Free Republic

Most of you have seen the picture of a priest baptizing a naked baby by dipping its butt into a baptismal "pool". It constituted a thread here on FR and we all wondered where this had taken place. The full story appeared today in The Wanderer. Here it is, hand transcribed. * * * * * ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Diocese of Rochester’s Sacred Heart Cathedral, which Bishop Matthew Clark insists is the model for Catholic worship for the entire diocese, was the setting for a bizarre baptismal ritual of questionable validity on Pentecost Sunday, as Rainbow Sashers received Communion....

<p>So before Saturday&#8217;s auction at Becker&#8217;s Moving and Storage Warehouse, the four longtime Sacred Heart Cathedral parishioners kept guard over several 12-foot pews that didn&#8217;t have scratches or missing legs.</p> <p>“ I just thought it would be nice to have a pew,” shrugged Rosemary Hahn of Perinton as she wandered down a row. She pointed to a prayer book holder on the back of a pew. “ My husband, years ago, worked hard to border and put those in.”</p>

Now Formalized . . .Lay Preaching To Spread In Rochester DioceseBy PAUL LIKOUDIS   ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The abusive practice of laymen — usually nuns or ex-nuns — preaching during Mass, a nearly quarter-century-long practice in several Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Rochester, N.Y., received the imprimatur of Bishop Matthew Clark on April 24, when he issued new norms for lay preaching to take effect immediately.   "I would want for us to enjoy as fully as we possibly can . . . the beauty of lay preaching in this diocese," he said at a May 4 meeting that brought together about 150 priests,...