Freelancing Priest Let Go By Bishop

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misscharlene85

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stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/illinois-priest-who-freelanced-his-prayers-loses-his-job/article_1e238e35-b0e0-58e5-87b6-a890cc79aa3c.html#.TyvrEngbY24.email

Hello all,
Please read the previous article. It is about a priest whose Bishop accepted his resignation after admitting he would not comply with the revisions to the Mass. His Masses before the revision weren’t exactly Orthodox either, but this just gave the Bishop an excuse to let him go, I think.

We have family members who attend this parish, and when we have visited there, have been shocked at all of the unconventional improvisations Fr. Bill does during Mass. Not only does he ‘freelance prayers’ (including during the Liturgy of the Eucharist), but he doesn’t wear vestments, plays guitar during Communion instead of administering the Eucharist, and I could go on, but will leave it at that. Basically, he has watered down the faith at the parish so much that it is hardly distinguishable to be Catholic. The focus is on his style of Mass and on being friendly instead of on Jesus present in the Eucharist.

This priest IS very nice and kind, but as we have tried to tell family members, being nice and kind doesn’t make someone a good priest. Almost his entire parish has looked past his ‘quirks’ and instead say things like, oh well Jesus doesn’t care whether you say ‘and with your spirit or not’. Or ‘prayer should be spontaneous instead of having to say something verbatim according to some Bishop’.

My husband and I support the bishop’s decision, and pray often for the future of this parish. It will not be easy for whoever replaces Fr. Bill, as he’s been there ‘doing his own thing’ for the past 17-18 years. My question for you all is, how can we be good witnesses to the Faith when people say things like, ‘how could any Christian stand for a man of God being let go when there is already a shortage of priests?’ My facebook newsfeed is exploding with posts from people who are outraged and up in arms about the situation. Should I just say something simple like, “May God’s will be done”? Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut.
 
Although the situation is sad. I find it just as sad that the people who attend are so poorly catechised that they can not see something’s wrong.
 
misscharlene85 said:
stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/illinois-priest-who-freelanced-his-prayers-loses-his-job/article_1e238e35-b0e0-58e5-87b6-a890cc79aa3c.html#.TyvrEngbY24.email

Hello all,
Please read the previous article. It is about a priest whose Bishop accepted his resignation after admitting he would not comply with the revisions to the Mass. His Masses before the revision weren’t exactly Orthodox either, but this just gave the Bishop an excuse to let him go, I think.

We have family members who attend this parish, and when we have visited there, have been shocked at all of the unconventional improvisations Fr. Bill does during Mass. Not only does he ‘freelance prayers’ (including during the Liturgy of the Eucharist), but he doesn’t wear vestments, plays guitar during Communion instead of administering the Eucharist, and I could go on, but will leave it at that. Basically, he has watered down the faith at the parish so much that it is hardly distinguishable to be Catholic. The focus is on his style of Mass and on being friendly instead of on Jesus present in the Eucharist.

This priest IS very nice and kind, but as we have tried to tell family members, being nice and kind doesn’t make someone a good priest. Almost his entire parish has looked past his ‘quirks’ and instead say things like, oh well Jesus doesn’t care whether you say ‘and with your spirit or not’. Or ‘prayer should be spontaneous instead of having to say something verbatim according to some Bishop’.

My husband and I support the bishop’s decision, and pray often for the future of this parish. It will not be easy for whoever replaces Fr. Bill, as he’s been there ‘doing his own thing’ for the past 17-18 years. My question for you all is, how can we be good witnesses to the Faith when people say things like, ‘how could any Christian stand for a man of God being let go when there is already a shortage of priests?’ My facebook newsfeed is exploding with posts from people who are outraged and up in arms about the situation. Should I just say something simple like, “May God’s will be done”? Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut.
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Ummm, wow. And no one in the parish was orthodox enough to do or say anything when this all started? If he’s freelancing the Eucharistic Prayer, I have serious doubts as to whether or not one is actually receiving the Body and Blood of our Savior during one of his Masses.

I wouldn’t exactly say anything on Facebook. Too often comments on status updates and wall posts spiral out of control quickly and can just degenerate to name calling and other nastiness with no one really able to get a point across.

