Amy gets it right and I agree with her.
It’s just me. Really. But I’m not seeing the point on any more fevered commentary on either the Reese or Levada situations. The chicken little cries from both sides are approaching self-parody and contributing nothingstor? (I’ll give you a hint, it’s not the “Maintenance Technician.”)
I agree with Richard.
Richard,
Thanks for posting the link to Levada’s 1995 defense of life and rebuke of “personally opposed but…” Catholic Democratic quislings in public office.
Yes, I agree that the hysteria needs to subside, the prayers for Benedict and yes Archbishop Levada need to be ramped up, and our faith in the Holy Ghost’s guidance of the Church needs to be fortified.
With “friends” like our neo-Pharisees with such little faith in the indefectibility of our Church waiting for the new Pope to “stumble” (in their “infallible” eyes), who needs enemies?
I think the wailing and gnashing of teeth can start when a Mahony-man gets the mitre, crosier, and ring of the see of St. Francis, don’t you?
Levada’s appointment has to be see as a Vatican-endorsed green-light to bishops to tolerate civil unions to obtain political peace.
If that were true, you wouldn’t have seen the big fuss made over the pending Spanish law last week.
The answer to Dom’ question- trust pope Benedict.
Levadacomment_id>27734
zzzulie@hotmail.com
199.243.239.6
2005-05-13 08:58:15
2005-05-13 12:58:15
“Levadaart Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Mt 16:18)
Tanfenas: Yahoo and Reuters are not prophets. Their past prophesies have been tested and found wanting. “Avoid any semblance of evil.”
I take this appointment to mean: Business As Usual.
“Yahoo and Reuters are not prophets.”
I don’t say they are prophets. It’s only for your information.
“Sacramental minister?”
And I’ll bet they must produce loads of vocations.
With a staff like this, it’s got to be Father Jasmine, right?
John Lydon- Sacramental Minister.
This is part of the Satanic goal of neutering the Order of Malcheidech. Elevating laity to “ministry” and demoting the Holy Priests of Jesus Christ, order of Melchizedek.
Protestant-ization. Let’s be charitable with our brothers but let’s stop imitating them.
orthodox: Actually that line was said by Martin Luther, not the Blessed Mother.
http://jloughnan.tripod.com/salquote.htm
I’m with Rod on this one. I’m alarmed that any American Bishop is even let near the Holy See.
I am father of three children who have been subjected to continual catechetical abuse. Their teachers have taught them the usual heresies: essentially that no one goes to Hell, all churches lead to God, so why be so concerned with what the Church has to say? To my children I am a lone voice. The staff at my parish openly call me a fundamentalist even though I rarely speak up.
I am worried that a man, archbishop Levada, who apparently did not have the courage, ability or power to correct problems in San Francisco or Portland will not have the power to implement Ex Corde Ecclesiae. Pope Benedict says do not be afraid, but pray as I might, I am still a bit afraid.
As a layman I sympathize with those above me, like Levada,who do not exercise authority. I have made the fatherly decision to allow my daughter to enter Villanova next year instead of insisting that she attend a university faithful to the Church. It was a critical and painful decision. Maybe +Levada’s decision to compromise with his diocese on domestic partners was a similar painful compromise. Lack of courage trickles down to us lowly laymen who try to raise kids faithful to the Church.
I just wish that someone above me would have the strength to bear me up so that I would not feel so alone and my kids would see someone else of orthodox beliefs other than Dad.
Melancholy in NYC,
Sayre Swarztrauber
A couple of other notes. If you click onto the main page, you see a picture of the sanctuary, such as it is. The church looks like a barren gymnasium.
Secondly, they make a particular point of emphasizing that there is a “Nursery available.” Because you wouldn’t want to be troubled by the presence of children, now would you?
If blogs had existed when Pope John Paul appointed Cardinal Ratzinger prefect, might some have expressed deep concerns and reservations about Cardinal Ratzinger’s background—“liberal” peritus to “liberal” Cardinal Frings at Vatican II, etc.? With hindsight, though, we praise the wisdom of the appointment.
Any word on who Levada’s replacement will be?
Hello Jeff,
That’s an excellent point, and one I nearly raised myself.
Hello Thomas,
Not even George, Dolan, Burke, Chaput, or Bruskewitz?
Someone should remind people that quite a few American bishops serve at the Vatican, although none have headed a congregation like the CDF.
I just wish people would have a bit more humility in commenting on all of this. I mean, has anyone ever even spoken a “hello” to the man? Comments too often read as if people know everything about these figures, when in fact most have little if any first-hand experience with any of these bishops.
sayre,
Priests and bishops are human, fallible, yes. Even Peter denied Christ, as we are reminded in today’s gospel reading when Christ gives Peter a second chance to affirm his love.
Why did Christ pick Peter, a frail man, as the Rock on which to build his Church except to teach us that we should not trust in ourselves or in human strength but trust in Him. Do not despair when you recognize the human frailties in yourself or in those men who are called to lead the Church. Instead do as Peter did when he threw himself out of the boat to walk on water, trusting in Christ not is his own strength to bear him up.
Christ has the strength to bear you up. Look to him if your courage fails you.
Close the newspaper, turn off the television and the computer, do not listen to the news if it fills you with despair. Pick up your rosary instead, turn to Our Lady and ask her to hold you in her loving arms, to bring your concerns before her Son. You are never alone as long as you are in Christ.
I first saw the link to this ‘faith community’ (what happened to ‘Catholic parish’) on Freerepublic yesterday. The guy who posted it is a deacon in that area and he says it is full to the brim at Mass. I guess if it was the only place around for Mass I would go and offer it up although I would also give thanks for the Eucharist, but honestly, I recoil at those pictures posted. I guess it’s supposed to be part of the ‘getting back to the original church’ but man, it is ugly and stark, looks cold too. Bet it cost a fortune to build.
