Posted on 03/17/2006 1:04:45 PM PST by NYer
ST. PAUL, Minn. — On Ash Wednesday, March 1, St. Paul-Minneapolis Archbishop Harry Flynn asked a popular St. Paul priest, Fr. Robert Altier, an assistant pastor at St. Agnes Church, to remove his homilies from a web site run by parishioners. The “silencing” has reverberated across the cyber universe, provoking nearly unanimous exasperation because Altier’s only “offense” — in the view of many — was his support for parents who object to the archdiocese’s “safe environment” programs for children.
Over the past several months, Fr. Altier, a spiritual adviser to Catholic Parents Online, which is leading the parents’ movement in opposition to “safe environment” programs in the archdiocese, has been outspoken in his criticism of such programs. He recently produced a DVD critique of the Virtus and Talking About Touching programs, along with local attorney John Trojack. Archbishop Flynn, in the view of many observers, simply could not tolerate one of his priests leading national opposition to the U.S. bishops’ “child safety” programs.
The web site that hosted Fr. Altier’s homilies, www.desertvoice.org, was founded on February 26, 2001 by a husband-wife team at St. Agnes, both of whom are Secular Discalced Carmelites, for the specific purpose of making Fr. Altier’s homilies available to a wider audience. As a result of their work, Fr. Altier not only attracted a wide audience in his own archdiocese, but across the country.
According to the operators of the web site: “On the morning of Ash Wednesday, March 1, 2006, Fr. Altier received a letter from Archbishop Harry Flynn requesting that his homilies and spiritual presentations cease to be published on the DesertVoice web site and that he refrain from participating in any radio broadcasts through Relevant Radio. “That very afternoon, Fr. Altier contacted us and asked us to ‘shut down’ the web site. As laity operating this web site, we are not bound by Archbishop Flynn’s request legally or technically. However, in the spirit of obedience, we are complying with the archbishop’s wishes because this is in accord with Fr. Altier’s own desire to be obedient. In addition, Fr. Altier does not have access to either update, change, add, or delete any part of this web site. Our family alone continues to retain complete control of the web site.”
Those who visit the DesertVoice web site will find this message: “In obedient compliance with the expressed written request of Most Reverend Harry J. Flynn, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, Fr. Altier’s homilies and spiritual presentations can no longer be published on http://www.desertvoice.org or broadcast on Relevant Radio. This action of the Archbishop is not related to any scandal or sexual misconduct on the part of Fr. Robert Altier.”
The Wanderer asked the archdiocesan spokesman, Dennis McGrath, if the “silencing” was for a limited time, or of infinite duration. McGrath answered that the archbishop “asked him to take a little break because there has been such a flap over Virtus, the safe environment program the archbishop selected for use in this archdiocese.” He added that “when a prelate feels he is being opposed by one of his own priests, he has to say ‘Whoa!’”
What has the Catholic blogosphere crying “foul,” however, is that the silencing of Fr. Altier sharply contrasts with Archbishop Flynn’s policy of tolerance toward priests who dissent from Church teaching and who, much more directly than Fr. Altier, undercut the archbishop’s policies and directives. One recent example was an editorial published in the Twin Cities Star Tribune by Fr. Michael Tegeder, pastor of the affluent St. Edward’s in Bloomington, a 6,000-plus member parish, objecting to Archbishop Flynn’s endorsement of a “marriage amendment” to the state constitution banning homosexual marriage.
Tegeder wrote that the amendment is “troubling . . . unnecessary and mean-spirited.” He observed:
“After 150 years is this addition needed in our core document? No, we already have state and federal laws so defining marriage. It seems to be using the Constitution to send a message telling gays and lesbians that they, their relationships, and their families, are suspect and second-class. In addition, the amendment would take away the possibility of rights enjoyed by other Minnesota families through civil union recognition. These include fundamental human rights that our Church professes to uphold.
“It is ironic for our Catholic bishops to be promoting this amendment as necessary for protecting marriage. A year ago, over the 2004 Christmas weekend, the bishops wanted a pastoral letter disseminated in churches throughout the state that spoke of grave threats to marriage. They mentioned the usual suspects, artificial birth control and divorce, and then added same-sex marriages.
