"Why Do You Fear? Is Your Faith So Weak?"

Sometimes fear can be a great motivator for some spectacular feats--like running on water, or meaningful change in the Church

Although I am sure the leadership of the American Catholic Conference will be shortly releasing it's synopsis of the conference, there is already in place the letter written by whose 300+ German theologians earlier in the spring.  There are now some 60,000 signatures attached to it.  The following is the full letter, and this link will take you to the English version of the homepage, where you will find another link that let's you too, become a signatory.

CHURCH 2011: THE NEED FOR A NEW
BEGINNING
Memorandum of professors of theology on the crisis of the Catholic Church
The Church in 2011: A Necessary New Departure

It is over a year since cases of sexual abuse of children and youth by priests
and religious at the Canisius School in Berlin were made public. A year has
followed that has plunged the Catholic Church in Germany into an
unprecedented crisis. The picture emerging today is very mixed. Much has
been undertaken to do justice to the victims, to respond to all the wrong that
has been done, and to search out the causes of abuse, cover-up, and double
standards within the Church’s own ranks. After their initial horror, many
responsible Christians, women and men, in ministry and outside of ministry,
have come to realize that deep-reaching reforms are necessary. The appeal for
an open dialogue on structures of power and communication, on the form of
ecclesial office, and on the participation of the faithful in taking
responsibility, on morality and sexuality have awakened expectations, but
also fears. Could it happen that what might be the last chance for a departure
from paralysis and resignation be missed by sitting out or minimizing the
crisis? For some, the disquiet of an open dialogue without taboos is not a
comfortable prospect – especially since the papal visit [to Germany] will soon
take place. Yet the alternative would even be worse: a “peace of the cemetery”
because the last hopes have been extinguished.

The deep crisis of our Church demands that we address also those
problems which, at first glance, are not immediately linked to the abuse
scandal and its cover-up that lasted for decades. As theology professors,
women and men, we can no longer keep silent. We recognize our
responsibility to contribute to a truly new beginning: 2011 must be the year of
a new departure for the Church. In the past year, more Christians than ever
before have left the Catholic Church. They have officially terminated their
public membership, or they have privatized their spiritual life in order to
protect it from the institution. The Church must understand these signs and
must itself depart from ossified structures in order to recover new vitality and
credibility.

The renewal of church structures will succeed, not with an anxious
separation from society, but only with the courage for self-criticism and the
acceptance of critical impulses – including those from the outside. This is one
of the lessons of the last year: the abuse crisis would not have been dealt with
so decisively without the critical accompaniment of the larger public. Only
through open communication can the Church win back trust. The Church
will become credible only when the image it has of itself does not completely
diverge from the image others have of it. We address all those who have not
yet given up hope for a new beginning within the Church and are committing
themselves to this. We build upon the signals of a new departure and
dialogue which some bishops have given in recent months in speeches,
homilies, and interviews.

The Church does not exist for its own sake. The church has the mission to
announce the liberating and loving God of Jesus Christ to all people. The
Church can do this only when it is itself a locus and a credible witness for the
liberative good news of the Gospel. The Church’s speaking and acting, its
rules and structures – its entire engagement with people within and outside
the Church – is under the claim of recognizing and promoting the freedom of
human beings as creatures of God. Unconditional respect for each person,
respect for freedom of conscience, commitment to the law and justice,
solidarity with the poor and oppressed: these are the theological foundational
standards which arise from the Church’s obligation to the Gospel. Through
these, love of God and neighbour are made concrete.

Finding our orientation in the biblical message of freedom implies a
differentiated relationship to modern society. In many respects, it surpasses
the Church when the recognition of each person’s freedom, maturity, and
responsibility is concerned. The Church can learn from this, as already the
Second Vatican Council emphasized. In other respects, critique of
contemporary society from the spirit of the Gospel is indispensable, as when
people are judged only by their productivity, when mutual solidarity is
crushed, or when the dignity of the human person is violated.

It remains the case in every instance, however, that the Gospel’s message of
freedom is the standard for a credible Church, for its action and its social
shape. The concrete challenges which the Church must face are by no means
new. And yet, it is hard to make out any traces of future-oriented reforms.
Open dialogue on these questions must take place in the following spheres of
action.

1. Structures of Participation: In all areas of church life, participation of
the faithful is a touchstone for the credibility of the Gospel’s message of
freedom. According to the ancient legal principle “What applies to all should
be decided by all,” more synodal structures are needed at all levels of the
Church. The faithful should be involved in the process of appointing
important office-holders (bishop, parish priest). Whatever can be decided
locally should be decided there. Decisions must be transparent.

2. Parish Community: Christian communities should be places where
people share spiritual and material goods with one another. But the life of the
parish community life is eroding at present. Under the pressure of the
shortage of priests, ever larger administrative entities (“XXL Size” Parishes)
are constructed in which neighbourliness and sense of belonging can hardly
be experienced any longer. Historical identities and social networks achieved
over time are given up. Priests are overburdened and burn out. The faithful
stay away when they are not trusted to share responsibility and to participate
in more democratic structures in the leadership of their parish communities.
Ministry within the Church must serve the life of the communities – not the
other way around. The Church also needs married priests and women in
ordained ministry.

3. Legal culture: The recognition of the dignity and freedom of every
human person becomes evident especially when conflicts are worked out
fairly and with mutual respect. Canon law deserves its name only when the
faithful can truly make use of their rights. It is urgent that the protection of
rights and the legal culture within the church be improved. A first step is the
creation of institutional structures of an administrative justice system in the
Church.

4. Freedom of Conscience: Respect for individual conscience means
placing trust in people’s ability to make decisions and carry responsibility. It
is also the task of the Church to support this capability; this task must not
revert to paternalism. It is especially important to take this seriously in the
realm of personal life decisions and individual life styles. The Church’s
esteem for marriage and for the unmarried form of life goes without saying.
But this does not require the exclusion of people who responsibly live out
love, faithfulness, and mutual care in same-sex partnerships or in a
remarriage after divorce.

5. Reconciliation: Solidarity with “sinners” presupposes that we take
seriously the sin within our own ranks. Self-righteous moral rigourism ill
befits the Church. The Church cannot preach reconciliation with God if it
does not create by its own actions the conditions for reconciliation with those
whom the Church has wronged: by violence, by withholding law, by turning
the biblical message of freedom into a rigorous morality without mercy.

6. Worship: The liturgy lives from the active participation of all the
faithful. Contemporary experiences and forms of expression must have their
place in it. The Eucharist and other celebrations of the sacraments must not
become frozen in traditionalism. Cultural diversity enriches liturgical life;
this is not compatible with a tendency toward centralized uniformity. Only
when the celebration of faith takes account of concrete life situations will the
Church’s message reach people.

The dialogue process that has already begun in the Church can lead to
liberation and a new departure only when all participants are ready to take up
the pressing questions. Through a free and fair exchange of arguments
solutions have to be sought that lead the Church out of its crippling
preoccupation with itself. The tempest of the last year must not be followed
by a period of rest! In the present situation, this could only be the “quiet of
the grave.” Anxiety has never been a good counsellor in times of crisis.
Christian women and men are compelled by the Gospel to look to the future
with courage, and walk on water as Peter did, spurred by the word of Jesus:
“Why do you have fear? Is your faith so weak?”

