News from Diocese of Saginaw, MI

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That’s a very good editorial. I’m not exactly happy with the second-to-last paragraph. It seems to be a slap in Carlson’s face, almost like he made the decision to leave. “…but we hope you stick around long enough to lead…” Maybe I am totally misunderstanding that line… but it is obvious that people would like a Bishop to stick around and that’s entirely understandable; I’m not bashing that; what does hit me as odd is the phrase “we hope you stick around long enough to lead.” Almost as though some are thinking that Carlson decided to leave?

I do hope all that we are hearing about Bishop Cistone and the abuse cover-up stuff is not the complete truth; but that he will truly guide the diocese as a holy and good shepherd.

I really do wish the best for Saginaw. Y’all deserve the best!
 
bknebel said:
That’s a very good editorial. I’m not exactly happy with the second-to-last paragraph. It seems to be a slap in Carlson’s face, almost like he made the decision to leave. “…but we hope you stick around long enough to lead…” Maybe I am totally misunderstanding that line… but it is obvious that people would like a Bishop to stick around and that’s entirely understandable; I’m not bashing that; what does hit me as odd is the phrase “we hope you stick around long enough to lead.” Almost as though some are thinking that Carlson decided to leave?

I do hope all that we are hearing about Bishop Cistone and the abuse cover-up stuff is not the complete truth; but that he will truly guide the diocese as a holy and good shepherd.

I really do wish the best for Saginaw. Y’all deserve the best!
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It depends on how you define ‘decision’ I suppose…generally speaking a bishop is offered an appointment and can accept it or decline it…and some do decline it…on the other hand, it’s not like your declining a transfer from the Chase bank in Seacaucus to the Chase bank in Dallas.

The gist of what the paper wrote is probably the gist of what many people felt when Bp Carlson came in 2005…he wouldnt be there long.
 
frommi said:
The gist of what the paper wrote is probably the gist of what many people felt when Bp Carlson came in 2005…he wouldnt be there long.
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The gist of what the paper wrote IS NOT the gist of what I and many others felt when Bishop Carlson came. I’d say more like, “Thank you, God!”
In his short stay of nearly five years, he accomplished a great deal, and with such grace and love. And I am one of many who will always be grateful. May God bless Archbishop Carlson!
 
singerlady said:
Does anyone have any thoughts on the link that Frommi posted? I’m sure there is more to that story than what the media has reported. The quotes around the word “sorrow” tend to imply that the writer of the article has a bias. But given what our diocese went through in 2002, I am troubled by the story of a cover up in Philadelphia.
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MFM said:
The archdiocese responded pretty strongly to those accusations at the time

“The grand jury report purports to portray the attitude and behavior of the Archdiocese toward sexual abuse of minors. In fact, however, its content is nothing more then an attempt to convict in the court of public opinion those whom it does not indict in a court of law. This is reckless rhetoric, dispensed from any burden of proof, and is not responsible law enforcement.”

bishop-accountability.org/reports/2005_09_21_Philly_GrandJury/Response.pdf
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Brendan said:
No, but because is seems +Benedict places more credence in the archdioceses’ report than the grand jury’s.

And given the choice between believing Cardinal Rigali’s report and a county DA’s report where evidence for the defense is specifically disallowed, I know which one I would follow.
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I can give some personal incite into the the persecution, YES I SAID PERSECUTION, by the Philadelphia DA’s office. I lived there for 7 years and they were hell bent on dragging the Arch-diocese through the mud. They were even going after people who were dead. There was a local evening talk show that did quite a few hours on this and they totally trashed the city’s case against the Arch-diocese.

If it were not for Chicago, I would say Philadelphia would be the most corrupt city in the country.
 
FromMi,

I understand the accept/decline option most Bishops have in their transfer. Bishop Carlson, though, has turned down several appointments in the past while he was with us in SD. His appointment to Saginaw was one that he obviously accepted, as well as now his appointment to St. Louis. I’m not sure what was going through his mind on both appointments, but knowing him personally, I would bet that he was thinking that he wants to be where God wants him to be and do what he is called to.

Either way, he did good things for Sioux Falls and Saginaw and hopefully he will continue to do good in St. Louis!
 
peregrinus_WA said:
I can give some personal incite into the the persecution, YES I SAID PERSECUTION, by the Philadelphia DA’s office. I lived there for 7 years and they were hell bent on dragging the Arch-diocese through the mud. They were even going after people who were dead. There was a local evening talk show that did quite a few hours on this and they totally trashed the city’s case against the Arch-diocese.

If it were not for Chicago, I would say Philadelphia would be the most corrupt city in the country.
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Fair enough, but taking it back to the apparent facts of the case, was the report incorrect? Did Bp. Cistone not do the things he later apologized for? That’s a reasonable position to take, if the facts show that the report was untrue
 
I think the larger point is that Pope Benedict was undoubtedly aware of all the facts and appointed Bishop Cistone to Saginaw. Do you not trust Pope Benedict’s judgement?
 