“If they sincerely believe this, their main battle is with birth control and divorce, which are much graver threats in terms of pervasive societal acceptance. Why then do the bishops only promote a constitutional amendment against gays and lesbians and their families?” St. Edward’s and St. Mary’s Basilica, Minneapolis, and St. Stephen’s, Minneapolis, are all listed as gay “welcoming” parishes by Outfront Minnesota, a leading local pro-gay activist organization.
He Wants To Marry A Man
And then there is the ongoing defiance of Flynn and his directives at St. Joan of Arc’s Parish, which continues to promote the gay agenda, as exemplified by the Sunday, January 15 “homily” given by Michael Bayly marking Martin Luther King Day. (In October 2004, Archbishop Flynn sent two of his auxiliary bishops to St. Joan of Arc’s to inform the pastor, Fr. George Wertin, to pull information about the parish’s participation in the Twin Cities’ gay pride parade from its web site, and to stop the practice of lay preaching. Wertin subsequently resigned from the parish, but Bayly, the director of the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities, and a self-described specialist on the “spirituality of coming out,” continues to preach at the parish.)
In his homily, Bayly denounced Church teaching on homosexuality, Archbishop Flynn’s support for the state’s proposed marriage amendment, and endorsed the adoption of children by gay couples. “I hope one day to marry the man I love,” Bayly told the congregation, “and I have a dream of holding our marriage ceremony within the tidal zone of a beach, in that place ‘somewhere in between’ the land and the sea.
“Of course as you’re well aware, such a legal arrangement is currently impossible in Minnesota where neither sacramental nor civil marriages are recognized. And if our archbishop and others in the archdiocese have their way, not only would civil marriage be banned, but all legal equivalents, such as domestic partnerships and civil unions.
“I lament the recent actions taken by the archdiocese in support of the so-called Minnesota Marriage Amendment, an amendment that would enact such a sweeping ban on all types of same-gender unions. Such actions are a clear sign that the institutional Church has closed itself off from the Spirit of God present and active in the lives and relationships of gay and lesbian people. “The actions of the archdiocese derive from a place of extremism, and we know this because there’s no acknowledgment of the need for dialogue on this issue, let alone the attempt to engage in such dialogue.
“When it comes to the issue of homosexuality, our Church hierarchy seems to be operating from that extreme position of religious imperialism: We have the answers, we have always had the answers, there can be no change, your experiences in the matter don’t count, you need to be quiet, you need to obey. “It doesn’t sound like the voice and message of Jesus, does it?
“The total disregard of the findings of science is another way that we can tell that the recent actions of the archdiocese come from a place of extremism. The archdiocese justifies its active support of the ‘marriage amendment’ by stating that same-gender marriage would be harmful for children as children do best in two-parent families in which the ‘complementarity of the sexes’ is present. Yet to date, no relevant or credible evidence to support such a contention has been presented by the archdiocese. There are studies available that address this issue, yet none of their findings support the statements of the archdiocese.
“One example: In a 2002 article in Pediatrics [vol. 109, n. 2, February 2002, pp. 341-344], the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, it is reported that ‘a growing body of scientific literature demonstrates that children who grow up with one or two gay and/or lesbian parents fare as well in emotional, cognitive, social, and sexual functioning as do children whose parents are heterosexual. Children’s optimal development seems to be influenced more by the nature of the relationships and interactions within the family unit than by the particular structural form it takes.’
“Clearly, there’s a tension within our Church when it comes to talking about issues of human sexuality. And I think this is because we often have two different models of revelation in conflict whenever we engage in such talk.”
On The Other Hand
Across the Internet, from ultra-traditionalist sites, such as Traditio, where Archbishop Flynn’s punitive action is viewed as par for the course for the Novus Ordo Church, to popular mainstream sites such as Karl Keating’s Catholic Answers, there has been a lively discussion on the case. There is also overwhelming support for Fr. Altier from those who know him and those who wish they did.
