How can I report liturgical abuse when the priests keep changing?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Student09
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Student09

Guest
I posted on another thread recently about some pretty significant liturgical abuse at the local Cathedral (leaving out important parts of the Mass, changing parts, heretical statements in homily) and a number of people told me that I should report it to the bishop. But the problem (as I mentioned on the other thread - though no one really listened) is that I don’t know the priest’s name, he’s not listed as a permanent priest and I will probably never see him again. This parish frequently has visiting priests for the weekday Masses, or they may have a priest come for a couple of months. Also it is not my parish and I rarely go (in fact I avoid it like the plague). The reason I avoid it is because it seems like EVERY priest who says Mass there - for however short a time he’s there - seems to have his own personal version of the Mass, and I find it extremely upsetting. I have anxiety problems and changes in the order of the Mass cause me to hyperventilate.

I was forced to go there today, but the priest who butchered the Mass the last time I was there wasn’t there today - instead there was another priest that I have also never seen before, who butchered the Mass in different, but still significant, ways. I don’t know his name either and doubt I will ever see him again.

So to those of you who told me I should report it - HOW exactly do you think I can do that, when they don’t stay and I don’t know their names? What am I supposed to do, ask some random parishioner, “You know that priest who was here a couple weeks ago who changed the Mass and said heretical things?” And then the parishioner will just reply, “Which one?”

Or should I just write a general complaint?

Also, will I go to Hell if I don’t do anything about these abuses - does it make me complicit if I don’t report them? (I struggle with scrupulosity. This is a real question.)
 
You could make an appointment to talk to the Pastor of the parish if it is your parish. If it is the Bishop’s Cathedral, I would write a letter to the Bishop.
 
Excuse me, can you be more specific? What am I supposed to say, “All the priests at the cathedral - including a bunch whose names I don’t know - have done this and this and this?”

And I repeat: will I go to Hell if I do not report these abuses?
 
If you’re worried about going to hell, I would recommend confession.

If you’re want to stop these things from happening, just write the bishop a letter to start. If you don’t know the priest’s name, mention the date and time of the mass. Surely the bishop or someone in his office will have records of who was saying the mass at that time. I think if you say “I attended mass at the Cathedral on Friday, September 17th at #:## AM/PM, and was concerned about what I saw:” and then tell him what you saw, he will be able to figure out the rest. The bigger concern would be how likely it is that the bishop doesn’t know what’s going on in his own cathedral. I hope that is the case, but I remain doubtful.
 
FrancisB said:
If you’re worried about going to hell, I would recommend confession.
Click to expand...
So you’re saying it is a mortal sin for me not to report abuses by priests that I don’t know that happened at a parish I don’t belong to?

WHY DID I JOIN THIS CHURCH?? My life was hard enough already.

And by the way I don’t remember the date of the Mass.
 
No, I never said any such thing. I was merely saying that if your conscience is bothering you, that is the proper route to seek.

And if you don’t know the dates, give the bishop what information you can. He will either investigate or he will not. Either way, the burden is certainly off of you then.
 
FrancisB said:
No, I never said any such thing. I was merely saying that if your conscience is bothering you, that is the proper route to seek.
Click to expand...
As I said, I have scrupulosity. My conscience bothers me ALL the time. I go to Confession a lot but if I went every time my conscience bothered me about some new thing, I would be there every day and maybe multiple times a day. And my regular confessor is currently out of town.
 
It is not a sin for a Catholic to not report liturgical abuses. Also for a sin to be a mortal, deadly sin that would send you to hell, you would need to know it was a serious sin (which it isn’t), and consent to do it anyway. If you choose not to report it, this isn’t any sin for you, not even venial.
If you decide to write the Bishop you could say that every time you have gone to this Cathedral you see what you believe to be liturgical abuses and you list them. I would recommend being as clear and concise as possible. You do not need names or dates. If you decide to report or not report, God bless you for caring about the Mass.
 
I would think that the responsibility for liturgical abuses rests on the shoulders of the bishop or someone in direct authority over those messing up the mass. So take that responsibility off of your shoulders. Write the bishop or other authorities as has been recommended, but don’t beat yourself up over this.

I’m really glad for the hierarchy in the Catholic Church, because you can actually do something about abuses. In protestant churches that have no hierarchy, there’s not much you can do when it’s run by 1, 2, or 3 people.
 
Student09 said:
So you’re saying it is a mortal sin for me not to report abuses by priests that I don’t know that happened at a parish I don’t belong to?
Click to expand...
Certainly not. While you have the right to complain, you aren’t in charge - these priests are not your employees, nor your students, nor your children, so it’s not your job, as such, to correct them.

However, if these abuses are interfering with your peace of mind, you certainly have the right to complain to the Bishop.

Or even, after Mass, simply mention to the priest that it’s quite literally making you crazy when they “get creative” with the Mass - that you are a new Catholic trying to find your way in the Church, and that it would be really nice if the Mass that is celebrated would be at least something like the one in the book that you are following along with.

I’ve done this, with effective results - we had a priest who was leaving out some stuff that I thought was kind of important and when I mentioned to him that I was following along in the book, because I was a new Catholic, and I was noticing that he was omitting a great deal of what was in the book, and it was causing me unrest - perhaps I should ask the Bishop to explain to me why there was such a huge difference between the book and the actual Mass? It very suddenly started to match the book almost exactly, from that time forward. 🙂
 
Student09 said:
I posted on another thread recently about some pretty significant liturgical abuse at the local Cathedral (leaving out important parts of the Mass, changing parts, heretical statements in homily) and a number of people told me that I should report it to the bishop. I have anxiety problems and changes in the order of the Mass cause me to hyperventilate.

