The Boston Globe has now weighed in on the official shunning of a parish. The archdiocese has ordered that no diocesan-sponsored or -related events should be held at Our Lady Help of Christians Parish in Newton, Mass. Here’s the Globe‘s lede:
- Cardinal Bernard F. Law, attempting to assert his authority even as criticism of his conduct rises to fever pitch, has summarily banned all church agencies from holding meetings at a vibrant Newton parish headed by an outspoken pastor who has questioned church teachings on gays and women and has sometimes chafed at Law’s leadership.
Yeah, vibrant if you mean lots of people who dissent from Church teachings are there . Sure, outspoken if you mean brazenly dissenting in public.
I can’t say too much about this here. My brother is the administrator of the parish and I don’t want to say anything that would compromise him. Rest assured that John is an orthodox gem in a field of liberals at the parish.
Just a few words about the public statements of Father Walter Cuenin, the pastor. Earlier this year, when Cardinal Law was preoccupied with the Scandal, Cuenin publicly spoke out against a proposed ban on same-sex marriages in Massachusetts. In September, Cuenin wrote a piece for the New Yorker magazine in which he dissented from Church teaching on contraception, divorce, ordination of married men and women, and homosexuality. And of course Our Lady’s is one of the centers of power for Voice of the Faithful.
The article wants you to believe that the ban on the parish is about a meeting Cuenin plans to have with other pastors about the archdiocesan fundraising campaign. Don’t believe it. There are a lot more issues below the surface. But since Cuenin is the source for the Globe‘s story all you’re going to get is what he wants everyone t believe.