*****************************************

I think the one thing not being asked for in these reform movements is the one thing that most definitely needs to happen, and that's the dissolution of the Vatican Bank.  JPI certainly targeted this bank as the most needed 'reform of the reform'.  I agree. The Roman Catholic Church has no gospel reason to be involved in banking precisely because it is the single biggest connection to the kind of corruption which corrodes the soul of this Church.  I've often thought if Jesus came back today, he would take out the Vatican bank just as he did the money changers in the Temple.  Should Benedict dare to follow JPI's foot steps in this regard, really clean up the Vatican Bank by getting rid of it and it's tainted assets, I would seriously take notice.  

This is a fairly straight forward reform which touches on no doctrine, no dogma, no creedal statements, but it does impact directly on the soul of the institution.  While I signed the above letter, I would ask they add just one more paragraph, a paragraph number 7 requesting the dissolution of the Vatican Bank.  I think then we might see some cardinals (and others) running on water out of sheer terror at this kind of reform of the core of 'their Church'.

At the request of a commenter, here is an active link to the signatory page. 

Reflections On The American Catholic Conference

OOPS, Wrong Conference.

I've found it fascinating to read the conservative response to the American Catholic Conference.  If there is any sense of Jesus Christ in these responses I didn't find it.  It's like Jesus doesn't count in comparison to the Pope and the infallible magisterium.  And in all honesty I don't find that surprising because Catholics have been enculturated for eons to look to Rome before looking to Jesus.  Or more precisely look to the collar before reading the Gospels.  Indoctrination dies hard, and when it's coupled with fear of about everything, it dies even harder.  I suspect this tendency is in play to some extent in all of us.  But the conservative comments all reminded me of something my freshman college roommate once yelled at me.  She was somewhat irritated at the time.  She said "If you're going to be tactless, at least be nice about it."  There was not much nice about the conservative response to the ACC, and it was pretty tactless.  

I even got an email from one of the Ave Maria crowd informing me of all that was wrong with the ACC and why I should never even consider supporting it.  I responded to it by telling the sender his email was now designated as SPAM. I read this one right after the one from my daughter explaining that she almost sent the Helena Police Department out looking for me since I hadn't answered my cell phone in three days, and my work phone went right to voice mail.  I don't know what happened with the work phone, but I do know what happened with the cell phone.  The only reason I didn't get a visit from the HPD is that I had updated this blog on Sunday.  When I finally called her she was tactless and not nice about it.  Oh well, stuff happens. It was nice to know she cared enough to almost send the very best.  Can't say the same for the conservative spammer.

I've been interested in reading the editor of Catholica Australia Brian Coyne's response to the ACC.  The following is an excerpt of his take a day after the conference:

WILL THIS BE SOME SORT OF WATERSHED or TURNING POINT CONFERENCE: I have to confess I'm in two minds. Certainly at the level of having any impact on the American Bishops or the Vatican, or any hope of reversing the Reform-of-the-Reform agenda of those who've taken over the institutional agenda I honestly think it has all been "pissing in the wind". It will not have the slightest impact. If anything this conference has driven home to me that the prospects of a return to the spirit of Vatican II in the Church are more remote than ever. Young people have deserted the Church in greater numbers than any other demographic. This was a conference basically comprising what was the former leadership elite in the lay Church who were energised by John XXIII and the whole message of the Vatican II but who today feel totally let down by those who have betrayed that spirit despite all their nice and Orwellian "newspeak" use of language to suggest they are upholding the Spirit of that Council. (I'm not sure if it's Orwellian or shades of Goebels.)

At a second level the Conference did fill me with enormous hope. Here at last you have a strong and visible and highly educated sector of the popular who have at last stood up and said "enough is enough — we're not putting up with bullshit and crap from the bishops or even the pope anymore. If they (the bishops and popes) want to continue treating us as 'little people' and 'simple people', we're not playing that game anymore. The Conference was, I sense, the beginning at least of the articulation of any alternative agenda — and one that does remain authentically true to what was discerned by the majority of the listening bishops at Vatican II. The gzillion dollar question and great unknown right at this moment is how this will eventually manifest itself in society? No young people will be taking it up — at least in the short term — but neither will the majority of young people be taking up what Benedict and nutter/conservative/insecure elements put up. Benedict and the bishops who believe their evangelization initiatives and language are going to attract the great unwashed masses of young people back to what they have to offer are totally deluded. (That's one of my major concerns as well, what's the point of any reform if younger generations aren't going to buy into it period. Thirty five years of JPII/Benny have utterly lost the vast majority of these generations to any concept of Catholicism.)

As James (a really astute Catholica commenter) has written in many posts over a lengthy period of time, secular society has taken over many of the great social justice and moral questions and is the great educator in society now. I frankly do not see society become less moral or less spiritual. Certainly it might becoming less religious but that is probably a very good thing. Will some new "structured" or "institutional" gathering arise? I honestly don't know the answer to that. At one level I sense there is a deep drive in humanity for a sense of community and identity that drives people to want to congregate and worship together as well as combine their energies in good works and social justice initiatives. That might be the factor that is more important in causing some new structure to coalesce rather than any sense that the great majority in the future want to recite some "common creed".

The only thing I am certain of these days is that Benedict and his bishop and "conservative movement" friends have about as much chance of reversing the decline in participation figures as any of us have of flying to Mars in the next ten years. He will achieve his dream of building a "smaller, purer Church" but it will be largely irrelevant in guiding the course of human civilisation let alone getting anyone to heaven.

********************************************

I really believe Brian's point about younger generations is the crux of any reform or re evangelization movement.  Tweaking or even breaking the system is not going to be enough.  It's going to take people actually demonstrating that Jesus Christ had something relevant to teach them, and that's going to take individuals who prove that in their lives.  It's going to take people willing to walk the talk one person at a time. Just as it was in the beginning, it is now, and ever shall be.  And that's the way it was always meant to be.

Detroit Priests Call Archbishop Vigneron's Bluff

Father Wurn is in big trouble with Archbishop Vigneron.  Notice the non clercical person in the back wearing a stole. It's not liturgically kosher.  Oh my.

Archbishop blasts Ferndale priest's leading of liberal Mass; orders review of his actions

By Nira Warikoo - Detroit Free Press - June 12, 2011
The top Catholic leader in Michigan slammed a big liberal Mass today in Detroit, saying it had significant abuses and he ordered a review of a Ferndale priest who led the services before 1,5000 Catholics, a church spokesman said. (If he had condescended to say Mass himself he wouldn't have had to worry.)

Defying Archbishop of Detroit Allen Vigneron, a Catholic priest from Ferndale led a Mass today in Cobo Center that was organized by the American Catholic Council, a controversial umberalla group of liberal Catholics. And dozens of Catholic priests and deacons from metro Detroit attended the Mass, said organizers. (Uh Oh, not good for the AB of Detroit.  How many can he afford to actually discipline?)