Also, will I go to Hell if I don’t do anything about these abuses - does it make me complicit if I don’t report them? (I struggle with scrupulosity. This is a real question.)
Click to expand...
Dear Student,

IMHO it sounds as if you have enough to worry about concerning yourself. You will not go to hell if you don’t report them. You are a visitor and if it bothers you then attend your parish. Why not pray for the priest as I’m confident that the parish can take this burden away from you. Here is a beautiful prayer for priests (sorry for all the caps as it was copied this way).

KEEP THEM, I PRAY THEE, DEAREST LORD,
KEEP THEM, FOR THEY ARE THINE –
THY PRIESTS WHOSE LIVES BURN OUT BEFORE
THY CONSECRATED SHRINE.
KEEP THEM, FOR THEY ARE IN THE WORLD,
THOUGH FROM THE WORLD APART;
WHEN EARTHLY PLEASURES TEMPT, ALLURE, –
SHELTER THEM IN THY HEART.
KEEP THEM, AND COMFORT THEM IN HOURS
OF LONELINESS AND PAIN,
WHEN ALL THEIR LIFE OF SACRIFICE
FOR SOULS SEEMS BUT IN VAIN.
KEEP THEM, AND O REMEMBER, LORD,
THEY HAVE NO ONE BUT THEE,
YET THEY HAVE ONLY HUMAN HEARTS,
WITH HUMAN FRAILITY.
KEEP THEM AS SPOTLESS AS THE HOST,
THAT DAILY THEY CARESS;
THEIR EVERY THOUGHT AND WORD AND DEED,
DEIGN, DEAREST LORD TO BLESS.

IMPRIMATUR: + D. CARD. DOUGHERTY, ARCH. OF PHILADELPHIA

OUR FATHER, HAIL MARY.
MARY, QUEEN OF THE CLERGY, PRAY FOR THEM.

FROM THE PIETA PRAYER BOOK.
 
Thank you, everyone. This really helps. I am typing up the abuses that I have seen and will try to put something together that covers in general what is happening at the parish. I also feel very relieved that I don’t have to worry that it will be a sin if I don’t manage to follow through.

If anyone can point me to some guidelines for how to do this, or has experience with this sort of thing, that would be very helpful. 🙂
 
Student09 said:
So you’re saying it is a mortal sin for me not to report abuses by priests that I don’t know that happened at a parish I don’t belong to?

WHY DID I JOIN THIS CHURCH?? My life was hard enough already.

And by the way I don’t remember the date of the Mass.
Click to expand...
I don’t believe every priest at every Mass you attend does abuses.
It sounds like you have a problem and not the priests!
 
Student09 said:
Thank you, everyone. This really helps. I am typing up the abuses that I have seen and will try to put something together that covers in general what is happening at the parish. I also feel very relieved that I don’t have to worry that it will be a sin if I don’t manage to follow through.

If anyone can point me to some guidelines for how to do this, or has experience with this sort of thing, that would be very helpful. 🙂
Click to expand...
Be sure that what you see as abuses ARE actual abuses and are serious enough to be reported. Don’t just make a list–you need to document when and where they occured, the exact nature of them, not just a list of complaints. And don’t put your personal opinion in the documentation. Just the facts.
 
thistle said:
I don’t believe every priest at every Mass you attend does abuses.
It sounds like you have a problem and not the priests!
Click to expand...
So you are saying I am lying. And “I have a problem”? What gives you the right to say these things to me? Why do you assume that I must not be telling the truth? This is very hurtful and I am already hurting enough already.

And why would you post this when it is totally unhelpful? It’s like you just want to make me feel horrible. That is cruel. I don’t understand that.
 
CB_Catholic said:
Be sure that what you see as abuses ARE actual abuses and are serious enough to be reported. Don’t just make a list–you need to document when and where they occured, the exact nature of them, not just a list of complaints. And don’t put your personal opinion in the documentation. Just the facts.
Click to expand...
As I said, I don’t remember the exact date of every Mass I have attended there.

Would you consider leaving out parts of the Mass, such as the pentitential rite, the Agnus Dei, the “This is the Lamb of God,” and the final blessing, and using a “memorial accalamation” that is not one of the options, and changing the words of the Eucharistic prayer, to be “actual abuses and serious enough to be reported”?

You know what, forget it … you people are not helping and I have enough to deal with. This is all just so unfair.
 
Student09 said:
As I said, I don’t remember the exact date of every Mass I have attended there.

Would you consider leaving out parts of the Mass, such as the pentitential rite, the Agnus Dei, the “This is the Lamb of God,” and the final blessing, and using a “memorial accalamation” that is not one of the options, and changing the words of the Eucharistic prayer, to be “actual abuses and serious enough to be reported”?

You know what, forget it … you people are not helping and I have enough to deal with. This is all just so unfair.
Click to expand...
God Bless you, Student for caring!.

It sounds like that you have a lot on your plate and your soul is weighed down at the moment.

May God bless you with a peace of mind and soul that only He can give. 👍
 
Student09 said:
So you are saying I am lying. And “I have a problem”? What gives you the right to say these things to me? Why do you assume that I must not be telling the truth? This is very hurtful and I am already hurting enough already.

And why would you post this when it is totally unhelpful? It’s like you just want to make me feel horrible. That is cruel. I don’t understand that.
Click to expand...
Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re making yourself sick over this and it is not necessary. It doesn’t matter which church you go to or what priest you see, you will find error because you are looking for it. Looking for errors is ruining the mass for you. Your health is at risk here and you should probably see a doctor if you are having this much anxiety. God bless you and I pray you are relieved and at peace.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top