Mary Ann Kreitzer, the Arlington, Va., mother and editor of the lay publication Les Femmes and founder of the Catholic Media Coalition, observed the silencing of Fr. Altier is part of a growing pattern. “We’ve moved from ‘Goodbye, Good Men’ [a reference to the book by Michael S. Rose] to ‘Shut up and get out, good priests’. . . . “Consider . . . Fr. Paul Weinberger transferred by Bishop Grahmann from the Dallas parish he resurrected from the dead — initially given sabbatical with no new assignment, then after public pressure exiling him to a small parish in Greenville (Lucky Greenville!); Fr. James Haley, suspended from the Diocese of Arlington under a precept of silence for exposing homosexual priests with large porn collections (one also helped himself to over 100,000 bucks from the collection). After five years Fr. Haley is still suspended while homosexuals in the diocese continue to flourish. Fr. Joseph Clark also suspended by Bishop Loverde for correcting a deacon after Mass over his mishandling of the Precious Blood. (I know it sounds ridiculous but after five months he continues without an assignment). . . .
“I’m the president of the Catholic Media Coalition (www.catholic mediacoalition.org) and we have started a fund to defend persecuted priests. We are presently focusing on Fr. Clark’s situation, but I’m also in touch with other orthodox persecuted priests who may need help. “I hope everyone on this list will protest this unjust action to [Archbishop] Flynn. Fr. Altier is being targeted because of his opposition to Virtus. Over the weekend Pamela Miller of the Star Tribune had an article quoting the diocesan spokesman: ‘Fr. Altier is an honored priest, and has not committed any improprieties,’ archdiocese spokesman Dennis McGrath said. He said Flynn will not discuss the issue publicly because it is a ‘personnel matter, but I surmise that Fr. Altier’s contrarian position on Virtus is the issue’. . . .
“On the other hand, the archbishop has been very friendly to the Rainbow Sash gay activists and welcomed them to Communion on a number of occasions. Those with long memories will also remember Archbishop Flynn slandering Fr. Paul Marx as ‘anti-Semitic’ in 1997 and refusing to celebrate Human Life International’s opening Mass at their convention. Anyone who knows Fr. Marx knows it was an absolutely ridiculous charge, but the bishop refused to relent.”
An anonymous Catholic blogger who calls himself the “Regular Guy” — because he is “one of the voiceless, faceless millions of ordinary people in flyover country. Never interviewed, never published, never invited to speak. Here, my voice may be heard, my thoughts known” — said the number of regular visitors to his web site tripled since posting the news on Fr. Altier. On March 6, he wrote: “This post, originally dated 3/2/06, has by itself tripled the traffic to my blog. This is a story covered only cursorily by the press, but a large number of people seem very interested in it. Perhaps some journalist or newspaper should take a real interest. According to my tracking, interest is only growing.”
He posted Fr. Altier’s biography on the Relevant Radio web site, which includes the following information:
“Fr. Robert Altier is a Roman Catholic priest in the archdiocese of Saint Paul-Minneapolis. Ordained in 1989, he currently serves as assistant pastor at the Church of Saint Agnes in Saint Paul, Minnesota. A member of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Fr. Altier has a great devotion to the Holy Eucharist and Our Blessed Mother Mary, and is loyal to the Holy Father. Fr. Altier serves as president of Help the Helpless, a charitable organization benefiting handicapped children in India. His deep commitment to providing orthodox instruction of the Catholic Faith to the faithful led him to begin the ever-popular ‘Fundamentals of Catholicism’ series which is attended by 150 people each year and is now in its 14th year.”
“Regular Guy” then posted a number of comments from readers, including this:
“Altier has built a very large following in the Twin Cities. He is a noted teacher, has his own cable TV show, is a regular guest on radio and so forth. He became popular because he would actually teach what the Catholic Church teaches — in its fullness and depth. This is almost never done in America anymore. Priests often have no idea what the Church teaches. Most refuse to teach it if they do know. So when a priest comes along that can tell you what the Church teaches, and can defend it and show you how it all make sense, it is a rare thing. People are hungering for that. . . .
“Does [Archbishop] Flynn treat all who transgress in the same manner? He took years to deal with a parish that was into all sorts of strange things. He waited until their left-wing liberal priest retired. Now things are less overt. But their web site still carries information about ‘The goddess’ and so forth. What’s on their church events agenda? A concert by the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus.”