Rev. Bob Wurm, 78, a retired Catholic priest, presided over the Mass and Eucharistic prayer to some 1,500 assembled inside Cobo Center today. He and others participated despite a strict order from Archbiship Allen Vigneron for priests and deacons to not take part in today's Mass because it was led by groups considered heretical by the Catholic Church and could violate Church law. Vigneron warned in a letter that clergy could be punished and defrocked for participating in the Mass.

Now, the Archdiocese of Detroit said it will conduct a review of the priest’s actions.
“There were several, serious liturgical abuses at that service,” said Ned McGrath, spokesman for the Archdiocese. “It’s disheartening that a Detroit priest would preside over a service with so many…serious liturgical abuses. There will be — has to be — a careful and thorough review.” (So what were these serious abuses?  Ohh, I know, they're an official secret to protect Fr. Wurn's reputation.)

Wurn told the Free Press afterwards he was aware that Archbishiop Allen Vigneron had explicilty warned all priests and deacons to not participate. But Wurm said he's not worried being punished.
"I don't see that happening," Wurm said. "I'm older than he (Vigneron) is."

Wurm criticized Vigneron's letter that told clergy to stay away.
"He was making a big mistake," Wurm said. (In poker this would be 'calling Vigneron's bluff' and raising the stakes.)

Catholics at the conference defended their conference and Mass, saying they are in accordance with the laws and values of Catholicism.

“He didn’t violate Canon law,” John Hushon, of Florida, a lead organizer of the conference, said. “We went right down the straight and narrow.”

The Mass was part of a weekend conference that's drawn some 2,000 liberal Catholics from around the world who are upset at the rightward turn of the Catholic Church. They want lay people to have more say in church decision making. Many also want discussion about women, gay, and married priests, and greater accountability on the issue of child abuse by priests. The conference came on the 35th anniversary of a conference in Detroit led by the late Cardinal John Dearden, former Archbishop of Detroit, a leader seen as progressive by liberal Catholics. To them, he represented the spirit of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, which they say recent leadership has abandoned.

"Too many Catholics feel there is no hope," co-organizer Janet Hauter said during the Mass to the crowd.
Members of the crowd at the Mass all wore stoles, usually only worn by clergy, to symbolize equality and the idea that all Catholics, not just its leaders, represent the Church. On the red stoles, there was a drawing of a dove with the words:
"Come Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love."
(Oh, I bet this sent the Liturgy Police into apoplexy.  Should they blow their cover and refuse to wear a stole, or commit liturgical sin for the greater glory of God?)

The liberal conference also adopted day a 10-point of bill of rights and responsibilities that calls for more democratization. Discussions continue tonight and Monday. Participants said this weekend’s conference energized them to go back to individual parishes to fight for change.

“I’m disturbed by what’s taking place,” said Robert Livingston, 72, of Berkley. “The Church is going backwards. It’s more feudal, more authoritative.”
But church officials say that the liberal conference featured speakers who have teachings that violate Catholic doctrine.

A conservative conference endorsed by the Archdiocese, Call To Holiness, was held over the weekend in Livonia and put more of an emphasis on social issues. They said their conference was legitimate, unlike the liberal one, because it was endorsed by the Archbishop and was loyal to Rome.
Speakers at the conservative conference railed against abortion, contraception, yoga and the gay rights movement. (Yoga?  Is yoga now up there in the sin pantheon with abortion, gays, and condoms?)

*********************************************

Looks like Archbishop Vigneron has a problem on his hands.  What ever will he do.  His bluff has been called and the bet raised.  Is he enough of a poker player to know when to fold em?  This one will be fun to follow.  I wondered when he pronounced his intentions before hand if he wasn't setting himself up for more than he wanted, but I guess it's too late now.

Actually I'm still trying to get my head around the yoga thing.  I guess the holier than thou at the approved Detroit conference needed something new to get all worked up about.  Abortion, and contraception, and gay rights must be kind of stale by now, even for them.  Bring on yoga.  Wouldn't this be anti Hindu or something?

I wasn't too sure much real action would come out of this conference in Detroit.  Progressives are not noted for being actively controversial, Anthony Weiner not withstanding, but maybe when we are pushed to the edges of absurdity we can do more than laugh or scream.  It seems to me Vigneron has pushed his priests too close to the edge and they took action.  Good for them and good for Fr. Wurn.  And I did like the stole idea, no matter how liturgically incorrect such attire is for lay folk.

 
 

The American Catholic Conference: Kung Starts Things Off But I Write About Fox

I have to admit this is too frequently my primary source of knowledge.  It's the discernment thing that becomes an issue.

The American Catholic Conference is off and running.  Last night's opening address was given by Hans Kung via video.  The National Catholic Reporter has this article about Kung's thoughts, and Brian Coyne, editor of Catholica Australia is in attendance and has posted his thoughts in this first article, and then lists the ACC Bill of Rights in this post.  I was actually going to do a post on this Bill of Rights, but decided instead to focus on another of the Council's keynote speakers, Mathew Fox.  Fox has just released a new book, The Pope's War, which maintains that the JPII/Benedict papacies have essentially been schismatic precisely because both papacies have done everything in their power to abrogate the main thrust of Vatican II.  Kung says essentially the same thing, if not so strongly, but even Kung calls for a peaceful revolution and compares the  Papacy to the French monarchy just before the French revolution.

There's an interesting interview with Mathew Fox about his new book, and I am going to excerpt his answer to one question because  my own thoughts echo Fox's.  Lately I've had a number of people (non Catholics) ask me why I bother with this blog or with Catholicism at all, and I blather on endlessly and not too coherently.  Mathew Fox on the other hand, hits most of my reasons in the following answer:

If I am not Catholic (or even Christian), should I be at all interested in this book on the woes of the Catholic Church?

The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination by far.  Its global influence is profound for good or for ill.  It has at times drawn many wonderful and generous souls into its service even if today many are tripping over each other to exit.  When it chooses at its hierarchical level to support dictatorships and fascist rulers—and to imitate them—that impacts on all of us.  (On this score, the last two papacies have been following Pius XII's script.  Benny has just substituted secularism for communism.)

When it teaches that birth control and condoms are wrong when the world is being swamped by excessive human population as well as by sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS, that affects us all.  

When its theatrical rituals suck all the religious air out of the room because it is pleasing to television’s needs to elevate a person dressed in white to cult status, that affects us all. (There is a great deal of truth to this observation. No question that Papal theatrics are TV friendly.)

When Ratzinger interfered in the US presidential election of 2004 by telling bishops to publicly announce that a Roman Catholic voter cannot vote for a politician (i.e. Kerry) who favors women’s choice and the vote of three states (Iowa, Ohio and New Mexico) was determined by that intervention as studies show, then the fact that the Vatican got Bush elected his second term is of concern for all. (Yes indeedy, which is why we now have the Republican Catholic Church in the US and it's being led by converted southern evangelicals.)

When theological thinkers are suspended and pedophile priests are countenanced and their hierarchical defenders are promoted (a la Cardinal Law), that affects us all. 

When fascist cults like Opus Dei and Legion of Christ and Communion and Liberation are promoted by the Vatican, that affects us all.  (And this is matched by incessant pressure on the historical orders like the Jesuits and Benedictines.)