Interestingly, it looks like there’s a parish or ‘faith community’ school attached.
Final thought is that this must be the apex of modernism in Catholicism… a fully functional female laity run ‘faith community’ without a resident priest.
>>I take this appointment to mean: Business As Usual.—Rod
If it’s business as usual at the CDF, a continuation of the policies of Cardinal Ratzinger, I would have no complaints.
What about the dude with the title “Plant Manager”? Could this be Amchurch code for “pastor”?
<—- who has done such a splendid job of holding bishops accountable for allowing their dioceses to turn into Augean stables of sexual misconduct and infidelity.
One interesting angle:
Levada was at one point Bishop Co-Chair of the Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue in the United States (ARC-USA).
I wonder if that factor may not bulk very large in the coming months and years given rumored dicussions which may bring large contingents of the Anglicans over the Tiber.
I sent this in a email to Dom while I tried to figure out how to comment—:)
I grew up not 5 miles from Good Shepherd. That parish has never had a pastor. The diocese created the parish maybe 15 years ago but never assigned a priest there. They really do rely on a priest to show up, dispense sacraments, and leave til next week. And it has always been a little loopy, I think as a result of that.
(mind you, many of the people there would really like to have a priest assigned – but the diocese keeps telling them, get used to it, this is the church of the future—in 20 years all the parishes will be like this.)
Anytime a parish calls itself a “community”, you know it’s one you should avoid. Nothing more than protestantism with a few Catholic trappings.
And any parish that calls itself a “community” doesn’t have a church – it’s a “worship space”.
How did Levada handle the sex abuse crisis in San Francisco? The invaluable Ron Russell has details here. In the story, you’ll read about the heroic Father Conley, who caught a priest in flagrante with an altar boy, and tried to get Levada and his auxiliary to take care of it like Christian men … and got the run-around. Finally, Fr. Conley lost his cool, and sent the following message to Levada, through Levada’s lawyer:
“The message was to tell the archbishop to grow some balls and start acting like a man.”
I think the pope should have named Father Conley head of the CDF.
Call it uncharitable of me – I should pray about this – but I see stuff like this and I instantly feel a surge of sharing every single bit of Rod’s cynicism about what has happened to our Church.
The building itself looks like a real contender for one of Michael Rose’s Ugly as Sin honors, though I am for some reason also called to mind of some architecture I remeber seeing in some of those old Planet of the Apes movies, when brushed concrete and glass were all the rage.
“Il>https://www.bettnet.com
192.168.1.1
2005-05-13 12:13:58
2005-05-13 16:13:58
Sayre,
Far be it from me to tell people to stop patronizing my works, both paid and unpaid, but if they are an obstacle to peace, then maybe you should.
Hi Martha,
Which diocese is this parish in and who is the bishop there? There are usually links on parish pages but this ‘faith community’ doesn’t have links, guess they are fully autonomous!
Just looking at all the ‘jobs’ makes your head spin! Maybe this is the perfect way to create a ‘peace and justice’ faith community? Everyone has a position paid for by everyone else? Yikes!
Domenico:
I doubt I will stop reading Catholic news. I don’t think I can. Anyway it will not help me stop worrying about what my children are being taught.
Thanks,
Sayre
Personally I’m very optimistic on the quality of new bishops we’re getting these days. After all, that’s the best path to good governance, good bishops—not having the Vatican spending all their time peering over the shoulders of less-than-ideal bishops. I think that in 3 years when Cardinal George presumably wins election as president of the USCCB we’ll be able to look around and …. well, I’m struggling for the perfect phrase, but we’ll see good strong clear leadership replacing timidity and damage control as the dominant mentality. Not solely due to Cardinal George, but to folks like Bishop Gumbleton & Co. finally retiring and fading away, replaced by Jugises and Rhoadeses and Burkes.
Seems to me that the new archbish of San Fran will contribute at least as much to the situation of the Church in the US as the new CDF Prefect for the universal Church.
Just noticed that – like Obituary Notices – the names are all in alphabetical order.
And what do Obituary Notices say to youomment_content>
The guy who arranges all the lavender flowers?
Whatever the future holds, remember one thing and never let it get far from your thinking…Jesus Christ is Lord. He is the one and only Son of God. He is unique and has no equal in any other religion on earth. He is not just another avatar. Catholicism is not just one of many ways to God. It is the only way to God.
Remember Dominus Iesus.
And remember the First Commandment. “I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange Gods before me.”
Remember that our present pope is the author of Dominus Iesus.
I just picked today’s post with the most subscribers. This has nothing to do with the topic, but I thought maybe folks would like to take this opportunity to say a prayer to Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, both memorials which are celebrated today, May 13.
Thanks,
Kelly
Dom writes:
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Whatever his record in Frisco – which I don’t know much about – the skillsets needed for a curia job are different from those needed for pastoral work. And if he didn’t have them, I simply cannot imagine Pope Benedict appointing him.
One interesting read I dug up online – a 1995 anti-abotion essay by Levada: Whoever is not with me is against me
What’s needed now is to pray for Levada to continue Ratzinger’s strong role in defending the faith and for a strong replacement in San Francisico.
Tanfenas: Amen!
Yes, Jesus Christ is Lord; the same Lord who founded His Church on Peter and his successors and promised (in the Truth that flows from His Divine nature) that the Gates of hell would never prevail against that Church. 2,000 years of saints AND yahoos sufficiently proves the point, I think.