Catholic priest suspended in Germany after heading communion service at Lutheran church

AP Wire .. direct feed | July 17, 2003 | GEIR MOULSON

[ACAC]

IF this priest had endorsed abortion or homosexuality, nothing would have happened to him.

[ACAC]

I grew up in a Baptist church that had totally open communion.

[k omalley]

As far as I know, the diocese of Richmond hasn't had any dreadful sexual scandals. The abuses there had to do with the liturgy, the sacraments, and catechesis.
I am familiar with RCF and what they have to say about the Virginia diocese of Arlington. I personally know of a very sickening situation there that is mentioned on the RCF website. It had long been praised as an orthodox diocese but in light of their findings one has to wonder. All of this can really be shattering to one's faith.

[ChicagoGirl]

WWJhD? (What Would Jesus Have Done)

And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. (Matthew 10)

[nickcarraway]

Yikes

[RobbyS]

This wsn't true in the First Baptist Church in my home town and that was a large, wealthy congregation. In any case, it is entirely within the option of the local church to exclude those who have not presented a letter.

[NYer]

This paragraph really struck home, especially here in Albany.

Leave "political correctness" to the false church. It's time for a little plain speech. Its time for a little truth! There are many homosexuals in the priesthood and in the hierarchy. Many of these are not living celibate lives, and they prey on others. They do not preach the truth of Jesus Christ because they could not do so without condemning themselves. They are in positions of authority in Chancery Offices and seek to add to their numbers by controlling vocations. They organize into "support groups" many of which are not oriented toward celibacy, but exist to provide "contacts" for sexual relationships.

[Salvation]

Well he was warrned!

[ahadams2]

shoot I'm an Anglican Protestant and this even sounds stupid to me. Either someone holds to the tenets of the denomination (RC use the term religion vice denomination) of which he is a part or he shifts to a denomination to which theology coincides. An RC priest taking part in a Lutheran Communion service is about as dumb as an Anglican Priest taking part in a Lutheran Communion service (note to any ECUSA members, yes I know about the Concordat with the ELCA, that's one of the reasons why my wife and I are Anglicans, not Episcopalians).

Why is that so hard for some people to grasp?

[narses]

Pope John Paul II in April issued a reminder that services in Protestant churches cannot substitute for Sunday Mass.

There is NO QUESTION that services at a SSPX Chapel CAN satisfy your Sunday Obligation. NO QUESTION at all. Therefore, there can no longer be any question that Rome recognizes the SSPX as CATHOLIC. Irregular, not recommended, but CATHOLIC.

[narses]

"(actually asked to co-celebrate a funeral mass with the priest)"

Father recognized you as a fellow Catholic? (I ask in hope?)

[drstevej]

***Father recognized you as a fellow Catholic? (I ask in hope?)***

He knew I was a Protestant pastor. I was surprised he offered. As it turned out, I read Scripture and another fellow Protestant pastor gave a homilee. The priest read a letter from the father of the deceased girl (age 21 or so). The father was a Protestant (who attended our church) and the letter was intensely Protestant in content. My wife sang "How Great Thou Art."

There were about 1500 present. The mother of the deceased attended this RC church and insisted that the funeral be there even though she often visited out church.

Strange event.

[narses]

Sigh. There is a great need for the Office of the Inquisition. A burning need. If you do get elected, I really want to have some say in how that office is run. If I may.

[xzins]

As a protestant pastor, let me state that I practice "open communion" so I'm inclined to side with the priest's questionable actions.

However, the priest also has agreed to operate within a certain system and should abide by his promise. This doesn't meant that he shouldn't agitate for change in the relationship between Catholics and Protestants.

The best change at this point would be a clarification of the contradiction. The Pope talks of respecting the religious convictions of these separated brethren. Obviously, the most critical part of that line is the word "brethren."

The last I checked, the "brethren" brought about my Dad & Mom were part of my own family.

[Dajjal]

Well, at least this guy didn’t make an offering to the snake god of some Animists! Now, that would be unthinkable, wouldn’t it?

On August 8, 1985, John Paul II speaks of his meeting with African animists as: “The prayer meeting in the sanctuary at Lake Togo was particularly striking. There I prayed for the first time with animists” (Peter Lovest Thou Me? John Paul II: Pope of Tradition or Pope of Revolution, p. 154). It is also reported that during this meeting, while standing with the voodoo chieftain before a snake in the center of town, John Paul cast cucumber peelings on the ground in front of its entrance. Moments later, a serpent slithered forth from it. The chieftain then turned to the Pope exclaiming that the reptile’s appearance meant the snake-god had favored his offering. The pope is said to have nodded in acknowledgment.

.... In Redemptor Hominis 6 the pope states:
“What we have just said must also be applied – although in another way and with the due differences – to activity for coming closer together with the representatives of the non-Christian religions, an activity expressed through dialogue, contacts, prayer in common, investigation of the treasures of human spirituality, in which, as we know well, the members of these religions also are not lacking [emphasis Sungenis’].”

Here we notice the Pope has singled out “non-Christian religions” (which would include Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Shintoism, Confucianism, et al) and says that we should have “prayer in common” with them.

Robert Sungenis, The Remnant, June 30, 2003

[8mmMauser]

It can't hurt to take a good look at a Saint Pope, St. Piux X and his insights on modernism in 1907. i.e. Encyclical Letter Pascendi Gragis.

"Equal diligence and severity are to be used in examining and selecting candidates for Holy Orders. Far, far from the clergy be the love of novelty! God hateth the proud and the obstinate mind." [2._Practical Application.]

[drstevej]

I think the position of Inquisitorette is a good one. Think you could handle one of these?

[Land of the Irish]

Great post!

[Desdemona]

The best change at this point would be a clarification of the contradiction.

But, you see, in the Catholic Church, especially among the clergy, this is all crystal clear. The latest encyclical in this subject came out Holy Thursday this year and put to rest any ambiguity.