Restructured Committee

USCCB homepage story ^ | 9-05-02 | USCCB

[Salvation]

For your information and avid discussion. In two years. Hmmmm. I am thinking that this audit and policy review needs to take place sooner.

Any other feedback about the old members and new members of the committee?

[sinkspur]

I went to seminary with Bob Vasa.

He was a bit of an apple-polisher, and none of the seminarians trusted him because he was one of Msgr. Hughes' "boys."

He was a nice enough guy, but very hard to get to know.

I would have bet that he would be a bishop someday, though that's not necessarily a good thing.

[Salvation]

I went to seminary with Bob Vasa.

Amazing story there!

[Desdemona]

Re: Gaydos

"pastor of St. Gerard Majella parish, Kirkwood, 1990-1996."

I wonder if he was the one who built the new church building? I've only been in it once, 7 years ago or so, but it's one of those semi-circle ampitheatre style things. It's a trendy parish.

I think he was one who was high on the liturgy stuff, too.

[NYer]

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard - Region 2

Hubbard is currently being investigated by the RCF organization. According to Stephen Brady, the president of RCF:

I attend a diocesan parish and have never attended a parish affiliated with the Society of St. Pius X, so I cannot be rightly accused of pushing some “hidden agenda”. A Mass I once attended in an Albany diocesan church in Oneonta, NY, was celebrated by Bishop Howard Hubbard. According to parish members, the bishop used a homemade bread for the Eucharist that contained honey and other ingredients that would have made the Blessed Sacrament invalid. This is but one small example of what I have heard and witnessed in the last seven years of RCF’s existence. The Holy Father knows of these and many more abuses that have occurred with the apparent or outright approval of bishops in “good standing” with Rome. If the Pope does not take some action, and if he allows the continual deterioration of the Church in dissident dioceses, it may yet come to pass that the only Catholic Mass or faithful teachings to be found in these areas will be at a Pius X chapel.

More on this later.

[ninenot]

Harry Flynn of St Paul is a bit spotty on his record; Hubbard is downright awful; doesn't look like an improvement over the other committee...

[Salvation]

Hubbard is downright awful;

I think NYer agrees with you.

[pegleg]

I got to know Bishop Baker when he was my mother-in-laws parish priest at Christ the King Church in Jacksonville. I found him to be bright, articulate and very orthodox. He is one of the good ones. God bless him!

[Antoninus]

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard

If Hubbard's on the committee, you can bet it will accomplish nothing.

[patent]

>>>Harry Flynn of St Paul is a bit spotty

Spotty? So far as I can tell his main strong point is that he isn't as liberal as his predecessor. We have seen some rather flagrant acts that are troubling, but very little has occured publicly that is orthodox. Perhaps there are things going on behind the scenes that I don't see. He is definitely a great improvement, but I have some difficulty getting excited about him.

patent

[patent]

So what do you think of Bishop Gregory these days? Another article on him for you:

U.S. BISHOPS OPPOSE PREVENTIVE STRIKE AGAINST IRAQ

Letter Urges Bush to Pursue Options in Regard to Saddam WASHINGTON, D.C., SEPT. 18, 2002 (Zenit.org).- The head of the U.S. bishops' conference wrote to U.S. President George W. Bush urging that alternatives be found to a preventive military attack on Iraq.

In his letter, Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the episcopal conference, said a preventative attack would not be in keeping with the required moral exigencies.

The letter, dated Sept. 13, was written at the request of the bishops' Administrative Committee, which met a week earlier.

In his letter, Bishop Gregory analyzes in the light of moral principles the possibility of a U.S. military operation to oust Saddam Hussein. The analysis is based on criteria in No. 2309 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

According to these principles, the "just war," or rather the right of legitimate defense, requires that there be a "just cause, right authority, probability of success, proportionality, and non-combatant immunity."

In speaking of the "just cause," Bishop Gregory asks: "Is there clear and adequate evidence of a direct connection between Iraq and the attacks of September 11th or clear and adequate evidence of an imminent attack of a grave nature?" "Should not a distinction be made between efforts to change unacceptable behavior of a government and efforts to end that government's existence?" the bishop asks.

In regard to the "right authority," he believes that an operation of these characteristics could only be undertaken if it has "congressional and United Nations approval."

