Posted on 09/01/2003 4:43:29 AM PDT by NYer
Madison Bishop Robert Morlino calls the current push by a group of Milwaukee priests to make celibacy optional an example of American pragmatism that has no place in the Catholic faith.
"It is part of the American fix-it mentality that the removal of the obligation of celibacy will make the priesthood more marketable and perhaps from certain points of view it might," Morlino writes in a column to be published Thursday in the Diocese of Madison's weekly newspaper. "But it also is a step back from total reliance on Jesus Christ in this matter, Jesus Christ alone gives the grace of celibacy."
Morlino was installed as Madison's new bishop Aug. 1. The issue of mandatory celibacy for priests was openly challenged two weeks ago for the first time in a quarter century by a group of 163 priests in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The priests submitted a letter to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urging that married men be eligible for the diocesan priesthood as a way to ease the shortage of priests. Representatives of priest associations in Chicago, southern Illinois, Boston, New York and Pittsburgh said last week they plan to take action to support the Milwaukee priests.
The Madison diocese has 99 priests to serve 135 parishes in 11 counties, down from 127 priests in 1997, said spokesman Bill Brophy. The diocese projects the number of priests will dip to 34 by 2025, Brophy said. The current challenge to the rule of celibacy, considered a church law rather than divine law, has been taken up by independent associations of priests organized in many major dioceses. The Madison Diocese has no such group, Brophy said. The Rev. Gary Wankerl, pastor of St. Olaf Parish in DeForest, said the rule of celibacy is supported by priests in the Madison diocese. He said the diocese's new deacon program will allow the church to continue to serve parishioners with fewer priests.
Deacons, who may be married, can perform baptism, funeral and weddings services where no Mass is included. "Hopefully this is something that will assist us in bringing the sacraments to people so there is no shortage," Wankerl said.
Then they should take it and go! Go to the American Catholic Church where priests may marry. Why must they continue to insist, along with the feminists, that the church adjust its doctrine to suit their peevish whims!
Yes,they do. A few years ago when the diocesan "dog and pony show" was on the trail presenting the priestless parish lament,our bishop turned down two priests from the FSSP and sent two wonderful order priests back to their Order.There has been a contrived priest shortage for some time now. Let's hope these new Bishops can get through the bureaucratic nightmare at the top of the USCCB and save the Church in the U.S..
Just an aside,but this was the very same bishop,who was responsible for "Always Our Children" and who recently resigned due to his involvement in a fatal "hit and run".
The very same bishop who protected a priest,who was in a pornographic movie and let one of the scenes be filmed on the altar. Two of the protected priest's churches were burned and had to be completely redone.He also lived with his male friend,who either bit the ear or was bitten on the ear by another priest who caught the boyfriend rifling his dresser drawer. When we marched in protest about the assignment of this priest to a certain parish,we were admonished by the bishop via newspaper,for spreading vicious gossip and mean spiritedness about this fine priest.
Two weeks ago we learned that this shining example of a Phoenix priest had been sent to Jemez Springs for treatment in 1989 for sexually abusing a teen-age boy.
I could go on and on,but I'll just conclude with the fact that I am sure that there are some very evil men at the top of the USCCB,and I am not talking about Gregory,I think they thought he would go along with them. I just keep praying that one of them will experience a sudden conversion and confess and implicate the others by name.
They may drive the 20 miles, but they'd likely not be at all happy that their local church is shuttered because the Church won't do anything to address the priest shortage.
That displeasure has a variety of ways of expressing itself.
I'll guarantee one thing they will ask: Why should we pay to support a Church that will not provide a priest to us every Sunday?
So you'd tell Catholics who withold contributions because they used to have a resident priest, but now they don't, to go to a Protestant Church?
I'd tell, and I would encourage, Catholics to put their donations in escrow if they are forced to settle for communion services on Sundays.
Lay Catholics will not long tolerate a pat on the head on an issue like the availability of priests.
Because the arguments of the other side don't deserve to be taken seriously. There's no proof that American bishops are trying to destroy the priesthood. Just conjecture, based on prejudice.
Do you know what the changes reminded me of: the switchover into the New Math in the public schools during the 1960s. It was nothing more than the old theory of aggregates and modern geometry applied to create a logical consistency into the math curriculum. That it did. But it went over the heads of many high school teachers and you can imagine how it was received by elementary teachers. Well, it was a complete failure and the worst thing is that after it was done away with, the math curriculum that replaced it was much worse than the pre-new math one. The reformers had exorcised the old rote math but now worse devils entered in in its place.
Why are some (most?) bishops afraid of the FSSP? There was an FSSP priest ordained here in Boston last year and he celebrated his first Mass in our only Indult parish... then he shipped off elsewhere - maybe to Bruskewicz's diocese if I recall correctly. I thought it was a crying shame that he wasn't given his own parish, especially since here in Ma, we are pretty densely packed with parishes. I bet there are probably 20 parishes within a 20 mile radius of my house.
Anyhow, to your point on the USCCB. I seems that Truth has been sacrificed to a false unity, doesn't it?
Then why the reticence to welcome FSSP priests instead of assigning womyn to lead a parish? Seems like this is becoming fairly common in a lot of places.
A bishop is not going to put a priest who refuses to celebrate the Novus Ordo in a Novus Ordo parish.
Let's assume that they do. Take my area... why couldn't one parish among the @20 within a 20 mile radius of my house be given over to the FSSP?
Is is really better for a "priestless" parish to be led by a pastoral associate (all women usually) or is it better to use a real live male priest, even if he is FSSP?
With regards the FSSP priest,certainly there was a rectory in the vicinity that had a spare room,then he could have offered the Tridentine Mass at two parishis of the twenty each Sunday.maybe even rotating through the entire number of churches in the area. He could have also been used by one or several of the parishes to help with sick call and to teach some good,adult catechism classes. Yes,if any one is watching we have a lot of bishops who want the Church to implode,about 25 I think.
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