Have you ever contacted the bishop over liturgical abuse?

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Joe_5859

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When people come to CAF posting about some weird liturgical practice they have come across, “Report it to the bishop” is one of the top pieces of advice that is given. So I got curious (:o). Have a lot of people here at CAF actually done this? Has anyone met with success?

I’ll try to cover a wide range of poll options, but I’m sure I’ll miss something… 😛
 
Joe_5859 said:
When people come to CAF posting about some weird liturgical practice they have come across, “Report it to the bishop” is one of the top pieces of advice that is given. So I got curious (:o). Have a lot of people here at CAF actually done this? Has anyone met with success?

I’ll try to cover a wide range of poll options, but I’m sure I’ll miss something… 😛
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I am blessed to have a very solid parish, but I sent him a letter when a visiting priest gave me an invalid absolution. In several other situations (but not as serious as invalid sacraments), I’ve wanted to send one, but I simply couldn’t make the time.
 
I’m pretty sure however that I don’t actually know what liturgical abuses are.
 
A trifle off topic, maybe, but maybe not.

I have never reported liturgical abuse, but some years back, my son-in-law and daughter were appalled when the diocesan office of religious education prescribed a catechism series that was, frankly, awful; written by a pro-choice priest who also favored womens’ ordination and (in the teaching materials) was very “gay friendly”, encouraging “openness” in the classroom regarding it. Subtle encouragements to dissent were everywhere in it.

My daughter and son-in-law got nowhere with the director of the ORE. Tried to make an appointment with the bishop, but got nowhere. (Our bishop at the time was very “liberal” in his views)

So my son-in-law took the issue to the Knights of Columbus, whose members were also appalled when they saw the content of the series. So, the K of C sent a letter to the director promising that if the series was not withdrawn the K of C would picket the chancery, with big signs about the series. The Fourth Degree would appear in full regalia.

The series was withdrawn within the week.

Something to think about.😉
 
Ridgerunner said:
A trifle off topic, maybe, but maybe not.

I have never reported liturgical abuse, but some years back, my son-in-law and daughter were appalled when the diocesan office of religious education prescribed a catechism series that was, frankly, awful; written by a pro-choice priest who also favored womens’ ordination and (in the teaching materials) was very “gay friendly”, encouraging “openness” in the classroom regarding it. Subtle encouragements to dissent were everywhere in it.

My daughter and son-in-law got nowhere with the director of the ORE. Tried to make an appointment with the bishop, but got nowhere. (Our bishop at the time was very “liberal” in his views)

So my son-in-law took the issue to the Knights of Columbus, whose members were also appalled when they saw the content of the series. So, the K of C sent a letter to the director promising that if the series was not withdrawn the K of C would picket the chancery, with big signs about the series. The Fourth Degree would appear in full regalia.

The series was withdrawn within the week.

Something to think about.😉
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That’s very interesting. 😛 I would have never thought to go that route. I can certainly see how the chancery would want to avoid that. 🙂
 
Joe_5859 said:
When people come to CAF posting about some weird liturgical practice they have come across, “Report it to the bishop” is one of the top pieces of advice that is given. So I got curious (:o). Have a lot of people here at CAF actually done this? Has anyone met with success?

I’ll try to cover a wide range of poll options, but I’m sure I’ll miss something… 😛
Click to expand...
I met with resounding success. A priest who was serving in the Diocese I was then part of always invited everyone to sing the “Through Him, With Him, In Him…” prayer. :tsktsk: That is to be prayed by the priest alone. I went to see the Bishop and told him. The next time that priest said Mass at our parish, he said that prayer alone. The Bishop of that Diocese is very cool. :clapping:

sing4joy :tiphat:
 
Joe_5859 said:
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...So my son-in-law took the issue to the Knights of Columbus, whose members were also appalled when they saw the content of the series. So, the K of C sent a letter to the director promising that if the series was not withdrawn the K of C would picket the chancery, with big signs about the series. The Fourth Degree would appear in full regalia.
The series was withdrawn within the week."

That’s very interesting. 😛 I would have never thought to go that route. I can certainly see how the chancery would want to avoid that. 🙂
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Gotta love those Knights. They know what’s what!!! :clapping::extrahappy::bounce::tiphat:
 
I never have; my parish is pretty solid. That’s not to say I would never do so, but it would have to be something really serious.
 
I have contacted the diocese’s Office of Divine Worship, to get a clarification on whether or not the bishop had given certain permissions. But not His Excellency himself. I’m currently drafting a commendation letter to him about a certain priest.
 
