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Priests say they weren't consulted on new bishop (Bernardin protege causing a stir!)
St. Louis Post Dispatch ^ | 4/30/05 | Tim Townsend

Posted on 04/30/2005 8:21:18 PM PDT by BizzeeMom

On Valentine's Day, a dozen or so Belleville priests gathered to discuss what kind of bishop would best be suited to lead their diocese.

Belleville's former bishop, the Rev. Wilton Gregory, had been installed as the new archbishop of Atlanta just a month before.

The members of the Presbyterial Council had been asked by Cardinal Francis George of Chicago to assess three things: the qualities they would like in their next bishop, the current state of the Belleville diocese and the future needs of the diocese.

(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...


TOPICS: Catholic
KEYWORDS: belleville; bernardin; braxton; burke; catholic; diocese; george; illinois; lavendermafia; rome; stlouis; vatican
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To: BizzeeMom; american colleen; Lady In Blue; Salvation; narses; SMEDLEYBUTLER; redhead; ...
Catholic Ping
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21 posted on 04/30/2005 9:52:40 PM PDT by NYer ("Love without truth is blind; Truth without love is empty." - Pope Benedict XVI)
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To: sinkspur

Rigali likes him? That is surprising.


22 posted on 04/30/2005 9:54:41 PM PDT by BizzeeMom (Member TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary)
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To: BizzeeMom

If they can't find a priest to move in, they can always go down to the bus station and get a 15 year old hustler to bunk with them, like Bishop Ryan of Springfield, Illinois.

see rcf.org


23 posted on 04/30/2005 10:01:17 PM PDT by Palladin (Proud to be a FReeper!)
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To: BizzeeMom
Rigali likes him? That is surprising.

Rigali promoted him to Lake Charles, then pulled him into a more "mainstream" diocese.

Can you think of an occasion in the last 50 years in which a bishop of a Southern diocese was promoted to a "red hat see"? (Madeiros of Brownsville in 1969 doesn't count; he was originally from Massachusetts.)

24 posted on 04/30/2005 10:01:35 PM PDT by sinkspur (If you want unconditional love with skin, and hair and a warm nose, get a shelter dog.)
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To: 26lemoncharlie

Cardinal Rigali does have a large amount of influence over who is slected Bishop, since he was head of the conregation of Bishops when he was in the Vatican, but so far most of the men that seem to have been influenced by Cardinal Rigalis advice have been sound, such as his repalcement, Abp. Burke.

That said, B-16 may have a more hands on approach on who is appointed to the bigger sees. Belville is a small diocese, and its only improtance was that then Bp. Gregory was the president of the USCCB. It will be intresting to see if the holy father accepts the resignations of Cdl. McCarrick and Cdl. Madia this year.


25 posted on 04/30/2005 10:16:37 PM PDT by RFT1
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To: sinkspur

My assumption had always been that (then)Archbishop Rigali sent Bishop Braxton to Lake Charles to get rid of him. It had never entered my mind that they liked each other but it would certainly make the Belleville appointment seem more logical.




26 posted on 04/30/2005 10:18:46 PM PDT by BizzeeMom (Member TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary)
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To: Palladin

I have seen rcf.org! Very interesting.


27 posted on 04/30/2005 10:20:11 PM PDT by BizzeeMom (Member TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary)
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To: show me state

ping


28 posted on 04/30/2005 10:24:56 PM PDT by BizzeeMom (Member TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary)
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To: sinkspur
Priests and laity have never been consulted.
Technically that’s not true. I’ve firsthand knowledge of priests, deacons, and laity being consulted on the next Bishop in a couple different dioceses. Once they were properly consulted they were properly ignored, of course.

The only complaint that these priests really have is that they were ignored before they were consulted instead of after they were consulted. Otherwise this is business as usual.

patent

29 posted on 04/30/2005 11:26:48 PM PDT by patent (A baby is God's opinion that life should go on. Carl Sandburg)
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To: incredulous joe
If the bishop required some company there are a fair number of retired priests who no longer can serve in a pastoral capacity whom I suppose could accomodate this need. Seems like an odd request to me though.
I doubt that a retired priest would fit the Bishop’s needs. My take is that he is looking for a servent who will fetch him a glass of tea and run his various errands. He needs a young guy, not a retired priest who can barely make it up and down the stairs. He could always hire for this, but really, who could be better than a priest who has already sworn obedience, and can’t readily quit?

