Posted on 04/04/2006 5:19:28 AM PDT by sitetest
To: XXX
From: "David M. Cheney"
Date: Tue, 04 Apr 2006 10:32:00 -0000
Subject: [catholic-hierarchy] Cleveland, OH, USA
Howdy,
* Cleveland, OH, USA + Resigned: Anthony Michael Pilla + Named: Richard Gerard Lennon
Peace, David
The spiritual neglect of souls I spoke about earlier is part-and-parcel of what happened in Southie. An overwhelmingly Catholic area in the past, it is still more ethnically Catholic than any other part of Boston. Yet the churches there are being gutted. Attention to the true spiritual and educational needs of the area would have kept participation up to "old-fashioned" levels, and the wholesale stampede away from Southie Catholics never would have happened.
Of course, the same is true for any other part of the archdiocese, isn't it? Our unconditional, "pray, pay and obey" support has been taken for granted here for decades by priests and bishops who, in large measure, look on their vocations not as "vocations," but as "careers" and sinecures. Fully half of our priests are gay, with more than that heterodox to varying degrees. The mission of the Church here has been seen as one of social service, run by the pervasive "justice and peace" crowd around here. They have failed to see that, even when correctly understood, justice and peace are outgrowths of, NOT the essence of, Catholicism. Our rank and file Catholics footing the bill have been mostly ignored in the process. The sexual abuse scandal was the last straw for many, who have walked away and likely will never return. What of their salvation? In the rush to raise millions of dollars to shore-up the wreckage from institutionalized malfeasance, does anyone at the chancery remember the souls THEY have driven away in the process? What an awful responsibility! I have lots to answer for in my life, I'm sure, but I thank God every day that I am not a "mainstream" priest or bishop in the Archdiocese of Boston! Unlike them (evidently), I have actually READ Matthew 18:5-14 and Luke 12:48, and am glad that my share in the threats contained therein is relatively small due to my diminished pastoral responsibility in comparison with theirs. While they've undertaken the effective demolition of this archdiocese, have they ever considered the words from those passages?
Yet, God can create a "greater good" even out of the ashes from this mess! If He could do it from the outflow of the early persecution of the Romans, He can more easily do it here, even when the persecution is from among our own and therefore entirely self-inflicted!
Let's all hang in there and keep praying!
Well, sorry about the water throwing. Just trying to be a good neighbor and let you in on what you're getting... ;-)
The new bishop (Lennon) is from the Archdiocese of Boston.
It was Cardinal Sean O'Malley who started the petitions against Gay Marriages in the Archdiocese of Boston.
Sean was made Cardinal on March 25, 2006 in Rome...
Sounds like they should close a lot of the churches and consolidate parishes that are no longer justified by churchgoing Catholics.
I'm sorry and I'm sure there are more ideal ways to go about things, but the fact is that in Massachusetts, Detroit, and other places, the Catholics have moved away or gone apostate, and the number of churches and parishes should shrink dramatically. It will hopefully turn around some day, but it is likely a long term project. I'm sure there are good people who can be wooed back to the Church with clear leadership and teaching, but there are also lots of folks sticking around who have not been really Catholic in a long time and who are likely to leave in the next 5-10 years.
I'm entirely in agreement regarding the ultimate usefullness of speculating about what "might have happened" if choices were made differently in the past.
All I'm really saying is that the church sell-offs (so far) are NOT the result of any court direction. The archdiocese sold-off sufficient seminary and chancery property to pay for the ENTIRE settlement by itself; why, then, the insatiable itch to raise hundreds of millions more? To pay for future settlements? Doubtless. But why should we lay Catholics have to pay and pay and pay and pay for a scandal WE had nothing to do with? There are 1800 church-owned properties (that can be traced) in the archdiocese, only 357 are parishes, and perhaps 200 parish centers, 100 schools and a few hospitals and the like thrown-in. That leaves more than ONE THOUSAND properties that are NOT directly related to the church's primary mission - why are THESE properties not sold *first*???? As a mere token of true atonement, the Cardinal and his minions should be taking the financial burden off the backs of lay Catholics and selling off these properties in lieu of even ONE church closure as a cash-raising move. How does killing-off parishes raise cash in the long-term, when such moves kill off remaining good will in the pews and thereby permanently diminishes contributions?
The Church is NOT about making money! I am not so naive to suppose that the Church doesn't need to raise money, but it should never be absorbed by it. It should do everything possible, when faced with legal settlements such as these, to get the money in ANY other way possible first, before so much as one pew is unbolted from a church floor in advance of the wrecking ball. If the Archdiocese of Boston merely wishes to supervise the spiritual torpor that has been in place for decades, and then wishes to exacerbate ill-will by closing churches, then it might as well close ALL of them, for it, as an institution, will prove itself utterly worthless. It will have no reason for existence, and might as well be honest about it by posting an "Out of Business" sign at the Lake Street offices and be done with it.