When base communities and liberation theology are denounced, that affects us all.  When the spirit and teachings of the great Vatican Council including outreach to all world religions are denied, that affects us all.

And when morality is reduced almost exclusively to sexual issues instead of the great issues of planetary survival and social and economic justice, that affects us all.

The hijacking of the name and teachings of Jesus in the name of Ecclesiolatry affects us all.  Ours are not a time for keeping silent about the sins of organized religion.  Ours are a time for starting over.

All of the above is reason enough to be concerned about and active in the attempt to reformat Catholicism, but reform it to what?  It's here where I am really in line with Fox's thinking.  In some respects we have been walking the same path from different starting  points.  In the following Fox is answering a question about the other book on Christian mystics he was writing at the same time he was writing The Pope's War:

Writing The Pope’s War (Sterling, May 2011) was so dour, so dark, so dreary, the news was so much the opposite of uplifting that I told a friend I felt like Oscar the Grouch who lived in the garbage can on Sesame Street.  Yes, it was like living with garbage.  What to do?  I put the project, about 60% finished, on a shelf not sure I would ever return to it.  All my other books had uplifted me in the writing; not that one.  It dragged me down day after day.  It was not fun. (Same with this blog some days. Covering the Vatican is sometimes like wallowing in a big dipsy dumpster full of spiritual and psychological garbage.)

The culmination of the pope book was my conviction that the Holy Spirit is so decimating Catholicism as we know it today that we can and need to push the restart button on Christianity.  This includes “taking the treasure from the burning building” as I put it in the book.  And first and foremost of those treasures is our mystical and prophetic heritage.  Thus Christian Mystics is a deep part of the treasure that our lineage contains.  It points the way to Christianity’s greatest accomplishments and its greatest future potential.  The task is not that complicated: It is about turning out mystics and prophets.  Like Jesus did; and was.

Mathew Fox is onto something about Christianity's task.  I too believe the task is to mentor mystics and prophets and that the teachings of Jesus were all about what it takes to be a mystic, a prophet, and a healer. His teachings were meant to unfold the reality of heaven on earth.  They were not meant to create Vatican City and Catholic clericalism, both of which exist to disempower the laity.  And that to me is the real heresy of the last two papacies--they have been bound and determined to disempower the laity and return to clerical triumphalism.  I will fight that tooth and nail because that path leads to chaos and destruction.  If anyone doubts that, just review the real history of the Vatican and it's support of fascism in World War II.


 

The American Catholic Conference--A Place Where No Roman Catholic Is Allowed To Go

 

 

Detroit's Archbishop Vigneron has laid down the law to priests and deacons in his diocese about this weekends American Catholic Conference.  For even more fun and instruction about the potential evils of this conference, check out this link from the Archdiocesan website.

 

Abp. Vigneron Letter on the American Catholic Council

 

Issued: June 3, 2011

 My dear brother priests and deacons, 

 

As you may be aware, a group calling itself the American Catholic Council will be meeting at Cobo Hall on the weekend of June 11 and 12. Despite my attempts to engage in a dialogue with them about this planned event, the organizers of this conference have not replied to me directly. I have a number of concerns about this event and caution any Catholic against participating for reasons expressed already in previous communications sent by the Archdiocese. (Maybe this has to do with your letter of Oct. 12, 2010.)

Of particular concern is the "Eucharistic Liturgy," noted on the schedule for this conference on Pentecost Sunday, June 12. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council instruct us, "Every legitimate celebration of the Eucharist is regulated by the bishop, to whom is committed the office of offering the worship of the Christian religion to the divine Majesty and of administering it in accordance with the Lord's commandments and with the Church's laws, as further defined by his particular judgment for his diocese." (Lumen Gentium, 26). I take my role as moderator of the liturgy for the archdiocese (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 22) very seriously. To confirm the legitimacy of what they had planned, the ACC had been asked to provide details regarding this liturgy. The response received was ambiguous, and there are good reasons for believing forbidden concelebration will take place by the laity and with those not in full communion with the Church.

In order to fulfill my responsibilities, so clearly enunciated by the Second Vatican Council, of fostering of communion with both the local and the universal Church, I am compelled to caution any priests or deacons who may be considering participation in this liturgy. It is not being celebrated with my permission as required by the law and the good order of the People of God. Further, clergy should be aware of the impact of forbidden concelebration with those who are not in full communion (canons 908 and 1365). This is a serious delict, for which recourse to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is required, and which may result in dismissal from the clerical state (cf. Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela, 2001 and 2010). (This kind of thing gives me heartburn.  He's threatening laicization over this, but it took decades to get the Vatican to act on clerical pedophiles?)


I ask that you pray with me for the unity of the Church. As we commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin in this upcoming Solemnity, may the Holy Spirit come afresh on all of us, keeping us united in the love of God and keeping our attention and energies focused on the task of sharing Christ in and through His Church.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit

**********************************************

Honest to God, all I can do any more is laugh.  Seriously.  On one day Benny is telling us all about the sainted war criminal Stepanic and the next day Vigneron is threatening laicization for priests and deacons who might share the Eucharist with people like Hans Kung and Joan Chittister.  It's funny to think wishy washy bleeding heart liberals are a bigger threat to my soul and body than autocratic fascist war criminals and child pedophiles.

Am I the only one who has come to the conclusion Roman Catholicism has degenerated to the level of surreal absurdity.  Are we all waiting for Godot?

I say bring on American Catholicism.  It can't be any worse than what currently passes for Roman Catholicism. 

Benedict Inventifacts The Croatian Catholic History Of WWII

Croatian Archbishop Stepanic maybe 'Blessed' in the Vatican fantasy world, but in the real world he's a war criminal.

It has been a very very long time since our Catholic leadership has really sent me over the emotional edge.  Mostly they make me angry in the 'here we go again' sense, but this time Benedict has turned the pilot light to full bore blazing torch.  Of course the article came from CNA.  It is part of CNA's coverage of Benedict's trip to Croatia.

Pope pays tribute to Blessed Cardinal Stepinac of Croatia
Aboard the papal plane, Jun 4, 2011 / 12:19 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Pope has hailed Blessed Aloysius Stepinac, the late Cardinal Archbishop of Zagreb in Croatia, as “a great pastor and a great Christian.” The Pope made his comments during an in-flight interview with journalists as he traveled to Croatia for a two-day visit. (This is the same man under whose Catholic rule, Croatia experienced a full bore Roman Catholic led genocide.  The numbers of murdered at the hands of Catholic clergy alone are staggering.)

Cardinal Stepinac was the leader of the Catholic Church in Croatia during the Second World War when the country briefly regained independence under a Nazi puppet regime, the Ustase.


After the war, the Nazis were replaced with the communists. An outspoken critic of the regime, Cardinal Stepinac was imprisoned following a show-trial in 1946 and later died under house arrest in 1952.
Pope Benedict described both regimes – Nazi and communist – as “anti-humanist.”


The Ustase regime, he said, “seemed to fulfill the dream of autonomy and independence, but in reality it was an autonomy that was a lie because it was exploited by Hitler for his own purposes.” (It was the other way around.  Even hardened Nazi military officers were appalled with the actions of the Ustache.)


