Dear Friends of Life, Posted on 08/27/2010 10:52:11 AM PDT by mlizzy
Dear Friends of Life,
Nearly ten years ago I answered the call of the Lord to come to Human Life International and work full-time in pro-life work with the permission of my bishop. I have been utterly privileged to serve this great mission for a decade, and now I am called back to my diocese to continue my priestly service in parish work, which was the original calling of my vocation. A priest is a soldier of Christ and the Church, and obedience is the primary virtue of his state in life, but for my part, my discernment about this decision tells me that this is the right thing for me to do and at the right time. I have great peace about the road that lies ahead and about all that has been accomplished up to this point.
Our international mission remains in good hands with my departure. HLI's Board of Directors has asked Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro of our Rome office to assume my responsibilities until such a time as a permanent replacement is named. Our tremendously competent staff and generous supporters are looking to the future with great hope despite the many challenges of the death peddlers on a global scale which are only increasing. There is more need of our mission now than ever! HLI's network of affiliates and associates is more than 100 countries strong, and our international leaders, so often highlighted in our publications, are literally the best in the world! Our dear founder, Fr. Paul Marx would be extremely proud of what we have accomplished in the past decade. I am sure he is smiling on us from where he is now.
I do not have a parish assignment in my diocese as of yet, but I hope to take some time out before I go back into full-time parish work. I expect that some time of rest and renewal will help me to make the transition. It has been 15 years since I last had any significant time for renewal, and after traveling more than 1.1 million miles, authoring two books, visiting 58 countries and making thousands of public appearances, I am ready for a break! I intend to continue to do pro-life work wherever I may be called to serve, and my bishop agrees that this is a vital charism of my priestly life. A true pro-lifer is not oriented to a job so much as to the daily task of fighting the culture of death and building the culture of life!
I ask for your kind prayers as I move forward and for your continued support of HLI and the new leadership that will come soon. I will not be a stranger to HLI's mission or life but I promise that I will remember each of you every day in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the font of all unity and LIFE!
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International
This is heartbreaking, a real setback for the pro-life, pro-family movement.
Another good priest who was too successful at doing God’s Work, making the malfeasance of the shepherds even more blatantly obvious?
By returning to a parish he reconnects with the simple life of the blessings and responsibilities of being a priest. Like water to a parched plant it will renew him.
Cops get burned out, soldiers, EMT’s, etc. The change may be exactly what he is looking for.
Because we always see the dark here on FR and in the current situation, doesn't mean that everything is that way. I wish him the best and I don't think this is the last we hear or see of Father Euteneuer.
You’re right, sorry for sounding a pessimistic note. Old habits, based on grim realities, die hard.
It really is heartbreaking. He’s getting his walking papers before they even sign on a new president. Surely there is more to this story.
Given the disgraceful way they treated Fr. Paul Marx, founder of HLI, and Fr. Euteneuer's incredible success in this position, one has just cause for suspicion.
Maybe the government is involved? “Shut him up [they knew they couldn’t do this], or get him out, or you lose your ‘benefits.’”
I doubt the government would have gone after HLI’s tax exempt status without HLI publicly defending itself. There are documented cases where liberal prelates have gone after orthodox Catholics (Cardinal Mahoney and Mother Angelica, for instance) but I doubt we’ll ever know if there was anything more to this than a simple personnel decision by the Diocese of Palm Beach. Fr. Euteneuer is too much the obedient gentleman/servant to do down that path, I suspect.
Fr. Euteneuer is too much the obedient gentleman/servant to do down that path, I suspect.Certainly true! Thanks for the response.
I am daring to hope and pray that he will be assigned to a Parish near me.
I might be mistaken, but I believe he was from Kansas. Or maybe Father Paul Marx came from Kansas to HLI.
He is from Palm Beach Diocese. His parents still attend a local parish in Jensen Beach.
Contact: Stephen Phelan, Human Life International, 540-622-5270, SPhelan@hli.org
FRONT ROYAL, Va., Aug. 27 /Christian Newswire/ -- The board of directors of Human Life International (HLI) has announced that after nearly 10 years of meritorious service to HLI as president, Reverend Thomas J Euteneuer has stepped down from his position after being asked by his Bishop to return to his Diocese in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The board thanks Fr. Euteneuer for his leadership, hard work and dedication in carrying on the legacy of Fr. Paul Marx. During his tenure Fr. Euteneuer traveled more than one million miles as a pro-life missionary to the world.
While Fr. Euteneuer's leadership at HLI and his influence on the pro-life movement around the world will be greatly missed, we are blessed to have gifted staff who will continue to carry out our mission while a search for a new president is undertaken.
Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro Carámbula, Executive Director of HLI's office in Rome, will assume Fr. Euteneuer's responsibilities until such time as a permanent replacement is named.
Human Life International: Creating effective opposition to the culture of death around the world.
Founded in 1981, HLI is the world's largest pro-life organization and has affiliates and associates in over 100 countries on six continents.
So what do you think, Dr. Kopp? Do you know who his bishop is and what type of Catholic he is?
He’s been fighting hard and it sounds like he needs a rest.
If he recharges his batteries now, he’ll have more energy for the long haul. I support doing what he needs to do. Priests are still human and today, more than ever, it’s a solitary life.
Sending a prayer for him and all our dear priests.
It doesn’t sound like he initiated the “rest.” It sounds like he got “canned” for lack of a better word. To my eye, he was doing an outstanding job, but maybe I’m not seeing the whole picture.
It does seem like he was doing an outstanding job. I can’t figure out what is going on here.
Sometimes the choices their supervisors make are odd. I once belonged to a parish that was the one they sent all the priests with emotional problems to in our diocese! Imagine what years of staffing by priests with issues did to the flock in that parish.
Let’s pray to the Holy Spirit for him- and us!
Bishop Gerald Michael Barbarito
| Date | Age | Event | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Jan 1950 | 60.65 | Born | Brooklyn |
| 31 Jan 1976 | 26.1 | Ordained Priest | Priest of Brooklyn, New York, USA |
| 28 Jun 1994 | 44.5 | Appointed | Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn, New York, USA |
| 28 Jun 1994 | 44.5 | Appointed | Titular Bishop of Gisipa |
| 22 Aug 1994 | 44.6 | Ordained Bishop | Titular Bishop of Gisipa |
| 26 Oct 1999 | 49.8 | Appointed | Bishop of Ogdensburg, New York, USA |
| 1 Jul 2003 | 53.5 | Appointed | Bishop of Palm Beach, Florida, USA |
| 28 Aug 2003 | 53.6 | Installed | Bishop of Palm Beach, Florida, USA |
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