I would certainly report to the Bishop a serious abuse, however I see a lot of abuses in this area which are minimal and I never have reported those. What I mean by serious is using other than plain bread and wine for consecration, using different words for the consecration, etc.
 
JGMendes4049 said:
I’m currently drafting a commendation letter to him about a certain priest.
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Joe_5859 said:
👍 I’m sure that’s the kind of letter the bishop would enjoy receiving a little bit more.
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I was going to pose this as a counter-question to the OP’s poll-

How many of us out there have ever sent a letter to our pastor/priest/Bishop praising him for something instead of complaining?! :rolleyes:

I work for my diocese, so I see my Bishop often, and will often share with him some good thing I have experienced by way of one of his priests or deacons whenever I see him. I also send private notes & e-mails to priest/deacons when they inspire me in a homily, etc. I am a firm believer in accentuating the positive!! 😃

As to the OP and the poll,
No, I have never had too.
Anytime I ever had any issue or question about something, I have always started with the source (ususally the priest or deacon) and have been satisfied with the outcome, so there has never been any reason to write my Bishop about abuse.
 
I did not vote since none of the answers applied.
I see no point in reporting liturgical abuse to the bishop, since he either actively promotes or tolerates most of the liturgical abuse that I have seen.
 
Nope and I hope I never have to. I did send a letter asking a question to the priest who oversees the liturgical office in my former Diocese but I was not writing to complain, merely to satisfy curiosity.
 
I never have but not because I didn’t want to. I had seen how our former pastor acted around the bishop who happened to be his seminary buddy and I knew that, barring a sacrilege or invalid Mass, nothing would be accomplished by complaining. I had heard Pastor tell the the bishop that even though he knew that what he had on the altar made the bishop unhappy he wasn’t going to change it; and although the bishop didn’t want him to spend his days teaching in another community he still continued to do so for weeks on end.

There was one occasion when he did expect me to call the bishop over something that happened at a funeral. He even told me that when he called the bishop and told him about it himself and that his first words were “Before someone calls…” to which I replied, “I’m the only person who knows what happened and if I haven’t called him before I was unlikely to call him about this matter.” Good thing too, since nobody had bothered to pass on some documents and he’d done nothing wrong.
 
No.

But I did write a long letter to the bishop in support of our rector, who has reintroduced Latin, incense, chant, and other sacred music to our liturgy. In doing so, he’s encountered tremendous backlash, in the form of nasty, threatening letters to the bishop, from many parishioners. I also have (informally) encouraged other parishioners who treasure a reverent liturgy to write letters of support.
 
We really need to get CAF to add a “like” button!!
👍
GwenL said:
No.

But I did write a long letter to the bishop in support of our rector, who has reintroduced Latin, incense, chant, and other sacred music to our liturgy. In doing so, he’s encountered tremendous backlash, in the form of nasty, threatening letters to the bishop, from many parishioners. I also have (informally) encouraged other parishioners who treasure a reverent liturgy to write letters of support.
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Good for you!
GwenL said:
No.

But I did write a long letter to the bishop in support of our rector, who has reintroduced Latin, incense, chant, and other sacred music to our liturgy. In doing so, he’s encountered tremendous backlash, in the form of nasty, threatening letters to the bishop, from many parishioners. I also have (informally) encouraged other parishioners who treasure a reverent liturgy to write letters of support.
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It would have to be a very serious abuse, such as one that affected the validity of the Eucharist. Even then, I would speak to the priest and others at the parish first. If nothing came of that, then I would write a charitable email to the Bishop about it.

I agree with others who said we should write nice and positive emails to our Bishops. What a great idea. Our poor Bishops, imagine the hundreds of complaints they have to go through all the time. They really do need our prayers and positivity. Reminds me of how at work (fast food), people just love to complain about anything and everything, but rarely does anyone stop to tell you that you’re doing a good job. When that does happen, it makes us feel so unbelievably good, I can’t even describe. It’s a great feeling. Unfortunately, most people are too busy to take the time to say it.
 
Yes I did.

Several years ago, a new pastor was assigned to our former parish. He decided to empty the holy water fonts during Lent. I discussed the CDWDS’s statement on that subject with him, but he stated that it was very representative on 'the dryness of Lent" and that he was not going to change this practice.

I wrote a letter to our then archbishop, Cardinal Maida.

I don’t make any claim to be responsible, but in the following January, +Maida sent a letter to all parishes in the archdiocese forbidding the practice of emptying the holy water fonts outside of the Tridium.
 
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