Catholic priest’s traditionalist changes face resistance from progressive parish in Cincinnati, Ohio. Media report,

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see Catholic priest's traditionalist changes face resistance from progressive Cincinnati parish

The pastor relieved Parker-Martin of her duties as church decorator and replaced the African-themed altar cloth with one similar to those used in other Catholic churches. He disbanded the elected parish council after concluding it was not acting as the “consultative body” required by the church. And he instructed parishioners to kneel, as most Catholics do, after the Profession of Faith and during the prayers before Holy Communion.

Other changes were more subtle – the introduction of religious statues and imagery, for example…
 
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mdgspencer said:
after the Profession of Faith
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Do you mean this from the GIRM?
kneel …from after the Holy, Holy, Holy until the end of the Great Amen (e.g., during the Eucharistic
Prayer),14 unless the church has no kneelers,15 in which case, the faithful stand,16 and make a profound bow when the celebrant genuflects17

14 GIRM, 43
15 “The furnishings of sacred buildings have some relation to the customs of each place. For example, …at Rome in the basilicas in our days there are more often benches which lack kneelers and therefore can accommodate greater numbers. In cases in which it is not possible to kneel, a profound bow and dignified posture will be signs to manifest reverence and adoration at the time of the consecration and communion.” Notitiae 14 (1978): 302-303, n. 4.
16 In churches without kneelers, the faithful are asked to stand for the Eucharistic Prayer. GIRM, 43
17 “Those who do not kneel should make a profound bow when the [celebrant] genuflects after the Consecration.” GIRM, 43
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God Bless Fr. Weber.

This is going to happen more frequently in the coming years as the Church returns to Tradition.
 
The article reflected the slant of the secular media. I have been in parishes where some people, and the pastor, talked constantly about the laity taking responsibility, having an important role, but invariably it’s just a few, generally much more liberal than the majority.

Note the article said nothing about doctrine at the parish, prolife, etc. Is that stronger or weaker? not on the newspaper’s agenda.
 
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Priests come. Priests go. Parishioners must weather changes they do not like. If donations drop with attendance, and once the priest matures in the job, perhaps some compromises can be reached to reflect both the nature of the parish, and the dignity of the Sacraments. I do not envy this priest. A parish with diverse cultures can be quite challenging.
 
Sounds like another case of “Susan from the Parish Council” who was allowed to run the show for too long and now doesn’t like having to do what the priest thinks is best.

Edited to add, by the way, how come the news articles are making it sound like this is about the arrival of a “new priest”? The articles say that the priest has been there since 2016, that’s four years, hardly “new”. You’d think by now the parish would have gotten used to him.
I also find it weird that a parish that is only 10 to 20% black is using African motifs and drums.
 
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I can see a parish tailoring it’s social events or it’s social justice projects etc, to the people of the parish. Hence parishes having St. Patrick’s Day socials, or Spaghetti dinners, Octoberfest, or Pierogi dinners Etc.

But not changing the liturgy to standing whenever they want, or clapping or dancing, and making it unlike mass going on everywhere else.
 
Vico said:
Do you mean this from the GIRM?
kneel …from after the Holy, Holy, Holy until the end of the Great Amen (e.g., during the Eucharistic
Prayer),14 unless the church has no kneelers,15 in which case, the faithful stand,16 and make a profound bow when the celebrant genuflects17

14 GIRM, 43
15 “The furnishings of sacred buildings have some relation to the customs of each place. For example, …at Rome in the basilicas in our days there are more often benches which lack kneelers and therefore can accommodate greater numbers. In cases in which it is not possible to kneel, a profound bow and dignified posture will be signs to manifest reverence and adoration at the time of the consecration and communion.” Notitiae 14 (1978): 302-303, n. 4.
16 In churches without kneelers, the faithful are asked to stand for the Eucharistic Prayer. GIRM, 43
17 “Those who do not kneel should make a profound bow when the [celebrant] genuflects after the Consecration.” GIRM, 43
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Curious. Why did you substitute the wold ‘celebrant’ for the actual word in the instructions, ‘Priest’ ?

I don’t see any reason for that.
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pnewton said:
I do not envy this priest. A parish with diverse cultures can be quite challenging.
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It doesn’t really seem like this is truly a “cultural” thing. It’s more a “boutique church” thing. The pseudo-African decor and drumming is a sham. It’s like kids “playing Indian”. And it’s particularly so in a parish that’s between 10 and 20% black. Do the black members really go to Mass to hear drum beats during it? I doubt it as much as I doubt Irish-descended me would identify with bohrainn beating and tin whistles.

I would guess there’s a lot more about this parish that’s heterodox and defiant besides beating drums during Mass.
 
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Maximian said:
40.png
Irishmom2:
But not changing the liturgy to standing whenever they want, or clapping or dancing, and making it unlike mass going on everywhere else.
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We needed you at Vatican II !
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Vatican II didn’t institute these changes. Please read the documents to verify that this is true.

When VCII happened, we didn’t have the internet to provide the documents to us. So, when some people (who might have had pet projects in mind) said “this is what Vatican II said” or worse “this is in the spirit of Vatican II”, lots of folks took them at face value. We know better now. Well… some of us do. Others still think that Vatican II called for all this silliness. 🤷‍♂️
PeterT said:
Curious. Why did you substitute the wold ‘celebrant’ for the actual word in the instructions, ‘Priest’ ?

I don’t see any reason for that.
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Because he was quoting a document (which in turn cited the GIRM), and that’s what the document states.

Take it up with the Diocese of Cleveland, I’d say. 😉
mdgspencer said:
The pastor relieved Parker-Martin of her duties as church decorator and replaced the African-themed altar cloth with one similar to those used in other Catholic churches. He disbanded the elected parish council after concluding it was not acting as the “consultative body” required by the church. And he instructed parishioners to kneel, as most Catholics do
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This is old news, being recycled in these ‘woke’ days of a new-found activism.

This story made the rounds when the new priest arrived and first made changes to bring the liturgy into line with Catholic norms (much to the dismay of those who had dismantled the norms from the liturgies there, in the first place).

It’s being recycled now and being given a ‘social justice’ spin.

Orthopraxy =/= traditionalism.
Orthopraxy =/= insensitivity.
 
pnewton said:
Why would you even want to guess? If you were going to guess, why use rash judgement and assume then worst.
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The bishop and the priest both wished to terminate the practices and were met with defiance. That’s not a “rash judgment” on my part.
 
The issues involved are not right and wrong. The same bishop that supports the new priest and these changes made that clear.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I also find it weird that a parish that is only 10 to 20% black is using African motifs and drums.
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I’m guessing it was more black 20+ years ago. That church is right in the middle of an area that is currently undergoing an influx of white middle to upper middleclass people. It didn’t used to be that way.

This priest is pastor of a parish close by that underwent the same kind of influx of “yuppies” about 15 years ago. You would hardly find “traditionalists” in that area. It’s progressive, and there are still some poor people in the area despite the ‘gentrification’.

I would also guess that the pastor is changing things based on changing demographics, and this has nothing to do with “tradition” or anything else.
 
We know and love all. Please stop separating yourselves from Asians,Pacific islanders,Latinos and Latinas southern Indians Punjabi and Whites.

All people have different heritages and cultures.
Jesus came from middle east so most likely brown. Awesome. I love Him.
 
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