The sit-in protest at the site of the former St. Albert the Great parish in Weymoth, Mass., continues for a second day (Boston Herald / Boston Globe). I think the archdiocese is taking the right tack at this point: Don’t make create any confrontations, but don’t blink either. Let them protest for a while, even weeks or months if they want, and when the cold weather comes and the heat and electricity are off and they’re down to one or two obstinate protesters, the situation will have resolved itself. Of course, it could continue to drag on for months and months, but time is on the archdiocese’s side. It’s not like they have to move the property anytime soon.
I do think that there will be a media circus for a few days, but even that will fade away too. Meanwhile, we’re treated to the same old, tired hippie-era rhetoric: “Mary Santry, 74, has taken shifts the past two days. ‘They’ve kept the laity oppressed long enough,’ she said. ‘We’re one of the first parishes to stand up to them. We’re not just going to walk away and leave an empty church. We’ll stay and pray until it’s taken away from us.’” Yeah, those nasty hierarchs sending out the stormtroopers to oppress the freedom fighters, how dare they? What kind of oppression has Mary Santry undergone exactly? Has her freedom been taken away? Her property? Has she been refused the opportunity to worship? No. What we have are a lot of people who don’t like the bishop’s decision, and rather than accept the reality they’re presented with, they act like children, stomp their feet, and threaten to hold their breath until they get what they want.
Yesterday, God forgive me, I couldn’t help but be struck by the irony of this tactic. The Mass for the day was offered for Catholics and all Christians persecuted for trying to follow their faith in the Asia/Pacific region and throughout the world.
There are Catholics who would give, and have given anything—even their lives—for access to ANY church building and priest offering Mass and the Sacraments.
Quite a contrast.
“…are taught that ….the people of God are the church…….They say it’s their church. They built it, they worship in it, and no one is going to take it from them.”
Which is it? Are the people the church or is the building the church?
Neither, dpt. Christ founded the Church before these people were born and before this building was built.