Abp. O'Brien removes priest for grave liturgical and disciplinary abuses

American Papist ^ | November 9, 2007 | Thomas Peters

[Frank Sheed]

Friday, November 09, 2007

Abp. O'Brien removes priest for grave liturgical and disciplinary abuses

An exclusive to the Baltimore Sun (underlining mine):

Baltimore's new Roman Catholic archbishop removed a priest who was pastor of three South Baltimore parishes for offenses that include officiating at a funeral Mass with an Episcopal priest, which violates canon law.

Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien personally ordered the Rev. Ray Martin, who has led the Catholic Community of South Baltimore for five years, to resign from the three churches and sign a statement yesterday apologizing for "bringing scandal to the church."

Martin led the funeral Mass on Oct. 15 for Locust Point activist Ann Shirley Doda at Our Lady of Good Counsel with several clergy, including the Rev. Annette Chappell, the pastor of the Episcopal Church of the Redemption in Locust Point, Martin said.

{snip}

Sean Caine, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, said this was one example of repeated administrative and liturgical offenses Martin had committed in more than a year."

Father Martin's received advice and counsel on numerous occasions from the archdiocese, and he has repeatedly violated church teaching," Caine said. His major offense was not complying with hiring and screening policies, but he also allowed dogs in the sanctuary and did not show up for a baptism, Caine said.

The penalized Rev. Martin gives us his take on Canon Law and "extremism":

"I think that canon laws exist to protect the church from extremism. I don't find that this is such an extreme situation," Martin said.

Martin, who has not been defrocked, said he has been barred from celebrating Mass publicly. He will go on an extended retreat and counseling at a monastery in Latrobe, Pa., he said.

Liz F. Kay and Kelly Brewington, the Sun reports who wrote the piece, focus all of their "human interest" attention on those who opposed Abp. O'Brien's decision. This opposition ranges from the tearful and outraged to the laughably-ignorant ("What, are we in the Dark Ages again? This is absolutely ridiculous.") Of course, not a single person who supports the Archbishop's decision or wrote letters to complain about Rev. Martin's abuses is given a chance to speak in the article.

Lessons learned?

• When a bishop takes action against a priest in accord with Canon Law (say, in cases of sexual abuse), he's routinely criticized for not acting with more forcefulness
• When a bishop takes action against a priest in accord with Canon Law (say, in cases of liturgical abuse), he's guilty of extremely overextending the ministry of his office.

We are sure to hear in the upcoming days and weeks a great deal of complaining from certain sectors that Archbishop O'Brien has acted vindictively and oppressively. But I would submit that what these people actually dislike is not that Archbishop O'Brien has invoked Canon Law, but that he has invoked it primarily to discipline a wayward priest in liturgical and disciplinary matters (Martin, it strikes me, has been treated more than fairly).

O'Brien has been installed as the head of the Baltimore archdiocese for all of six weeks, CWNews informs us.

Ph/t to the reader who notified me.

Labels: bishop backbone, catholic controversy, liturgical abuse, renegade priests

posted by Thomas Peters at 12:26 PM  

[Frank Sheed]

Orthodoxy or...

[Frank Sheed]

Orthodoxy Ping!

[AnAmericanMother]

. . . he also allowed dogs in the sanctuary . . .

. . . well, o.k., it's the outdoor St. Francis/St. Anthony Chapel!

[mtbopfuyn]

I had to read the headline about three times before deciding it meant something other than some priest being removed from his grave.

I suspect St. Francis would approve of letting dogs in. I take it they won’t be celebrating the Blessing of the Animals in the future?

[ArrogantBustard]

I met Abp. O'Brien back when he was bishop for the military services ... that led me to hope that he would be a good bishop for Baltimore.

He's certainly starting off with a bang.

Bravo, Abp. O'Brien!!!

Thank you, Lord, for blessing us with good priests and bishops. Please send us more.

[ArrogantBustard]

Blessing animals, in the tradition of St. Francis, is not done in the Sanctuary during Mass. That’s the problem, here ...

[mtbopfuyn]

That’s the problem, here ...

I don't see a problem. God made the animals before man. Next, they'll be kicking the animals away from the manger.

[ArrogantBustard]

The Mass is the re-presentation of Christs' Sacrifice on Calvary ... the most important event in the entire history of the universe. It's all about God gratuitously reestablishing communion between God and Man, which Man threw away.

It's not a circus act.

[Romulus]

I had to read the headline about three times before deciding it meant something other than some priest being removed from his grave.

You sound confused.

[Frank Sheed]

Lessons learned?

• When a bishop takes action against a priest in accord with Canon Law (say, in cases of sexual abuse), he's routinely criticized for not acting with more forcefulness
• When a bishop takes action against a priest in accord with Canon Law (say, in cases of liturgical abuse), he's guilty of extremely overextending the ministry of his office.

Lay you 20:1 this comes home to roost! He will be labeled as reactionary by liberal media. I will pray for this Archbishop. We need more like him.

[NYer]

sign a statement yesterday apologizing for "bringing scandal to the church."

God bless Archbishop O'Brien!

[Berlin_Freeper]

Nice staff. I like this ping list already! :)

[PAR35]

The Baltimore Sun story that they copied is posted here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1923360/posts

[dsc]

“He will be labeled as reactionary by liberal media.”

Which we should celebrate by giving him a cake and three cheers.

Go, Bishop O’Brien!

[the invisib1e hand]

Abp. O'Brien removes priest for grave liturgical and disciplinary abuses

This guy rocks.

[SAMS]

Archbishop O’Brien confirmed my son when we were stationed at Ft. Bragg....think about it; he’s been dealing with the military - he knows rules and SOPs he’s not going to put up with this crap! Wish he had been assigned to New York....sigh.....

[ichabod1]

That’s ok, he has a friend in Rome.

[Frank Sheed]

Which we should celebrate by giving him a cake and three cheers.

And...

[iowamark]

Show us where there is a law against a dog in the sanctuary.

[Salvation]

Thanks for posting this so that we Catholics can comment on it.