The Pope said that in the midst of this turmoil, Cardinal Stepinac was a courageous defender of those oppressed by the Ustase, including Serbs, Jews and gypsies. (This is an utter lie.  Stepanic was the Ustache's great enabler along with the Vatican,  and one of Dictator Ante Pavelic's biggest supporters and benefactors.)

Cardinal Stepinac stood up against “the dictatorship of communism, where he again fought for the faith, for the presence of God in the world, the true humanity that is dependent on the presence of God,” the Pope concluded, calling the Croatian cardinal “a great example not only for the Croats, but all of us.”
Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac was declared a martyr and beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1998. (An unbelievable step which put fuel on an already burning sectarian fire in the Balkans.)

When Pope Benedict arrived at the Zagreb Airport, he urged all Croats to pray to Blessed Aloysius Stepinac.
“In view of the challenges confronting the Church and civil society today, I invoke upon this land and all its inhabitants the intercession and assistance of Blessed Aloysius Stepinac, the beloved and venerable Shepherd of your people.”

“May he accompany the young generations as they strive to live by that charity which prompted the Lord Jesus Christ to give his life for all people.” ( I would strongly encourage those young people to read Stepanic's true story, not the revisionist history this pope is using to mask the Vatican's direct participation in the Ustache genocide.)

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For readers who are interested in a well researched introduction into the Ustache genocide which occurred in Croatian territory under Nazi occupation, I strongly encourage you to follow this link.  This article, written by frequent commenter Betty Clermont, is a brilliant synopsis of the truth of this period of history and Stepanic's place in it.  For those who need more info, the list of footnotes and links at the end of the article will give you all you could want.  It is not for the faint hearted Catholic afraid to deal with some very hard Catholic truth about the aims and politics of the papacy and the Vatican.

The following quote from Betty's article is from historian Avro Manhattan's book "The Vatican Holocaust."  It will gives an idea of what things were really like during the Archbishop Stepanic backed Ustache regime. 

"It is an historical fact. Rabid nationalism and religious dogmatism were its two main ingredients. During the existence of Croatia as an independent Catholic State, over 700,000 men, women and children perished. Many were executed, tortured, died of starvation, buried alive, or were burned to death. Hundreds were forced to become Catholic. Catholic padres ran concentration camps; Catholic priests were officers of the military corps which committed such atrocities. 700,000 in a total population of a few million, proportionally, would be as if one-third of the USA population had been exterminated by a Catholic militia." 

Two investigators to the Ustasha arrival into Zagreb in April 1941 wrote that Archbishop Stepinac immediately “offered his congratulations to Pavelic” and held a banquet to celebrate the founding of the new Nazi puppet state. He also ordered the proclamation of the independent state to be delivered from all pulpits of the Catholic Church in Croatia on Easter Sunday and arranged Pavelic’s audience with Pope Pius XII. Stepinac issued a Pastoral Letter ordering the Croatian clergy to support the new Ustasha state:

God, who directs the destiny of nations and controls the hearts of Kings, has given us Ante Pavelic and moved the leader of a friendly and allied people, Adolf Hitler, to use his victorious troops to disperse our oppressors…Glory be to God, our gratitude to Adolf Hitler and loyalty to our Poglavnik, Ante Pavelic. [11]

Oh and guess who held the office of Supreme Military Apostolic Vicar of the Ustasha Army--the now Blessed Martyr Archbishop Stepanic.  No wonder JPII did away with the office of Devil's Advocate.  It would have been far more difficult to accomplish mission 'whitewash' if one had to deal with a legitimate fact based look at Stepanic's career during WWII.

This inventifacting thing the Vatican has done to white wash the Catholic history in Croatia makes me furious.  Part of that is because I have Slovenian and Croatian blood in my veins. When I researched the history of Catholic Croatia in WWII,  I was appalled and sickened.  In retrospect this research instigated the shattering loss of my innocence when it came to my Catholic Identity.  I can see why Benedict would want to completely white wash this truth, especially in view of his repeated stressing of Catholic Identity as the antidote to secular relativism.  That was the whole idea behind backing the Ustache--Catholicism coupled with Catholic fascism as the antidote to godless communism.  It was a policy that failed horribly, but rather than learn any lessons, the Vatican has insisted on attempting to repeat the strategy, and that has called for outright deceit about the truth of it's failures.

If this is the Vatican's idea for the long term survivability of Catholic influence and power, not only can I be counted out, but I will be actively opposing it.
 

 

Why I Would Not Follow Bishop Finn Into Spiritual Battle.

Joan of Arc, by Jules Bastien-Lepage.  Joan was a real 'spiritual warrior', who got the connection between temporal and spiritual authority.

 

 

The following message from Robert Finn is pretty much standard fare for our bishops.  Finn is different though, in that he claims to be a true spiritual warrior.  Based on this letter, Bishop Finn is all talk and no walk on that issue.

Message from Bishop Finn to All in Our Diocese

The following message from Bishop Robert Finn will be read at Masses in the Diocese of Kansas City - St. Joseph this weekend:

These past few weeks all of us have endured the consequences of our human failure. The destructive sins of a few and the serious lapses in communication have caused us shame, anger, and confusion. (This is typical bishop language--all the 'we' statements as if Finn is a victim along with everyone else. He is a main part of the problem, not one of the victims.)

There are victims that are hurting, and others who have been left vulnerable by our processes. As you know, in the past two weeks one priest was arrested and we removed another from ministry. They are the first sitting pastors to be removed in our Diocese in more than 20 years. (Which is a slick way to gloss over the 10 million dollar settlement and it's other specific stipulations from 2008.)

These are sobering realities, particularly for those who knew and trusted them. We are assessing what went wrong and applying our analysis as we move forward. This past week, I met with our Independent Review Board chairman and discussed the objectivity of our decision processes. I have also met with parishioners, our priests and Chancery staff, as well as the media. These meetings and discussions will continue.

As bishop, I take full responsibility for these failures and sincerely apologize to you for them. Clearly, we have to do more. Please know that we have --- and will continue to cooperate with all local authorities regarding these matters.

While we must deal with these difficult and trying issues we also must give thanks for the daily accomplishments of our lay faithful, priests and others for the many good works that continue on behalf of neighbors, sick or poor, young or old. (Thus begins the last section of his letter which jumps totally off topic.)

You generously responded to the need of people devastated by recent storms. Our food pantries and advocacy for the disadvantaged are second to none in our community.

These difficult days have also been marked with celebrations of our faith: First Communions and Confirmations, school graduations, weddings, anniversaries and Ordinations and other ceremonies. These blessings are noticed and counted, not lost.

On Pentecost Sunday, June 12, I will offer the 9:00 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Please join me.  At the same time I ask our pastors to offer the Pentecost Mass in your parishes – for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon this local Church, that God may give us whatever gifts and graces we need to carry forward His commission. 

 

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Bishop Finn has given Catholics another typical response of a bishop who was caught not playing the game by the bishop's own rules.  He too is a victim, and although 'we' didn't quite get things right, 'we' are straightening things out and so back to business as usual because by the grace of God everything in our little diocese is really quite fine.  

