A Priest about to lose his Faith

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mgy100:
I liked how he said people aren’t being taught about the Eucharist… etc…
I think he brings up valid points… and he is challenging the laity by saying if they don’t do something then they are just blind and like sheep with paychecks.
The Roman Catholic bishop here was one of the worst to cover the scandals. He has a vacation house only him and his friends use in a tropical island (not telling where for identity purposes). He bought a 50,000 dollar throne, he has a multi-million dollar house and two cathedrals that are HUGE. But yet the diocese is loosing millions. The people are p[aying for it while he gets to run around rich. Why can’t he sell some of his property, which is actually the peoples?
There is a problem. A huge problem. Nothing has been done about it and nothing will be.
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Can you tell me how you know these things? Could you point me to a link to a newspaper article or something? Thanks
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oat soda:
it’s sad but this is exactly what God tells will happen to us for doing the right thing. we are truely blessed when we suffer for the sake of the gospel. look at what happened to his Son and joseph in the book of genesis. both were doing the Father’s will and ended up suffering for it. but in the end, were redeemed. all of the apostles minus one were martyrs.

the problem is most bishops today would rather live the easy life then deal with the persecutions and hardships associated with satan’s attack on the church. they are cowards and poor shepards who are supposed to lay their life down for the flock, not have others suffer for them.
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I just read the part of Augustine’s City of God where he explains that the “persecution for righteousness’ sake” that was experienced by the early Church as physical danger is continued in the state-sanctioned Church as a spiritual suffering because of the tares that are allowed to grow along with the wheat. That sounds like what this thread is about.
 
Andreas Hofer:
I just read the part of Augustine’s City of God where he explains that the “persecution for righteousness’ sake” that was experienced by the early Church as physical danger is continued in the state-sanctioned Church as a spiritual suffering because of the tares that are allowed to grow along with the wheat. That sounds like what this thread is about.
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I read something along these lines recently and I am sorry that I can’t remember for the life of me where I heard it.

The idea is that Virgin Mary is considered to be a Martyr for the Church. Many ask why…‘no one beat or killed her’ .
Being a martyr does not always mean losing your head to a knife. The Blessed Virgin Mary suffered inside. It is this internal suffering you are talking about here. Internal suffering is as painful as external physical suffering.
 
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contemplative:
I read something along these lines recently and I am sorry that I can’t remember for the life of me where I heard it.

The idea is that Virgin Mary is considered to be a Martyr for the Church. Many ask why…‘no one beat or killed her’ .
Being a martyr does not always mean losing your head to a knife. The Blessed Virgin Mary suffered inside. It is this internal suffering you are talking about here. Internal suffering is as painful as external physical suffering.
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Bingo, and the internal suffering caused by sinners within the Church has just as much potential to turn souls away from Christ as external persecution, if you ask me.
 
Boy this case sounds a lot like the Fr. O’Connor case when he reported the same problems and then some. SOme that go all the way to Boys Town. This is so sad. Pray Pray Pray for our priests.
 
If a priest wrote those words, then he certainly was disrespectful to God to say the least. He must repent.

Also too much self-pity and whining. There are many wonderful, holy priests.
 
Speaking as a Diocese of Arlington parishioner, one thing I can tell you is that I’ve never come into contact with any priest here who I had even the slightest suspicion of as being gay. I don’t doubt Father Haley probably really did see some or all of the things he described, and that no diocese is perfect, and I’ve never met/talked with Father Haley, so I haven’t heard his side in person. I have met our bishop though , Father Paul Loverde, and I have nothing but respect for him. The same goes for the seminarians here that I’ve met. I greatly appreciate being in this diocese, from what I can tell and from what I’ve heard its one of the most orthodox in the country, up there with Lincoln, Nebraska. I love going to Mass at any parish here because its always done very reverently and solemnly, our parishes usually only have altar boys (as opposed to altar girls), and the message coming from the priest’s pulpit is always an orthodox Catholic teaching. I consider one of the parochial vicars at my regular parish a good friend and spiritual mentor, in addition to having him as a regular confessor. Like I said there probably are some gay priests here, but I have yet to meet them. While I feel sorry for the bad experiences Father Haley has gone through, my gut tells me he has gone to far in his accusations and most of the blame for his problem now probably lies with him. Just my opinion, for what its worth.
 
Excuse me for saying so, but it sounds like he is just whinning and complaining.

He blames God for his problems? He may have real problems, but so did Jesus. I don’t understand why he would lose his faith in God just because he has this cross to bear. Problems with the Church notwithstanding, it seems God is just the One he should turn to in a case like this.
 
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aurora77:
When he talks of this “homosexual crisis” it makes me wonder if this is a new phenonmena. There’s no way we could go back a thousand years and find out the sexual orientation of the priests of the day, but are more gay men becoming priests now than before? If so, why? If not, why the stress on the issue now? Become homosexuality is much more commonly talked about and out there now than in the past?

I feel sorry for Fr. Haley, but when he starts blaming God and calling him “powerless” he loses a lot of sympathy. I guess we all react differently to difficult situations, but I’ve known people much worse off than him who don’t blame God.
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Around the time near the end of the Second Vatican Council a lot of instructions from Rome were deliberately ignored. One of these instructions was the constant ban of homsexuals from the priesthood and religious life. There are many documents that state this explicitly. So, yes it is a new phenomenon in the Church that homosexuals have been allowed to enter the seminaries and religious communities.
 
never heard of this guy, don’t know what his problem or history is, and the article doesn’t give the backstory, but responding to your title, if he is in danger of losing his faith because of actions of his religious superiors or hierarchy, his faith is weak to begin with. Our faith rests in Jesus Christ, not on individuals. We belong to the whole Church, united, holy, universal and apostolic given to us by Christ, not to our own private little country clubs.

The path to holiness begins in humility, and growth in humility begins with obedience to all lawful orders of one’s superios, even in the face of injustice. If he is combatting injustice and wrong behavior on the part of his superiors, there is a recognized chain of command to do so, which he should be following. If he is persecuted because he is seeking justice, he should take comfort in the beatitudes and unite his suffering with Christ’s.
 
I don’t know the man, but if one reads his deposition linked in the following article (it is in a pdf file toward the end of the article, and not for the faint of heart or tender of age), you will get a better picture of what happened to him. It is from his point of view, of course, but the three priests that he talked to the bishop about were eventually removed after the situation was made public. I think the way he had been treated may explain his current state.

cruxnews.com/rose/rose-19march04.html
 
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