This isn’t exactly news, but since the Boston Globe and other local newspapers have written it up, I’ll respond. The backers of Fr. Walter Cuenin at Our Lady Help of Christians parish in Newton, Mass., have issued a report saying his ouster was unjustified. I’m shocked! Shocked! Do you mean that his supporters don’t think he should resigned? Please.
Once I ask the question his supporters never seem to answer. If Cuenin did nothing wrong, why did he resign? Why didn’t he fight it? Why did he, at first, ask his supporters not to make a stink (although he evidently later changed his mind)?
Cuenin violated clear and well-known archdiocesan policies via actions that enriched him to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. That alone is worthy of punishment. But like the supporters of Bill Clinton who said he was only guilty of lying about sex and therefore the crticisms must have been solely motivated by ideology, Cuenin’s supporters lamely acknowledge the money he shouldn’t have taken and instead want to claim that the real reason he was removed was because he’s a heterodox dissenter who encouraged others to treat sin as virtue. I wish that it were so.
I will say this again as well: Cuenin should have been removed for voicing his heterodox views long ago. They shouldn’t have waited until they had a financial scandal to pin on him. Heresy is enough.
Technorati Tags: Catholic, Cuenin, parish finances, priesthood
Amen! So why wasn’t he?
Fr. Cuenin’s cult followers will,no doubt, be attending “A weekend with James Alison”,Feb.3,4 at the Jesuit Urban Center,“co-sponsored by St. Anthony’s Shrine,the Paulist Center,St. Ignatious of Loyola Church,and the Jesuit Urban Center”. Insight into what Alison will be saying can be found at the websight:
http://www.jamesalison.co.uk/texts/eng23.html
This is a “Letter of response to friends in the aftermath of the Vatican Instruction of 29 November 2005”. Alison, who proclaims that he is a gay priest(“All those involved in my ordination knew me to be gay.”) and a theologian, uses rhetoric in a very crafty way and argues from the premise that being gay is “what people are”. In this use of language, he requires that one accept the belief that God created human beings as “gay’ or “straight” and dismisses that fact that God created human beings as “male” and “female”. As the old saying goes: “He who controls the language, controls the argument.” Alison is very clever at controling the language! Fr. Cuenin’s cult followers will eat it up!!
Did you read a letter to the editor pointing out that in one paragraph they claim he was removed and the next he resigned?
“co-sponsored by St. Anthony’s Shrine,the Paulist Center,St. Ignatious of Loyola Church,and the Jesuit Urban Center”
Man! All the stars are coming out for this event.
United they stand, divided they fall…
I imagine they will all fall united as well.
There’s a lot at stake here. Dissidents are shopping around a bit, I expect. I hope the genuine schism the Catholic church in North American has been courting for some time doesn’t occur over Boston and environs.