I suspect this is why there are big objections to the idea. It wouldn’t be a big deal for a priest to live there, but still minister to his parishes nearby. It would be a big deal if that priest was so busy doing stupid chores to hear confessions or say Mass, and due to the lack of priests they had to cut the Sacraments somewhere as a result. It would also stink for the priest who was assigned to this.

patent

30 posted on 04/30/2005 11:33:15 PM PDT by patent (A baby is God's opinion that life should go on. Carl Sandburg)
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To: patent

Years ago, the then-Father Braxton spoke at a clergy conference in a New England diocese. He began by noting his displeasure at the fact that the Bishop and the Auxiliary of the Diocese were not present - when he had agreed to give the clergy day only on the condition that ALL the clergy (and that included the two bishops) would be present. (The two bishops were attending the funeral of the mother of one of their priests). During the luncheon between his presentations, he insisted upon eating alone, all by himself, in a separate room from the priests. To someone in French cuffs with manhole-cover sized cufflinks and one of those fancy button front vests from Rome, I'm sure the "working-class" clergy of this largely urban diocese must have seemed like the lower peasantry. At least that's the impression he clearly gave. Nor did he bother hanging around when, before leaving, the clergy dutifully lined up to buy a book he had written - that none of them would ever read. I remember thinking, "Well, at least when he DOES become a Bishop, it will be somewhere in the Midwest." Insufferably arrogant. Figures he'd be impressive to higher-ups whose character judgments are based on the initials after your name, the obtuseness of your writing, and where your clerical clothing comes from! The people and "lower" clergy are not fooled, of course.


31 posted on 05/01/2005 12:30:09 AM PDT by TaxachusettsMan
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To: sinkspur

The Diocese of Fort Wayne/South Bend has brought in several priests from Sri Lanka. Without these men, several parishes would have closed.


32 posted on 05/01/2005 1:39:49 AM PDT by Military family member (Bless the Legacy of John Paul II)
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To: patent

It sounds as if he may be looking for a rector.


33 posted on 05/01/2005 1:43:10 AM PDT by Military family member (Bless the Legacy of John Paul II)
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To: BizzeeMom

I saw that this morning in the paper and cringed. He was the one auxiliary we've had in the last 20 years who never should have been a bishop. There were things I saw that curled my hair.


34 posted on 05/01/2005 4:50:29 AM PDT by Desdemona
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To: BizzeeMom
I've had the impression Belleville is fairly conservative; don't understand who would go over Cardinal George's head to put Braxton in there.

In some ways they are conservative, in other ways, not. The decision may have been to put him there to have George keep an eye on him.

35 posted on 05/01/2005 4:52:28 AM PDT by Desdemona (Music Librarian and provider of cucumber sandwiches, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary. Hats required.)
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To: sinkspur

Rigali never liked Braxton. Nobody here liked Braxton and we were really happy when he was shipped off. He probably was elevated because he was one of the few who had the degree at the time.

Seriously, Belleville isn't St. Louis and both sides of the river will tell you that. Braxton likes the trappings of bishop too much and that is going to get him into big trouble in Belleville.


36 posted on 05/01/2005 4:57:46 AM PDT by Desdemona (Music Librarian and provider of cucumber sandwiches, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary. Hats required.)
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To: sinkspur
America is a culture shock to these men

Is it America, is is it doing un-natural things to shrimp that's a shock, Sinky?

37 posted on 05/01/2005 5:15:47 AM PDT by ninenot (Minister of Membership, TomasTorquemadaGentlemen'sClub)
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Comment #38 Removed by Moderator

To: BizzeeMom
One of the odd parts of this story is that there is a lay group that protested this bishop's residence...but the group is not a conservative group; it's a VOTF-like group. They want married priests, for one thing.

Something is very strange about this whole story. I guess maybe "progressives," conservatives and traditionalists all dislike Bp. Braxton.

He was on the board of directors (maybe still is, I'm not sure) of the American College of Louvain, prominently featured in Goodbye, Good Men (and not for good things).

39 posted on 05/01/2005 6:15:07 AM PDT by B Knotts (Viva il Papa!)
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To: BizzeeMom

Rigali and Bernardin are (were) both of the same stripe..politics first, seamless garment, yada, yada...


40 posted on 05/01/2005 6:47:41 AM PDT by steve8714
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