he young Croat-born cleric known as the stigmata priest is due at a Bensonhurst church next week, and the pastor says he's getting nervous.Posted on 03/05/2002 4:15:56 AM PST by damnlimey
Stigmata Priest Has
Church Buzzing
By JOYCE SHELBY
Daily News Staff Writer
he young Croat-born cleric known as the stigmata priest is due at a Bensonhurst church next week, and the pastor says he's getting nervous.
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| Rev. Zlatko Sudac |
"We're getting a lot of calls," said Msgr. David Cassato, pastor of St. Athanasius Catholic Church. "Everyone wants to meet him and have him pray over them because of his giftedness. I hear he brings in very big crowds."
The Rev. Zlatko Sudac, 31, has attracted large audiences since he arrived on a Mass tour of the metropolitan area more than five months ago.
Last month, thousands went to Our Lady of Pompeii Church in Greenwich Village, where Sudac celebrated two Masses instead of the one that had been scheduled.
Incredible Claims Made
Sudac claims to have supernatural gifts, including stigmata, or marks, on his body that resemble those on the body of Jesus Christ when he was crucified.
The priest claims that the marks bleed spontaneously and that he can heal, levitate, be in two places at once and know the future.
Sudac does not give interviews, but the Rev. Giordano Belanich, a priest in the Newark Archdiocese, said Sudac received the stigmata on his forehead in 1999, a year after his ordination, and other gifts followed soon after.
Cassato said: "I heard about him just recently. A friend who knows of his work called and asked if I would be interested in having him come to our church. I said, 'Of course.' I thought it would be a nice Lenten reflection to have a spiritual uplift for all of us."
Last month, a Long Island church canceled an appearance by Sudac, citing limited sanctuary space.
Cassato said he had not met Sudac but did not question accounts of the stigmata. "It's a gift," he said. "It's a very unusual, extraordinary gift that has been given at times in our church history — to St. Francis of Assisi, to Padre Pio."
The Catholic Church has permitted Sudac to continue his tour until May, when he returns to his homeland, but has remained silent on his sensational claims.
Frank DeRosa, spokesman for the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, said: "From what I understand, Father Sudac is a priest in good standing. He's been speaking at various parishes in the metropolitan area, and there's been a rather substantial following.
"There's no indication he's been anything but a good priest. As far as the stigmata is concerned, there has been no position taken on that," DeRosa said.
Cassato said Sudac would celebrate a Mass and conduct a healing service March 13.
Original Publication Date: 3/5/02
"The Cross on my forehead is painful especially when I pray. On certain days such as first Fridays of the month it begins to bleed. Before the phenomenon of stigmatization, I had gifts of languages (speaking in tongues), the gift of healing, the gift of counsel and slowly the gift of knowledge came also. After the stigmatization I receive many other gifts. Some of these gifts overwhelmed me very much. And so I need some time to get accustomed to what was happening. By this, I refer especially to the gift of levitation, bilocation, illumination and the knowledge of upcoming events- the knowledge about the near future and especially about future dangers"."
As the spokesman for the Diocese says, they have taken no position on it. I remain very skeptical, especially in light of his somewhat outrageous claims.
This happens to me a lot. I change razors when it does,
I'm trying to find out whether he is involved with the schismatic Franciscans who run the Medjugorje scam, but he seems to be very secretive about his past.
All true Catholics should remember that real stigmatists, like St. Francis and Padre Pio, shunned public display and spiritual boasting about the gift. Padre Pio pleaded with friends to keep his gift secret - he never went on a world tour.
There is no such thing as a habit of foreknowledge. This guy is a scam artist - a Benny Hinn with his hand out.
Where is this St. Athanasius Catholic Church? An anointing service on March 13 will probably be well attended as well.
So far I have been able to find in the Brooklyn diocese (on this page):
St. Athanasius Parish
2154 61st St
Brooklyn, NY 11204
Rev Msgr Fernando A Ferra, Pastor
Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
275 N Eighth St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Rev Msgr David L Cassato, Pastor
I don't know how up-to-date the data is in the database on this site.
Second, at the bottom of the source page, there are links to two related articles - Priest's Miraculous Claims Draw Crowds and 'Stigmata Priest' cancelled by Church Fearing Crowds. In the first article linked above, the author quotes Father Perricone of the New York Archdiocese:
"We know of no reason why [he] should not be invited," said archdiocesan spokesman Joseph Zwilling without elaborating.The Rev. John Perricone, a philosophy professor at St. Francis College, disagreed.
"The first rule of Catholicism is to assume things of this kind to be fraudulent," Perricone said. "We always assume they're fraudulent until the church makes a definitive judgment."
Besides the fact that I know, respect, and trust Father Perricone my gut tells me the same thing. There's something very fishy about this guy.
Praise God! God grant that more come to know the wonderful freedom of the child of God who believes Jesus!
Dan
2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 2:1-4; 12:25
What Is Biblical Christianity?
Important point. In fact, he hid the wounds as long as he could.
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