Posted on 05/04/2005 8:48:33 PM PDT by Akron Al
Following years of vocal protests all the way to Rome concerning the existence of the heretical group Futurechurch's national headquarters on property owned by the Diocese of Cleveland, Bishop Anthony Pilla issued a phony statement condemning Futurechurch just days before his final ad limina visit with Pope John Paul II.
Sadly, Pilla had no intent of enforcing the phony statement which was never enforced and the national headquarters of Futurechurch remains on diocese of Cleveland property
From http://www.futurechurch.org/ :
FutureChurch 15800 Montrose Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44111 USA Phone: 216.228.0869 | Fax: 216.228.4872 E-mail: info@futurechurch.org
_______________________________
From http://www.cleveland.catholicnet.com/parish/stmark/
St. Mark Church 15800 Montrose Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44111 E-mail: doughk@aol.com Rev. Doug Koesel, Pastor
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The following statement in bold appeared on the Diocese of Cleveland website in March of 2003:
Please remember that the Futurechurch headquarters has been located on Diocese of Cleveland property for years before this statement and remains on Diocese of Cleveland property after this statement.
http://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/memo/april2004/chancellor_april2004.htm
"The statement below has been used verbally by the Chancery for the past several years. Increased inquiries indicate that distribution of the statement in writing would help to clarify the situation:"
13 March 2003
STATEMENT OF THE DIOCESE OF CLEVELAND REGARDING AN ORGANIZATION KNOWN AS "FUTURE CHURCH"
"Future Church" (a.k.a. "FutureChurch" ) is not an organization affiliated with the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland nor does it have the support or approval of the Bishop of the Diocese. "Future Church" is an independent organization of individuals who promote an agenda that is not consistent with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and who are fully responsible for the arrangement of their own programs and activities.
Based on the preceding statement, it is not appropriate for the activities and meetings of "Future Church" to be held in church related institutions and/or parish facilities.
_______________________________________________________
But wait....
There are several lies contained in this statement issued for Vatican consumption as Pilla prepared to go to Rome.
Note the prelude that claims: The statement below has been used verbally by the Chancery for the past several years.
The Diocese of Cleveland is falsely trying to backdate its phony condemnation of Futurechurch.
For starters if the Diocese had been saying for "the past several years" that "it is not appropriate for the activities and meetings of "Future Church" to be held in church related institutions and/or parish facilities," then why has the national headquarters of Futurechurch been located (and remains located even today) at St. Marks Catholic Church in Cleveland!!!
Want more evidence that Pilla was lying, take note of Futurechurch's reaction to Pilla's last minute condemnation. The leaders of Futurechuirch were surprised and shocked. But wait a minute, the Diocese was claiming that they have been saying for years that Futurechurch is not Catholic, why then would Futurechurch be shocked. Perhaps because the Diocese had never before made such a statement and was merely trying to deceive the Holy Father. Note that even the left wing Plain Dealer describes the Pilla phony statement as a "New Edict:"
Catholic reformers contest new edict
04/26/04 James F. McCarty
Plain Dealer Reporter
An influential group of liberal-minded Catholic reformers is debating a response to Bishop Anthony Pilla, who recently banned the organization from meeting on Diocese of Cleveland property.
Future Church, which claims more than 800 members locally, advocates allowing priests to marry and women to be ordained as the best ways to alleviate clergy shortages.
The group had operated unrestricted in the Cleveland diocese for more than a decade. But the truce ended unexpectedly April 1 after Pilla issued an edict to all pastors.
"Future Church is not an organization affiliated with the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, nor does it have the support or approval of the bishop of the diocese," Pilla's warning read.
"Future Church is an independent organization of individuals who promote an agenda that is not consistent with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church," the statement continued, and the group's activities are "not appropriate" at church institutions or facilities.
An internal debate over how to respond has been raging ever since via e-mail exchanges among Future Church leaders. Some members are urging the group's executive director, Sister Christine Schenk, to appeal directly to the Vatican's ambassador, the Papal Nuncio, in Washington, D.C. Others recommend a more deliberate approach, hoping to preserve some semblance of the status quo.
"We're puzzled and saddened by the description of us as not being in line with Catholic teaching," Schenk said recently. "We have some of the best Catholics in the diocese as members."
If the Diocese had been saying these things for several years, why was the restatment "unexpected," "puzzling," and why does the Plain Dealer state that "The group had operated unrestricted in the Cleveland diocese for more than a decade. But the truce ended unexpectedly April 1 after Pilla issued an edict to all pastors."
It is obvious that:
1) The Diocese has not been "for several years" that Futrechurch was not Catholic and that its "activities are "not appropriate" at church institutions or facilities."
2) The Diocese had no intent of banning Futurechurch from Diocese of Cleveland property with whom (the Plain Dealer notes) it had at least a ten year truce. In fact, two years after Pilla's phony statemnt on the eve of his ad limina visit, the national headquarters for Futurechurch remains at St. Mark's Catholic Church.