For the record, Fr. Altier has, at press time anyway, not been totally silenced. The Catholic Parents Online web site reports that he will be the celebrant and retreat master for the association’s lenten retreat on April 1. Also see CPO ad elsewhere on this page.
How utterly perplexing.
Why is it perplexing? This priest was disobedient, and he was called on it.
Happy St. Patrick's Day by the way.
Thanks. Happy St. Patrick's Day to you.
Last I heard Archbishop is also still not allowing the Legion of Christ to operate in his archdiocese.
Very unfortunate.
Unbelievable. Why hasn't he been defrocked?
What has the Catholic blogosphere crying “foul,” however, is that the silencing of Fr. Altier sharply contrasts with Archbishop Flynn’s policy of tolerance toward priests who dissent from Church teaching and who, much more directly than Fr. Altier, undercut the archbishop’s policies and directives.
Do you know much about Archbishop Flynn?
No, I don't. I'm here in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
Here's all you need to know about Archbishop Flynn:
http://www.catholicherald.com/articles/00articles/hli.htm
An ongoing controversy surrounding the Human Life International conference underscored the many references made there about a culture hostile to the pro-life message. Just weeks after Archbishop Harry Flynn of Minneapolis-St. Paul had agreed to celebrate the conference’s opening Mass, a Sister of Zion nun in his chancery orchestrated a nationwide lobbying of the archbishop to denounce HLI as anti-Semitic.
It was widely reported that Sister Marge Boyle had based her charge on the fact that HLI founder Father Paul Marx had once described the abortion industry as a "holocaust" led by many self-proclaimed Jews.
Former Jew Bernard Nathanson and several pro-life Jewish leaders corroborated Marx’s 1987 statement and personally vouched for his character.
"I can smell anti-Semitism," Nathanson said, describing incidents from his childhood, "and Father Marx is not anti-Semitic."
HLI spokesman Anne DeLong explained to the HERALD how Archbishop Flynn, without consulting Father Marx, retracted his offer to celebrate Mass and planned instead to lead a prayer service at a synagogue with members of the American Jewish Congress — a group reportedly in favor of abortion rights.
Despite last-minute pleading by Catholic leaders such as Father Richard John Neuhaus and Father John Hardon, the archbishop went forward with his decision.
After the prayer service, Archbishop Flynn inflamed the controversy by telling reporters that Father Marx’s rhetoric was reminiscent of "Nazi Germany."
I see. Thank you.
Unbelievable. Why hasn't he been defrocked?
Apparently all of his frocks are of the secular variety. He isn't ordained.
His 'homily' is in complete disobedience to liturgical norms and the bishop's direct order. The congregation that sits for this also cooperates in the disobedience.
Anyone want to bet that they don't stand up and applaud themselves at the end of Mass?
Fr. Joseph Clark also suspended by Bishop Loverde for correcting a deacon after Mass over his mishandling of the Precious Blood. (I know it sounds ridiculous but after five months he continues without an assignment). . . .
God help us!
The floor of hell is paved with the skulls of Bishops." St. John Chrysostom pray for us. God help us.
What prevents Loverde from just letting them go to a different diocese? More from your Fr. Clark post here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1478458/posts
Erin,this post from Diego details one incident I referred to in my post to you on the other thread.
Has there been any progree in that case at all?
Thanks, NH for posting the link. I had forgotten the details. Any progress? I confess to not following it more closely but that's why we have Paul Likoudis, The Wanderer and RCF (should probably check their web site for any updates) to keep tabs on the situation. So comfortably ensconced in a Maronite parish, I tend to forget what life is like in the 'desert'. These situations make my blood boil and re-ignite the ire. I feel so helpless and very frustrated.
Anyone have an idea of the web address for "Catholic Parents Online" and "The Regular Guy"? Thanks.
BTW, Bishop Vasa of the Diocese of Baker, Oregon (note: NOT Portland Archdiocese, where A.B. Vlazny has totally capitulated to secular programs and mandated them against the wishes of thousands of parishioners) is one of the heroes opposing the USCCB promotion of these intrusive, psychologically and spiritually damaging sex lessons ("safe environment" is quite a euphemism for forcing children in religion class to look at and identify pictures that could qualify as pornography) for children. Bishop Vasa has spoken very eloquently on the subject.
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