MFM said:
I think the larger point is that Pope Benedict was undoubtedly aware of all the facts and appointed Bishop Cistone to Saginaw. Do you not trust Pope Benedict’s judgement?
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I think this is a bit of a misnomer…I think we’ve seen in the past several months that Pope Benedict is sometimes unaware of key information about things…considering he appointed an auxilary in Linz who thought Hurricane Katrina was divine retribution on New Orleans.

Cardinal Rigali sits on the congregation of bishops…so I’d say his hand was stronger in this move than the Pope’s was.

By the way, I’m not criticizing the Pope here, just making a statement about what I perceive to be the process followed in the naming of a new bishop. I’m also not suggesting that Bishop Cistone is not/can not be a good bishop now or once installed. By bringing up the point about the management of child abuse cases, , I’m suggesting a fuller picture of the man is clearly needed.
 
MFM said:
I think the larger point is that Pope Benedict was undoubtedly aware of all the facts and appointed Bishop Cistone to Saginaw. Do you not trust Pope Benedict’s judgement?
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I think the largest point is that we trust in the providence of our Father in Heaven…🙂
 
I don’t know what to make of this.
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It was inevitable. I’m guessing it will become a much larger and more widely publicized issue.

There is so much that can be said about the scandals, this one, that one, how things were handled, who did what. The abuse when and where it happened can never be excused. The alleged cover ups are another issue. There are always more victims than meets the eye where sin prevails. I guess I am most saddened by the almost complete lack of mercy and forgiveness extended in some circles, not exclusively secular, to those who have been caught in the devil’s snares.

I say, there but for the grace of God go I. This is what God has allowed to come to us here in Mid-Michigan. How will we characterized the faith we say we have in dealing with it?
 
Let’s get below the surface:
  1. the abusive/pedophile
    priests destroy and devastate.
    First and Foremost, Evil came into our church community in the most hideous of ways. The foundation of relationship is Trust, when a priest violates this trust, considering his office, I can’t imagine worse. There is a mountain of confusion/deception/shock/derealization at the exposure of this hideous crime. it is the opposite of loving, in its extreme. When your faith, your being, is consumed by the love of Christ, that which is the direct opposite at its extreme confuses and muddles. This is why the Eucharist must be our center, in any parish, in anyone’s life. We yearn for truth and divine wisdom. We must pray for the Holy Spirit to guide and direct, because we live in a world that contradicts Christ. What greater victory for the evil one except to try and shake the foundation of the church-somehow, he got in
    NOW-what can be done?? This is greater than us. WE CANNOT BIND THE SIN-our it will continue to live among us. WE MUST PRAY AND OFFER FORGIVENESS AND YEARN FOR HEALING-we must do this collectively, it must be transformed. Jesus can do this.
  2. My intuition, or my gut is telling me that layers of administration knew of this abusive priest, layers of people in the “know” knew about this. The buck got passed, one person thinking/assuming another person took care of letting the school know. You can count on that there is a MORE complete story here that is not being revealed. WE only know what they in the media want us to know, the prosecution which allowed only certain/limited information had wanted us to know…THE TOOL of the evil one is to cause confusion and deception. he first comes as the angel of light-drawing us in. I IMPLORE the good people of this DIOCESE to not give way /give in to the confusion. WE ARE A PEOPLE OF HOPE.
  3. WE LIVE IN HOPE AND WE SING WITH JOYFUL PRAISE THE ONE WHOM CHRIST SENT.
WE CAN CHOOSE TO BE PART OF THIS HOPE OR LIVE UNCOMFORTABLY IN THIS CLOUD OF CONFUSION. PRAY PRAY PRAY.

WE WILL MISS BISHOP CARLSON.

God Bless, Lisa
 
The newspaper article’s description of the events, and Bishop Cistone’s response make it a bit difficult to judge the situation properly. However, his response indicates that he’s bound and determined to make sure Saginaw does not have another scandal. He’s made it clear that any abuse accusations would be dealt with and that the priests would not simply be transferred around.
 
Lisa, well put.

The evil one is all about doubt and confusion and if we let that take over our thoughts and such, it will be hard. If we let God’s truth, love and forgiveness persevere, we shall persevere as well.

I don’t know anything more about Bishop Cistone than I’ve read here or on the news. What I am hoping for though, is that he does an excellent job as the Bishop of Saginaw. Y’all deserve it! It’s going to be hard for Bishop Cistone to fill the shoes of Bishop Untener or Bishop Carlson. Both are strong figures to come after. May God’s will be done in Bishop Cistone.
 
He does love his incense! If I remember correctly, he has an allergy to some forms of incense so he uses the hypo-allergenic kind.
 
frommi said:
Anybody go to the Bishop’s Farewell mass today?
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Dear Frommi, and all
my two older sons went to Bishop’s Thanksgiving Farewell Mass- according to my sons: Bishop talked about how the Holy Spirit moves through the community when the community comes together for an effort. He thanked many many people for their contribution. He praised the laity for their faithfulness. Bishop became emotional at the end, when saying Goodbye. Fr Jim Bessert gave a speech of appreciation.
Surely the importance, the essence of the message, is far more important THAN the comments about the amount of incense that was used.
The pettiness on this blog drives me crazy!!!
PLEASE let us HEAR about the beauty of the message.
 
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