 

But then, in this article, from KSHB the local NCB affiliate,  we have the thoughts to two different groups of laity.  One group is protesting outside the cathedral and one group is across the street praying:

 

Bishop Finn has apologized several times for 'not doing enough' to stop the alleged behaviors. However, those words of remorse have fallen on deaf years for some long-time Catholics.
Edith Beverly Hurlbert, a member of Holy Family Parish, explained, “We cannot endanger our children, they are our future generation. They are our future."

However, those who believe in the bishop's abilities argue the battle can only be won through prayer.
Roper said, “The true enemy here, Beth, is not someone in a Roman collar. The true enemy is the one we all fight. It is the evil one."
 

Oh my, it's not Finn and his administration, it's the 'evil one', and the only people really empowered to fight the 'evil one' are Finn and his administration. That's pretty slick if you think about it.  It's also the product of Finn's preaching and teaching.  I've written about Finn and his 'teaching' before.  There is no ideology better at keeping laity powerless and clericalism prominent than that of Satan and his war for our individual souls.  It's militarism on supernatural steroids.  

 

The best part about this ideology, at least for Finn, is that 'we' are under attack and 'we' need to stick together. In Finn's thinking it was those individual priests who succumbed to Satan's power which caused all this, not 'we' who stand right with the Lord and certainly not Finn because Finn is a leader in God's spiritual army on Earth.  Finn is an ordained  bishop in the Church Militant.  Unfortunately for Finn, Jesus taught something entirely different.

In Jesus's teaching, spiritual authority and power came from the proper and demonstrated exercise of temporal authority. Which only makes sense.  Why would one be given power and authority in the spiritual realm if one was brainless about it's exercise in the temporal realm?  It's the whole point about servant leadership and the denial of constantly caving in to ego wants and needs.  One must die to the 'self', and this means giving up ego driven notions of temporal authority and power.  Mathew 16-18 comes right after Peter has been given the power to bind and loose and then demonstrates he totally doesn't get what Jesus is about:

He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."19 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, 20 take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 21
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?

So, based on Finn's actions under temporal duress, would I personally follow Bishop Finn into a spiritual battle with Satan and his minions?  Not in a million years.

 

 

A Catholic Bishop With A GLBT Message Of A Different Sort.

Bishop Sullivan deserves his name in neon for the following op ed piece.  This will have to do.

Bishop Joseph Sullivan, retired Auxilliary Bishop of Brooklyn has written a piece on GLBT inclusion I doubt we will see coming from the USCCB any time in the near future--like at the upcoming June meeting.
 
Catholics are reaching out to the LGBT community

By Bishop Joseph Sullivan - BuffaloNews.com - 6/2/2011

One need only flip through some of today’s cable news channels to witness how some of our society’s most sensitive public policy matters are overly simplified in black-and-white terms, in which only the most strident voices seem to get heard. Of those many hotly debated issues, the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community continue to make headlines.

What you would probably be surprised to learn is that Catholics are among those who increasingly are reaching out pastorally to the LGBT community. A recent study released by the Public Religion Research Institute found that a majority of Catholics believe that job discrimination against gay and lesbian people should be outlawed. By almost 2 to 1, Catholics believe that gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to adopt children.

The views of Catholics about the LGBT community have been evolving for years. Catholic teachings compel us to work toward the elimination of unjust structures and to treat people with dignity, regardless of their state in life or their beliefs. My own understanding of this community has also evolved over the course of four decades of ministry.

Given that Catholics represent approximately one-quarter of the U. S. population, the changing attitudes of Catholics toward greater degrees of LGBT equality most likely will be a significant influence in the public square. Across the country there are increasing numbers of parishes that welcome LGBT parishioners and their families to active participation in the church. Catholic colleges and universities are in dialogue with their LGBT students, and Catholic retreat houses provide retreats specifically for LGBT Catholics.
 
Catholics and other religious people who support LGBT rights do so because of their experience of engagement with members of the LGBT community. They are not rebels in their churches, but people who have taken spiritual messages of inclusiveness and welcoming to heart. They are taking the church’s teaching on social justice and applying it to pastoral practice in engaging the LGBT community.

We see these teachings play out as Catholics across the country engage in prayerful and meaningful dialogues about understanding and embracing the LGBT community. This dialogue is happening amongst faithful families, in student groups on the campuses of Catholic universities, and within church congregations. This dialogue is admittedly difficult, at times, but important.

More than a decade ago, the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a graceful message, “Always Our Children,” which reminded us, “For St. Paul love is the greatest of spiritual gifts. St. John considers love to be the most certain sign of God’s presence.” For most Catholics, there can be no statement that better summarizes an attitude of welcoming of our LGBT brothers and sisters than those of Jesus, “love one another as I have loved you.”

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Although I appreciate these words from Bishop Sullivan, I can't help but notice he is another retired Bishop and wonder if Catholicism has reached a point where only retired bishops are free to act Christ like as opposed to Catholic like.  It seems only retired bishops are allowed to see and state truth, while active bishops are stuck with deception and fantasy.  Of course retired bishops are free of the need to pander for money and I know that has a great deal to do with their equal freedom to state truth. 

Bishop Sullivan is not quoting statistics about Catholics that apply to the hierarchy.  The stats he quotes pertain to the laity.  The hierarchy is pandering to right wing money and they are teaching exclusion, discrimination, and outright bigotry.  They call this defending religious freedom.  I call it masking a form of economic slavery.  "Pander to Caesar for the things that are Caesar's, and take from God the things that are God's" seems to be the verse of the day when it comes to the official stance on LGBT issues.  The laity is no longer buying this message and it seems neither are some of our retired bishops.

"How stupid do they think we are?" is becoming a very frequent comment on blogs from across the Catholic spectrum. Whether the issue is clerical cover ups, financial accountability,  LGBT inclusion and other sex/gender issues, or even liturgical changes,  laity are not taking these 'teachings' well, or silently, or in obedience.  And that's true across the ideological spectrum.  The issues might be different but the response is becoming the same. "How stupid do they think we are?"  These are not cases of shooting the messenger. These are cases of refusing the message.  If the Church really was the military style organization it pretends to be, a lot of our officers would be removed.  When the troops stop obeying the officers, the officers need to go---or those officers need to man up and ask for new orders from higher up the chain.  

Catholics won't see either strategy enacted. We only have a pseudo military structure.  We have a hierarchical structure where the level of accountability is in an inverse ratio to level of authority.  Or to put it differently, the closer one gets to "god" the fewer mistakes one is allowed to acknowledge. By the time one reaches the pinnacle, one is infallible and totally unaccountable to mere human beings. Or so we're taught and expected to believe.


I think I mentioned yesterday that I have been reading Acts.  I couldn't help but notice that Peter and Paul and company are not running the early Church like some sort of military organization.  They run it more like an nascent form of social democracy with a lot of help from spiritual mentors outside our reality, starting with the Holy Spirit.  One would have thought if those mentors had seen any advantage in a military hierarchy they would have given a message or two along those lines.  They didn't, but Constantine did.  Maybe the reason they didn't is because spiritual progress is not amenable to a boot camp approach.  It's a lot messier than that.