Let's hope he reestablishes the Catholic faith in terms of disbanding the unCatholic "Gay and Lesbian Ministry" and helps Catholics with same sex attraction live chaste lives.
NO! They should retroactively repair the damage that has gutted the Faith here for decades. They should adopt a spirit of mission in the inner cities, and see what can be done. If they try, but fail, in all this, then they can think about closing churches. But this has not been done.
And, in any case, many of the churches that are closing are in the affluent suburbs, and some of then, though hurt by the abuse scandal, are relatively healthy. ALL of them are at least financially solvent. They are being closed because, well, they are worth MILLIONS of dollars apiece.
The spiritual dimension of the massive scale of the closures was not even considered in the process. They have treated us like cattle. Then they wonder where everyone has gone! God help them!
Cardinal O'Malley is not "very traditional." He is merely not overtly heterodox. He is no spearhead for othrodoxy like Bishop Bruskewitz, I can assure you. He couldn't even bring himself to support the notion that Sen. Kerry shouldn't be allowed photo-op reception of the Eucharist at Masses here during his campaign. He wimped-out entirely on that one.
He's certainly no Cardinal Mahony clone, but neither is he a clone of St. Athanasius. Right about now, around here, we NEED another St, Athanasius!
The Church is against cloning ;)
In defense of O'Malley, he did push Kennedy and Kerry all the way to the third row, aisle seat for his installation.
Public perceptions are not to be disregarded. From here I certainly haven't liked what I perceive to be Catholicism ala Pila. And again, I think he will be looking over his shoulder because Rome is nudging him from behind. "Leave us alone." Peg Steinfels and her ilk say to Rome. Well, this pope probably will not, although his nudges will be gentle.
I think you misunderstood, tricky Dick is what is called in laymens terms "two faced"...my personal opinion of the man is not very good, I wonder if the Church would not benefit from his laicization, but I have seen things others have not so please form your own opinion.
Touche!
Well, anyway, maybe we can "borrow" St. Athanasius for a couple of years out of his eternity beholding the Beatific Vision. Then we'll ask him if he'd like to go to Cleveland for a similar gig... ;-D
Much as I hate to say it, I can't fault him too much on that. The pro-aborts have been let slide on that for over 30 years, and it wouldn't mean just taking on Kerry (and Kennedy, etc.). And what would it do? I can't picture the Paulist Center (Kerry's home "parish" or, if you prefer, "worship community in the Roman Catholic tradition") refusing Kerry Communion. Or that Jesuit place in the Back Bay. Or any parish that welcomes VOTF.
Dear magisterium,
I was unaware that the Archdiocese of Boston had that much spare real estate.
I wonder, then, whether the scandals are being used by the archdiocese as a way of pushing through parish consolidation, rather than consolidating parishes to meet a real financial crisis.
I read that attendance at Mass is only around 200,000 persons per week. That's about how many folks go to Mass in the Archdiocese of Washington every week, but in only 140 parishes, rather than in 300+.
Of course, I might be very well comparing apples to oranges. Many of our parishes are newer, and a substantial number of them have well over a thousand families.
Oh well, Jesus told us not to expect too much from our bishops. He warned us to obey their teachings but not follow their examples.
I guess it's hard to be disappointed when you have low expectations in the first place.
Even still, the last few years have been very disappointing anyway.
sitetest
Two-faced or not, he certainly knows which side his bread is buttered. The pope is a gentleman, but he knows that he is old and has only a limited time to get things in order. His advantage over John Paul is that he has been able to look at the whole church from the vantage point of Rome. It probably took Pope John Paul five years before he saw how extensive the problems were, and he was focused on Poland. If he had n't been, then he might have taken on the Society of Jesus et al.
Dear RobbyS,
"The American system mandates deference to hierarchy because we have the First Amendment..."
On this assumption, I believe, the bishops counted, and thus didn't worry too much about the particulars of American civil law. Unfortunately, increasing numbers of lawyers and judges don't seem to believe this anymore.
sitetest
Think of what is happening to GM. The birds come home to roast.
I actually chuckled when you said "bread is buttered", you'll be very suprised to see how fat he's gotten since being made a Bishop, he certainly knows how to eat.
Though it could be methane fumes.....
Let's just hope he's better for Cleveland that he was for the Priest, people and Parishes of Boston.
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