhaps this is the old argument raised in Saepius Officio, the Archbishops York & Canterbury's response to Leo XIII's Bull Apostolicae Curae (holding Anglican orders invalid), but maybe not.
And the sad part of all this, is that the Anglican may well be more of a Catholic than the Catholic priest, except for not having valid orders.
It is quite conservative (note the provisions on the sanctity of human life and inability of church conventions to change the deposit of the faith) but at the same time Protestant, because the 1928 BCP is more Protestant than the 1976 book, especially in the XXXIX Articles of Religion, which have a strong anti-Catholic flavor. On the other hand, the Affirmation recognizes the sacrament of Penance.
Without the personal knowledge of somebody in this communion, I can't say for sure.
The very "high" tend to blink at the XXXIX Articles' anti-Catholic slant.
Love hurts sometimes .... Truly, Bishop Olmsted did a deed of love here.
Welcome to FR fellow zonie.
He immediately met resistance from another priest, Father Jack Cunningham, according to the prosecutor's transcript.
Cunningham, who worked under Ladensack, oversaw seminary admissions and drew attention to himself almost immediately. He was called on the carpet for taking a group of seminarians out to dinner and leaving a $500 tip.
Cunningham's explanation for the generosity did not sit well with Ladensack.
"He said, 'Yeah, [the waiter] gave us excellent service and he was real cute, too.' And he gave me sort of a mischievous wink."
Olmstead couldn't have flushed this shirt-lifter a day too soon.
Oh great, show some consideration here.
I'm supposed to go to a fish fry tonight!
You are fortunate to have Olmsted. When I was stationed at Luke AFB in the mid-80s, Phoenix was a liturgical wasteland.
Let's hope he is successful in ridding Phoenix of the goofballs.
There is always hope that he will go to L.A. wearing a red hat in the not too distant future.
Welcome to FR!
Many of these older hippie priests were in parishes BEFORE Vatican II!
Way to go on writing those letters. Too bad they did not get published!
There were many drunk drivers before the automobile! Yes, the vehicle is not at fault; however...
Great news. Thanks for the ping
Thanks. So, in effect, the "high" Episcopal group is now "ordaining" female deacons.
Somebody's spinning in a grave someplace...
But he denies concelebrating, which would indicate that he does not.
I do wonder why an APCK priest would be having any truck with an obviously liberal Catholic priest - especially since this particular APCK priest is a retired police detective and thus not liberal in any sense of the word.
It's a "lay vocation for women." (Emphasis supplied.) The APCK does not approve the ordination of women to any holy orders.
Bite your tongue!
There is no reason that should prevent him from wearing the red hat right here in Phoenix! Lala Land can find somebody else.
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