In any event Bishop Sullivan, who is no longer an active member of our chain of command, is now free to acknowledge the troops aren't stupid and are in fact ahead of the officer corps. In the meantime the active bishops continue to abuse their authority in an attempt to shore up that authority. When it comes to defending religious freedom in opposing LGBT rights, even adoptive children and those that serve them have become acceptable collateral damage.  How is this part of the Gospel mandate? Which again makes me pose the question: "how stupid do they think we are?"

















 

The Finn Fiasco Gets Deeper. The Anger Level Rises

Bishop Finn's cappa magna, a Christmas gift from the the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles convent. This is not the same convent in which Finn deposited Ratigan. Next Christmas perhaps it will be sack cloth and ashes.  For a trip to Finn's 1950's Heartland Catholicism, try this link.

More details have been revealed about the Ratigan case in Kansas City, MO.  They are disheartening to say the least.

Diocese was warned in 2006 about priest now facing child porn charges, lawsuit alleges
By JUDY L. THOMAS and GLENN E. RICE
The Kansas City Star

Local Roman Catholic officials were warned in 2006 about a priest now accused of possessing child pornography yet took no action, a lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday alleges.

The lawsuit, filed by the parents of a young girl, also alleges that beginning around 2006 and continuing through 2010 the Rev. Shawn F. Ratigan took photographs underneath her clothing and while the child was nude.

Lawyers for the child’s family said the photographs were taken while Ratigan was assigned in St. Joseph.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, names Ratigan, Bishop Robert Finn and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph as defendants.

“Another child has been harmed, and more children have been harmed, and this diocese has failed to protect the children,” Jeff Anderson of the Minnesota law firm of Anderson & Associates said in a news conference in Kansas City.

The diocese issued a brief statement in response to the lawsuit.

“First and foremost, the diocese is deeply concerned for the well-being of this child and her family,” the statement said. “The bishop has reached out to a number of parishes and offered listening sessions.”...

....But the lawsuit alleges that as far back as 2006 an employee of the diocese reported to diocesan officials that she observed suspicious behavior involving Ratigan and a young girl. The lawsuit alleges that the diocese and Finn protected themselves and Ratigan from scandal by doing nothing with the report.The plaintiff’s lawyers would not provide further details about the 2006 report, including who made it or specifically to whom it was given.

The lawsuit alleges Ratigan took sexually explicit photographs, uploaded them to his computer and distributed them over the Internet. It also contends that Finn and the diocese possessed and distributed child pornography by viewing and making copies of Ratigan’s photos.
The lawsuit seeks damages, including expenses incurred for medical treatment of the girl.

Two law firms announced the legal action Thursday at a news conference.
Anderson’s firm was joined by the Kansas City firm of Randles, Mata & Brown, which has filed dozens of priest sex-abuse lawsuits. Anderson & Associates has filed about 2,000 priest sex-abuse lawsuits across the country.
The diocese “allowed this predator, Father Shawn Ratigan, to access children with what we believe is sufficient knowledge to not only have removed him but to have reported him,” Anderson said.
Ratigan’s attorney, John P. O’Connor, declined to comment.
One case handled by the Randles firm involved 47 plaintiffs and resulted in a $10 million settlement against the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese in 2008.
Rebecca Randles said the diocese entered an agreement with the plaintiffs when it settled that lawsuit.
“As part of the agreement, the diocese agreed that they would take certain steps to ensure that children were safe from now on,” she said.

Those steps, she said, included setting up victims’ advocacy programs and immediately reporting any abuse or suspicion of abuse to law enforcement authorities in accordance with Missouri statutes.
“Our clients are incredibly upset. They’re angry, and they’re very sad that the steps they took to try to protect children for the future simply seemed to fall on deaf ears,” Randles said. “At the time we negotiated those settlements, the bishop and the monsignor were in the mediations listening to those stories of abuse, listening to the lives that were shattered.” (So much for the impact of listening sessions on the Bishop and his Vicar.)


Pat Noaker, of Anderson & Associates, told The Star that the FBI was investigating the case and that the girl’s family had been cooperating with the agency. Authorities in Buchanan County, where St. Joseph is located, also said the FBI was investigating.
FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton said she could neither confirm nor deny whether the agency was looking into the Ratigan case....

.....Noaker said the lawsuit was alleging that the diocese possessed and distributed child pornography because “they had access, and they in fact made copies of the pornography that they pulled off Father Ratigan’s computer in December 2010, and they possessed that for six months before turning it over to law enforcement authorities.”“They also distributed it to different people along the way.”
The lawsuit cites Masha’s Law, a federal law enacted in 2006 that gives child-pornography victims the right to sue anyone who produces, downloads, distributes or possesses sexually explicit images of them.
The law was named after a girl from Russia who was adopted at age 5 by a man who sexually abused her and made recordings of it.
Victims can recover damages of no less than $150,000.

Randles told The Star that she also had been contacted by six members of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Kansas City, North, who allege that their children are victims of Ratigan. He was at St. Patrick from July 2009 to December 2010.

Police have said they had contacted families at the church in an attempt to identify the girls in the photos. Lawyers in the case filed Thursday said that’s how their clients learned of the abuse.
The diocese on Thursday also asked for the public to help police with the case......

.....Finn is to meet with members of St. Thomas More parish in south Kansas City at 7 p.m. today.On Wednesday a review board established years ago by the diocese to assess sexual abuse allegations met privately for two hours and came up with a recommendation to deal with cases such as Ratigan’s.
Review board chairman Jim Caccamo and a diocesan spokeswoman said it would be up to the bishop whether to discuss the content of the proposal. (Uhhm, what have they been doing all these years?)


Thursday night dozens gathered at the Kansas City, North, Community Center to discuss the Ratigan case at a meeting organized by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
The meeting was closed to the media “out of consideration for the privacy and feelings of parishioners,” SNAP leaders said. Organizers said there was a standing-room-only crowd.

“It’s packed,” said Judy Jones, SNAP’s Midwest associate director. “As you can imagine, things are pretty tense in there. People are very upset. Almost everyone is angry at the church officials.”
Stephanie Gunn, of St. Thomas More parish, said she was “sick and fed up of the whole situation.”
“I came here because I’m devastated,” she said. “I’m embarrassed, and I am so angry at the religious leaders of the Catholic Church. … They have put children’s lives in danger. They knew it, and they tried to sweep it under the covers like they have in the past.


“It’s not going to work this time. There are too many people who are fired up, and we intend to go as far as we can to remove these people from the diocese office.”
Gunn said numerous people talked about wanting the bishop to step down.
“They’re sick of it,” she said. “They’re not willing to listen to any more excuses.”

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/06/02/2922692/diocese-was-warned-in-2006-about.html#ixzz1ODKzpi9l

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I see a number of things that make this Kansas City case more immediate and anger inducing for practicing Catholics.  First, Finn made an issue of his orthodoxy and piety.  He used these aspects of his pastoral approach to burnish his credentials and brow beat his flock.  Guess what, he's as big a fraud as any so called progressive liberal.  Secondly, this case is acting out in the heartland of America--where these things don't happen.  This one is not happening on either of the 'left' coasts.  Guess what, the myth of the right and proper heartland is just that--a myth.  Oh and while were are on myths, perhaps we can begin to see the problem of child sexual abuse as an equal opportunity exploiter--an issue of abuse of power and not sexual orientation.  After all,  Ratigan's alleged targets were young girls.  This situation is exploding a lot of myths used to delude the average Catholic.