If the opportunity comes up in conversation, and people are actually willing to listen to your point of view and not just argue with you, take the time to explain, with as much charity as possible, why this was necessary. Nothing was decided by “some Bishop.” God’s own representative, who was given authority to loose and bind, approved the new translation. Spontaneous prayer is fine, but there is a reason the Mass is structured the way it is. Use these opportunities to teach the faith. If someone comes up with a question you can’t answer, tell them you’ll find the answer and then actually get it to them. With some patience, you might be able to change a few hearts.
 
And taking a closer look, it looks like the school’s principal might need to be let go too. Who knows what those kids are actually learning about the faith.
 
I am truly sorry for all the people of this parish and for those who have responded to your FB posts with a “so what if he’s different” attitude. My only response to the question of relieving a “man of God” of his duties would be that he has already relinquished his position as a priest in Christ’s Church; the Bishop just made it official.
 
The Missal has frustrated many, what was wrong with the old way?? If it was wrong why 40 yrs to correct.

And also with you…
 
Michael_C said:
Although the situation is sad. I find it just as sad that the people who attend are so poorly catechised that they can not see something’s wrong.
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Agree.

A major problem is the lack of obedience. It may be the way that priest wants to pray, but it does not give him a right to publicly disobey the Church and lead all the congregation to disobey along. The fact the priest ignores the Roman Missal and freelances his own way of liturgical prayer, shows he puts his own preference above the Church. It is not only self-centered, but also very rebellious. If he can do that, he could also change the way of confession, modify the way of absolution, or anything else, just because that’s the way he likes.

Applauds for the bishop.
 
The priest didn’t wear vestments? That’s hard for me to believe. I’ve seen more liturgically liberal priests wear the vestments incorrectly but I’ve never seen a priest not wear them at all.
 
TraditonRules said:
The Missal has frustrated many, what was wrong with the old way?? If it was wrong why 40 yrs to correct.

And also with you…
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Come on, really? The Church has been around for 2,000 years. It didn’t spring up in the middle of the 1960s.
 
TraditonRules said:
The Missal has frustrated many, what was wrong with the old way?? If it was wrong why 40 yrs to correct.
Click to expand...
It was mistranslated way back when by men with the same mindset as this priest, then the corrections were stymied by more of the same.

The Spanish translation was done correctly initially, so all this hubbub is nothing to them. Once in a great while I go to a Spanish Mass, and sure enough, there are THREE mea culpas.

As my pastor explained it in a homily, the Mass is the prayer of the WHOLE Church, so we ought to ALL be praying the same thing, even if it is in different languages.
 
He should have been “reined in” long ago.

He’s also another example of a Cult of Personality. Priests like him make a wonderful case for pastor rotation, not just associate rotation.
 
If he were really there for 17-18 years that is quite surprising in itself. Perhaps an effort on the part of the Bishop to not ruin more than one parish by moving him around in the normal time table? Hard to say I guess. If I were a priest, I would be scared to death about doing things in such a way that I led my flock away from the Bride of Christ and thus, Christ Himself. I would be mortified at the thought of my coming judgement for leading His lambs away rather than tending them and letting them starve rather than feeding them as I was supposed to.
 
Richard320 said:
It was mistranslated way back when by men with the same mindset as this priest, then the corrections were stymied by more of the same.
Click to expand...
No such thing as a perfect translation. Take 10 different translators and you will get 10 different translations. How many first year Latin students would translate “Dominus vobiscum” as “The Lord be with you,” for example? Yet this has been done for over 400 years and Anglophones accept an artificial subjunctive as a “literal” translation.
 
ringil said:
The priest didn’t wear vestments? That’s hard for me to believe. I’ve seen more liturgically liberal priests wear the vestments incorrectly but I’ve never seen a priest not wear them at all.
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He just wears the white undergarment part. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I took that as not wearing vestments.
 
Michael_C said:
Although the situation is sad. I find it just as sad that the people who attend are so poorly catechised that they can not see something’s wrong.
Click to expand...
It’s so sad, especially when you have family members attending there. My husband said that all of the Orthodox ones left shortly after the priest arrived, so basically all the parishioners who remain like him enough based on his personality and look past his liturgical improvisations, because “what does that matter anyway?”.
 
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