"With the Holy See, we would be deeply skeptical about unilateral uses of military force, particularly given the troubling precedents involved," Bishop Gregory explains.

Quoting the Catechism, the episcopate stresses that the use of force must have "serious prospects of success" and "must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated."

"War against Iraq could have unpredictable consequences not only for Iraq but for peace and stability elsewhere in the Middle East," Bishop Gregory emphasizes. "Would preventive or pre-emptive force succeed in thwarting serious threats or, instead, provoke the very kind of attacks that it is intended to prevent?"

"How would another war in Iraq impact on the civilian population, in the short- and long-term? How many more innocent people would suffer and die, or be left without homes, without basic necessities, without work?" he adds.

"Would war against Iraq detract from our responsibility to help build a just and stable order in Afghanistan and undermine the broader coalition against terrorism?" the prelate continues.

After acknowledging that armed conflicts continue to be a serious danger today for civilian populations, the bishop encourages President Bush to continue in his efforts to build broad international support for a new, more constructive and effective approach to press the Iraqi government to live up to its international obligations.

"We respectfully urge you to step back from the brink of war and help lead the world to act together to fashion an effective global response to Iraq's threats that conforms with traditional moral limits on the use of military force," Bishop Gregory concludes.

patent

[Domestic Church]

"...the restructuring of the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse (AHCSA) and its new membership."

Why do I think this might be facilitating the delphi technique ?

[sinkspur]

Neither the US Catholic bishops nor the Vatican can be listened to when it comes to deciding when and how and whether the United States of America will defend itself, or take pre-emptive action against a country which poses a high probability of using a Weapon of Mass Destruction.

Gregory is irrelevant and, sad to say, so is John Paul II when it comes to this subject. The Church needs to adapt the "Just War Theory" to the times we live in.

[patent]

Well, that wasn't my question, which was "So what do you think of Bishop Gregory these days?" I'm just curious, I guess you don't have to answer by any stretch.

[sinkspur]

I'm just curious, I guess you don't have to answer by any stretch.

There was a story in the Dallas Morning News this past weekend in which the NEWS, by poking around in Belleville, found out that a priest had been reinstated by Gregory after evidence emerged that he had exposed himself to two minors. He said he did so "after the approval of the Diocesan Review Board." After the DMN started asking questions, Gregory suspended the priest.

I'm becoming less and less impressed with Gregory. I'm not impressed with any of the bishops, to tell you the truth. In the war on terrorism, they're worthless!

[patent]

>>>>I'm becoming less and less impressed with Gregory.

Hah! You've been converted to the dark side. Welcome aboard. Do you happen to have a link to the article? It will help reinforce my previous views of this man.

patent

[sinkspur]

Here's the link: http://www.dallasnews.com/religion.

I didn't post it because it's long, and I figured people are burnt out reading these individual cases.

These bishops are protecting as many of these priests as they can. Even the "orthodox," like Eldon Curtiss in Omaha, can't be trusted to out the abusers.

[sinkspur]

Sorry about the link. I mistakenly thought URLs were automatically detected. At least, that's what's advertised.

My ISP switched to Yahoo, and I can't copy and paste links, so sorry for the inconvenience.

[saradippity]

On matters international I agree with Bishop Gregory and the Pope. I have watched our government closely since my husband died in Viet Nam. Except for Reagan,who advocated for an inpenetrable strategic defense syatem and talked about strength as a deterence to war,I believe all of the presidents have done a piss poor job of "running the world".

I think they could only be outdone by the U.N.,the European Union,China and'or the Islamic Nations.

I read the article about the errant priest and Gregory and wondered.I have also watched Gregory back down from his originally middle of the road,not too strong to begin with statement about "a homosexual dominance in the priesthood" to relative silence on the subject.

Then he appointed a committee of lay persons who could have been picked from a random sample of politically correct folks directly or tangentially related to government.

Now this list of bishops;I've only seen one that someone has said was good.I do remember that the person who was the vocations director in Dallas was named Hughes and he was very orthodox. He was replaced with the person who arranged over some protest to admit Rudy Kos to the seminary.So,it seems to me that that bishop sounds like he might be pretty good and that would make two.Oh well,lots of prayers.Hope some other people weigh in on the bishops.

[Domestic Church]

Wow...then Bishop Gregory is over due for a major paper roasting. This is so sad.