There is hope in all the myths being exploded in Kansas City.  Laity who might have swallowed some of these myths whole are now not swallowing anything.  They are finally choking on them.  As the one woman interviewed in the above article states: "It's not going to work this time."  Finally.  Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.  Fool me four and five times--what the hell is wrong with us?  Good question.  An important question.  It's a question whose real answer is wrapped up in traditional Catholic Identity. The clerical caste are not little gods.  They are flawed human beings, as equally flawed as any laity.  I just  hope there is enough anger for laity to finally process that fact and get past all the conditioning that is designed to prompt us to ignore these truths.
 

With Pentecost coming up I have been perusing the Acts of the Apostles.  Peter is not infallible by a long shot.  One of the things that has struck me is the Acts describe Peter as under going a sort of post Pentecostal  learning curve. He is always learning, always being forced to re evaluate his thinking and belief structure.  Perhaps this is one lesson we can take from the past few months.  Catholicism, like it's first leader, needs to continually undergo a learning process and re evaluate thought and belief structures. To pretend other wise is a straight road to all kinds of abuse.  Peter survived his learning curve, and the whole Church can survive this learning curve as well.  But not if it's clergy refuses the lessons.

This link will take you to Bishop Finn's official excuses letter.  


 

Jamie Manson Hits A Homerun.

This is taken from Catholica. AU.  Australia is another Western country where the laity may have had enough.  Tom McMahon is an American married priest whose essays in Catholica.Au are well worth reading.

This is a solid, powerful statement from someone who is tired of the way things are progressing in the Church.  I wish I had written it, but brothers and sisters, it sure does give voice to my own insight and anger.  And yes, some of that anger is self directed.  The entire NCR article is here.


..........The St. Patrick’s saga is but one example of the fascinating fear that many Catholics seem to have of calling church leaders to accountability the way they would elected officials, educators, and other non-clerical folk. This double standard that Catholics have in dealing with the clergy, I believe, is a result of the internalized clericalism that the laity inherited as part of their Catholic inculcation. (especially us cradle Catholics.)


Critics of the institutional church frequently point to the corrosive arrogance of the Catholic clergy as the root cause of so much abuse of power. It is important, however, to consider the extent to which the clericalism of the laity enables these abuses to take place, and to reflect on the multitude of ways this phenomenon affects a spectrum of Catholics, including some of our most progressive voices.

I have seen the effects of lay clericalism among professors at Catholic colleges and universities, who fret about discussing controversial issues about gender and sexuality in an academic forum. Tenured scholars, who are exponentially more educated than most Roman Catholic priests, can quickly become terrified of the reactions of bishops to their academic programs. (It broke my heart and almost my spirit, to see what Morlino's mandatum and Focus students did to one of my most cherished priest professors.)

I have seen lay clericalism in parishes considered “prophetic” because of their commitment to social justice, service to the poor, and welcoming of marginalized Catholics. And, yet, in many cases these progressive voices will not challenge the parish priest, even when he makes decisions that compromise a parish’s legacy of advocacy.


I know many lay women and men who have labored on parish staffs and have suffered the fruits of lay clericalism. Regardless of a lay minister’s education level, years of experience, and ministerial gifts, parishioners almost always have a submissive “preferential option” for the priest -- even if they disagree strongly with his policies and practices. A lay person’s degrees and pastoral presence are no match against the power of simply being “Father.”  (Or your Eminence.)

So often it is the clericalism of the laity, rather than the clericalism of the clergy, that undermines the power of the laity in our church.

No one knows what the future holds. People are waiting to see how the ordinariate in England progresses, and what the Church of England does next. But what remains with me is the joyful relief and commitment of these newcomers. At last, they feel, they are understood and wanted. 

Though many have rejected the paternalism of church teachings, especially on issues of sexual morality, so many Catholics have not been able to wipe away the residue of experiencing the Catholic clergy as a disapproving parent, capable of banishing us from the love of God. (The same attitude is extended to "the Church."

In the comments section of one of the NCR reports on the Ratigan case, several readers noted that Hess would surely be fired eventually for exposing both a predator priest and the mishandling of the case by a bishop who is a favorite of traditionalists.

Responding to this claim, an anonymous commentator, seemingly connected with St. Patrick’s, responded emphatically: “If this principal catches any grief over this[,] a full riot will occur at St. Pat's[.] I will help incite it. We will not let mis-conduct by the diocese punish our excellent school and its stellar leader.”
I pray that this person’s convictions will find support within St. Patrick’s lay community.

By risking their relationship with the institutional church in order to uphold a layperson of integrity, the laity of St. Patrick’s have the opportunity to join the growing ranks of Catholic communities that refuse to collude in the hierarchy’s abuse of power, like the administration of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, Ariz.

As the tales of the institutional church’s deception and negligence continue to mount, lay Catholics must stop making themselves subservient to their imagined notions of the power of the hierarchy, and must instead allow themselves to be channels of the power of God that is made manifest through sacrifice, courage, and truthfulness. 

They must recognize how their internalized clericalism may be impeding their prophetic participation in the Spirit’s unfolding work in our church.

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I have just a few things to add to what Jamie has written.  I told a friend of mine that the Finn fiasco in Kansas City seems to have ignited real honest anger in a lot of  people.  I don't know why that would be, except that Finn sort of proves even the most devout and pious and traditionally conservative of bishops is not any different than the most liberal and secular.  When it comes to the priesthood, for almost all of our bishops,  there is no bridge too far when it comes to valuing priests over the laity.  But in point of fact it might just be Finn's unbelievable comment about not having enough priests that was the spark that brought out all this anger.  There is no rational reason Catholicism has a priest shortage. None.  This one idiotic statement of Finn's, used to justify his failure to act in the case of a real problem priest,  may just actually be the bridge too far.

I now really strongly believe the Church has lost the laity in the West.  It's not a question of when the Church will fold it's tent, but rather, when the laity will recognize the vast vast majority of us have already had enough, we just couldn't admit it, but now are getting ready to act.  The new question is what happens now?  Well, there is a gathering of laity in Detroit over Pentecost weekend, June 10-12.  I suspect the Spirit will be blowing pretty strongly in Detroit that weekend.  I wish I could go, but the Spirit is sort of suggesting I stay where I'm at and honor some other commitments. I will be thinking, praying, and following it very closely.  There's an anger rising through out the Catholic West, and it's not against secularism.  It's against clericalism.  It just has to change and permanently.

For me personally there was another NCR article that had even more impact.  It's this one on the Anglican Ordinariate.  It was this paragraph at the end of the article: 

No one knows what the future holds. People are waiting to see how the ordinariate in England progresses, and what the Church of England does next. But what remains with me is the joyful relief and commitment of these newcomers. At last, they feel, they are understood and wanted.

I just couldn't compute that one thousand Anglican's are made to feel 'understood and wanted' at the expense of tens of millions of Catholics, both men and women, who don't feel either understood or wanted.  In my book that's abusive.  That's clericalism protecting clericalism.