3) Pilla deliberately sought to deceive Pope John Paul the Great by issuing a phony statement to make it appear as if he had been cracking down on Futurechurch for "several years."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The following report was made shortly afer this incident:
Futurechurch and Pilla - Pilla and Future Church
Fearful Pilla flips-flops on Futurechurch days before Ad Limina visit with Pope
Over two years ago, Futurechurch leaders were urging its supporters to support Bishop Pilla:
Were Bishop Pilla to be forced out, we would be leaving ourselves open to a new bishop who would most likely be much more conservative and legalistic given the Bishop appointments that have been made in this papacy. The well-known litmus test for being appointed a bishop under John Paul II is that the person must be opposed to birth control, optional celibacy and women priests. I have this information directly from several bishops who are in positions to know. Bishop Pilla is one of the few remaining "pastoral" bishops who were appointed under Archbishop Jean Jadot. If he doesn't outlast the Pope we can expect to have our next Bishop be less open to lay participation in decision making than Bishop Pilla. It will be a given...and something we need to prepare for, IMHO.
In fact, the relationship between Futurechurch and Bishop Pilla appeared to be one of mutual admiration. Teachers at the bishop's seminary are active supporters of Futurechurch. The national headquarters for Futurechurch resides on diocesan property. In March of 2004, a Futurechurch event was even advertised in the parish bulletin of St. John's Cathedral:
http://www.saveourchurch.org/cathbishotten.pdf
---
(Note the shared address below:)
From http://www.futurechurch.org/ :
FutureChurch 15800 Montrose Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44111 USA Phone: 216.228.0869 | Fax: 216.228.4872 E-mail: info@futurechurch.org
_______________________________
From http://www.cleveland.catholicnet.com/parish/stmark/
St. Mark Church 15800 Montrose Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44111 E-mail: doughk@aol.com Rev. Doug Koesel, Pastor
---
So why the sudden announcement from the diocese that Futurechurch "promote(s) an agenda that is not consistent with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church," and that the group's activities are "not appropriate" at church institutions or facilities?
Afterall, Catholic bloggers like Domenico Bettinelli, Mark Shea, and Kevin Miller have been very outspoken about Pilla's failure to act on the Futurechurch issue as have been the so-called Freepers at freerepublic.com. The organization "Save our Church" was formed in Cleveland for the sole purpose of exposing Futurechurch.
So why did Bishop Pilla finally take action?
The answer appeared on the Diocese of Cleveland website , less than two weeks after the stunning Futurechurch announcement. Pilla put out a phony condemnation of Futurechurch as he prepared to visit with the Pope in Rome! Bishop Pilla certainly knew that for several years folks had been writing Rome and influential Cardinals about the state of the Cleveland Diocese. Bishop Pilla's last second acknowledgment of the heritcal ways of Futurechurch was a "Hail Mary" pass attempt. Was Pope John Paul II fooled by this belated attempt by Bishop Pilla to paint himself as an orthodox Catholic Bishop?
Let us hope not. After all, the Rainbow Gay Pride Flag still flies on Bishop Pilla's website.
http://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/gayandlesbianfamilyministry/contact_us/index.htm
Here was the announcement by the Diocese of Cleveland just days after Pilla condemned Futurechurch:
http://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/news/bishopstovatican.htm
IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN …
Bishops from Ohio and Michigan are traveling to Rome for
“ad limina” meetings with Vatican officials and with the Pope
It’s a trip they make every five years and it’s that time again for the bishops that oversee the dioceses in what’s known as U.S. Region 6 (Michigan and Ohio) to meet with Pope John Paul II and various Vatican officials for ad limina meetings. The Most Reverend Anthony M. Pilla, Bishop of Cleveland and his brother bishops from Ohio and Michigan will visit Rome from May 1-8 to make themselves available to the offices of the Holy See to report on the state of their respective dioceses. This will be the fifth time that Bishop Pilla has participated in these meetings each time representing the Cleveland diocese.
These regularly scheduled meetings follow the submission of detailed statistical information from each diocese that the Holy See requires in what is known as the diocesan Quinquennial Report. The visits give Vatican officials the opportunity to dialogue with bishops directly regarding information appearing within the reports. It also allows the bishops the opportunity to explain to Vatican officials about the major activities going on within their dioceses.
Often during these visits, Vatican officials will raise specific issues with the visiting bishops. Recently, Australian bishops were asked to stress to the faithful the importance of keeping Sunday (the Lord’s Day) holy. Their concern is that Australian Catholics are putting sports events, recreational activities, and work ahead of weekly Mass attendance and resting on the Lord’s Day.
The visit will also be a time for the bishops to celebrate liturgy at all of the major basilicas for the people of their dioceses. Highlighting the trip, the bishops will have the opportunity to meeting directly with Pope John Paul II. In recent years these opportunities for meetings with the Holy Father have become more limited in frequency and duration because of the Pope’s declining health.
any news?
The Catholic Church is looking more and more like the UN.
His Excellency was born November 12, 1932. He's good 'til 2007. Alas!
Counting the days...
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(sorry, late coming, just saw this! LOL)
Happy Thanksgiving, Diago!!!
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Happy New Year!
I'll bump this now and then to help its google ranking :)
It turns out that Pilla's Ad Limina visit was the beginning of the end. From what I here, he was over there with Father Estock, and to everyone's suprise, Estock was told to wait in the hall. Pilla was told to retire. He bargained that he would retire after his 25th aniversary. Look for the resignation to be accepted before the end of the month. Due to "health problems." Ha Ha.
Perhaps the "health problems" mentioned were not his own but the ones he caused.
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