Bishop Morlino warns dissenters to stop — or else

[Mrs_Sally]

But look how many times they have Holy Mass and access to the Sacrament of Reconciliation , if they don’t like these Priests am I allowed to rob them for the Parish near my university .

What I think is interesting is that St Mary has 2 daily Masses (one is the EF), and only 2 Sunday Masses - one of which is Spanish.

I wonder how the Spanish-speaking community feels about the changes. And I also wonder what the Mass schedule used to be?

 

[tarboy]

To be candid, after skimming this thread,
It sounds like Bishop Morlino waited to long to address this issue.

Instead of letting the dissent fester and become entrenched,
He should have done a quick but thorough investigation when the original complaints were made,

At times like this a leader must be decisive to stop open dissent, and get everyone focused back on what matters. Like a wound, the longer it festers, more damage is done to the body and the harder it is to heal over.

 

[superamazingman]

To be candid, after skimming this thread,
It sounds like Bishop Morlino waited to long to address this issue.

Instead of letting the dissent fester and become entrenched,
He should have done a quick but thorough investigation when the original complaints were made.

That’s pretty much what happened. This was not the first letter, just an escalating of the situation.

As soon as he received a petition from them shortly after the priests came, he issued a loving but firm letter telling them that:

1. They need to knock it off
2. The priests aren’t going anywhere

 

[OriginalJS]

I have skimmed this thread and am unable to tell much. Everything is so veiled. The bishop has the authority to keep the same priests at the church even though their presence seems to have fomented reactions that have resulted in the lamented school closing, apparently through defunding. It is hard to believe many parishioners would take this route without some reason. Perhaps it would be better to recognize that sometimes certain people are not good fits for some assignments, regardless of their qualifications. Some priests have better communications skills than others. It looks like there has been a real breakdown in communications here.

 

[JReducation]

That’s pretty much what happened. This was not the first letter, just an escalating of the situation.

As soon as he received a petition from them shortly after the priests came, he issued a loving but firm letter telling them that:

1. They need to knock it off
2. The priests aren’t going anywhere

That’s not allowed to bishops. The Fathers belong to a society of apostolic life. The bishop must first allow the superior of the house to deal with it. If he steps in before the superior takes action, it can be considered an intrusion and the bishop can be in serious trouble with t he Sacred Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

He must wait until the local superior tries. If and when the parishioners fail to comply wit the authority of the local superior, then a bishop can step in. At that point, the parishioners are overstepping their bounds. Parishioners have a right to complain to the superior and the superior has a right to try to resolve the problem without the bishop’s interference.

Laws governing the relationship between societies, religious orders and the bishops are very strictly guarded by the Holy See.

The bishop did exactly what the law says he must do. He is protecting the society. You can’t protect a community unless you have proof that it’s under attack. I disagreement does not constitute an attack. A lot of diplomacy is involved here, because legally the superior and the bishop are of equal rank, even though a male superior need not even be a priest or a religious. He simply needs to be male and be canonically elected.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, FFV