Canonist Ed Peters offers another view of the implications of the bankruptcy judge’s ruling that the Portland archdiocese owns parishes and schools. Ed points out that bishops are bound to act according to canon law in the exercise of their... [Continue Reading]
Here’s the latest on the breakaway parish in St. Louis, St. Stanislaus Kostaka. A letter to the editor in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch extolled the virtues of St. Stanislaus, and more specifically the Polish priest who broke obedience to his... [Continue Reading]
The Congregation for the Clergy has issued the first denial of an appeal by a closed Boston parish. The people can still continue their appeal by filing with the Apostolic Signatura, sort of like the Supreme Court, but it’s expensive and... [Continue Reading]
Lest we forget, the battle over closed parishes in Boston continues. The folks at one parish, St. Frances Cabrini in Scituate, seem to not grasp the meaning of either what’s happening in the Church or even what it means to be Catholic. First... [Continue Reading]
A friend sends along the following information out of Rome. I can’t vouch for how accurate it is because I don’t have a second source, but it’s interesting nonetheless. I hope I can verify it soon. Cardinal Arinze, Prefect of the... [Continue Reading]
Another thought about the previous post. Note that the Vatican decision only applies to the assets that now belong to the welcoming parish. The decision did not grant a reprieve from closing, suppression, or merger.
The largest diocesan sex abuse settlement has been approved by the presiding judge. The Diocese of Covington, Kentucky, will pay out $120 million. Forty million will come from diocesan assets, and the diocese and victims will sue two insurance... [Continue Reading]
The Visitor, the newspaper of the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minnesota, has a new editor and he’s off to a rollicking start of dissent and heterodoxy. The very first sentence of his most recent editorial is: The church should begin seriously... [Continue Reading]
Another email from one of my lawyer-readers on the topic of why a diocese could claim that parish assets are not diocesan assets for the purpose of legal settlements and bankruptcy proceedings: OK, I think you have hit upon it. The diocese and... [Continue Reading]
I’ve talked to a few people about my blog entry yesterday about why bishops don’t own parishes but can close them. For one thing, the apparent discrepancy between the ability of Archbishop Sean O’Malley to close parishes in the... [Continue Reading]