A source in Brighton tells me that the new pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians in Newton, the newly resigned Fr. Walter Cuenin’s old parish, will be none other than Fr. Chris Coyne. Fr. Coyne (no relation to Fr. Ron Coyne of hell-denial fame) is the former spokesman in the administrations of Cardinal Law/Bishop Lennon/Archbishop O’Malley.
What do we know about him? He’s loyal, he’s in the inner circle, and he’s no shrinking violet. People I know who’ve taken his classes at the seminary and lay institute tell me he’s orthodox. Of course, he’s also the spokesman who told parents objecting to Talking about Touching that they should just trust the archdiocese to have their kids’ best interest at heart. Yeah, because that trust wasn’t just shattered by a little Scandal that precipitated the implementation of Talking about Touching.
It will be interesting to see how Coyne handles this very difficult new ministry.
It should go without saying, but I suppose I can’t assume anything, that we should be praying for Fr. Cuenin and all the people involved in this. What’s more important than ideological battles is communion in Christ and ongoing personal conversion and rejection of sin. That applies to me as much, if not more, than anyone else.
