Outraged!

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Wow o wow - sounds like things are definutely NOT right where you are Phemie. It also sounds as if emotions are running rather high. Lots of prayer required to get those things under control. BUT - then lots of action needs to be taken. I don’t know the struggles your parish has been going through but you mentioned that this particular person was assigned there for “crisis management.” Obviously more help is needed. I will pray for you and your parish. I would also second the advice to get the Bishop involved. Let us know how things go.

Peace,

Gail
 
GailMac said:
Wow o wow - sounds like things are definutely NOT right where you are Phemie. It also sounds as if emotions are running rather high. Lots of prayer required to get those things under control. BUT - then lots of action needs to be taken. I don’t know the struggles your parish has been going through but you mentioned that this particular person was assigned there for “crisis management.” Obviously more help is needed. I will pray for you and your parish. I would also second the advice to get the Bishop involved. Let us know how things go.

Peace,

Gail
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No, he wasn’t assigned here for crisis management, there was no crisis to manage when he was named pastor. We actually had a pretty good parish going.

Crisis management and dispensation of sacraments is how HE defines his role. That allows him to do as little as possible in the parish since the parish is rarely in a ‘crisis situation’ as he defines those (funerals, mainly). Unfortunately the parishioners are used to take charge pastors who are involved. He isn’t.
 
Wow, Phemie. This is unbelievable. I can’t add anything but best wishes and prayers!
 
That is horrible that happened that way, surely the mess could have been cleaned up, If the pastor is neglecting his duties there is a serious problem, after all he is a ordained pastor, but there is only so much that you can do.
 
I am with you on this one…this is outrageous. I am glad that you secured the ciborium. But I think, I would make an appointment to see your Vicar…if your diocese is large enough. Or your dean of priests if your comunity is so divided. This is something that needs to be notated somewhere. Is your pastor old, getting feeble minded to become so slovenly when it comes to the Lord? I know that happened to a neighboring parish, and he was removed for health reasons. Pray on this one. This must be hard working conditions for you to deal with each day. Ask the Holy Spirit for the courage to deal with this offense.
 
😦 :nope:

What a sad thing, to have happened. God have mercy on us. May He bless you for your vigilance, Phemie.
 
Phemie said:
This evening DH and I went out for coffee and drove by the church where there had been a wedding this afternoon. I noticed that the windows were all open so I came home to get my keys and went back to close and lock the windows.

The church was a mess, water bottles, pop cans and coffee cups everywhere, hymnals on the floor, garbage cans overflowing.

Then from the back of the church I spotted it, the ciborium sitting outside the Tabernacle. Hoping against hope I rushed to the front to find a full ciborium sitting there. There was no mistaking the fact that the Blessed Sacrament had just been left out after Communion. I got the key and placed the ciborium in the Tabernacle.

I’m now so angry I don’t know what to do. I can’t believe my pastor would be so careless. First he tells his superior that it’s my responsibility to see that he has the pre-nuptial investigation done right – when the heck did I get ordained? – and now he can’t even be trusted to treat the Blessed Sacrament properly.

He’s our pastor and categorically refuses to attend a wedding reception for anyone from our parish. Today’s wedding was for a couple from the parish for which he’s administrator and guess where he was – yes, the reception. Guess he was so excited about that that he couldn’t wait long enough to replace the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle.

Color me OUTRAGED!
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You need to report this to the Bishop.
 
kage_ar said:
It would seem the prudent thing then to have someone from staff or a volunteer step up and be the wedding coordinator, this person could also arrange to have things in place for Father at weddings (like the key to the tabernacle, etc.). Pastor has delegated that responsibility, someone should rise to that responsiblity.

).
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that person is called the SACRISTAN not the wedding coordinator, and it sounds like that is the next staffing need at OPs parish, I share her outrage, agree with Bro’s advise this is a matter for the bishop. I would also have taken pix because in this parish the couple would not get their deposit back because of the mess. OP needs prayer in dealing with this difficult pastoral situation. A priest that does not want to be in a parish and lets everyone know it is a real cross to bear–not least for himself, so let’s pray for him too.

don’t know how contact w/bishop will go because it is my bet he has already received complaints about this priest, knows full well the attitude adjustment problem, and will regard any complaint from parishioners or staff with a jaundiced eye, nonetheless the buck stops with him.
 
THurifer2 said:
Perhaps where you live but in my diocese it is forbidden by the bishop. He makes it very clear that consecrated hosts should be the only thing that goes into a ciborium. There is an EXTREMELY good reason for his insistance (written to all diocesan clergy** inlcuding those pesky scourge of SOciety deacons…**)…it is to ensure that we KNOW what is in the ciborium…bread vs. The King of the Universe.
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This pesky scourge of society will voice his opinion, since it seems so welcome.
  1. I find this entire scenario incredible.
  2. The ciborium is what is used to carry unconsecrated hosts up at the offertory as part of the gifts. How else would you bring up several hundred at once.
  3. It is entirely possible (just looking at possibilities) that there were less people than anticipated and that the ciborium was not brought and unconsecrated hosts put in the tabernacle. Was this brought to the attention of the priest, and what was his response.
  4. If it was consecrated, why was it left out.
  5. If all is as you say, this should be brought to the attention of the bishop, or vicar general, or dean of priests for the diocese. The question would be how accessible are they.
  6. Have there been problems of this nature at this parish before or indications of irresponsibility.
    Just things to think about and know with certainty if a possible approach to higher authority is called for. In the mean time, this** pesky scourge to society** will say…
    Prayers & blessings
    Deacon Ed B
 
Phemie said:
This evening DH and I went out for coffee and drove by the church where there had been a wedding this afternoon. I noticed that the windows were all open so I came home to get my keys and went back to close and lock the windows.

The church was a mess, water bottles, pop cans and coffee cups everywhere, hymnals on the floor, garbage cans overflowing.

Then from the back of the church I spotted it, the ciborium sitting outside the Tabernacle. Hoping against hope I rushed to the front to find a full ciborium sitting there. There was no mistaking the fact that the Blessed Sacrament had just been left out after Communion. I got the key and placed the ciborium in the Tabernacle.

I’m now so angry I don’t know what to do. I can’t believe my pastor would be so careless. First he tells his superior that it’s my responsibility to see that he has the pre-nuptial investigation done right – when the heck did I get ordained? – and now he can’t even be trusted to treat the Blessed Sacrament properly.

He’s our pastor and categorically refuses to attend a wedding reception for anyone from our parish. Today’s wedding was for a couple from the parish for which he’s administrator and guess where he was – yes, the reception. Guess he was so excited about that that he couldn’t wait long enough to replace the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle.

Color me OUTRAGED!
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This all started after Vatican II. What bothers me is that the tabernacle has been removed from the altar and placed off to the side. Pope Paul IV in a little quoted document fron Vatican II said that the Eucharist is the heart of a Catholic Church. I don’t know how ANYBODY could reason that taking the Tabernacle from the limelight and relegating it to a corner increases adoration and respect to the Eucharist. A priest in our parish commented on this saying that the priest sits like a king in the middle of sanctuary while THE KING has been pushed off to the side. We need to change this back. It is a perversion of the intent of Vatican II and is just one more reason why Church attendance has sharply decreased. We need to be Church…not play Church.
 
Jimmy_Dondero said:
This all started after Vatican II. What bothers me is that the tabernacle has been removed from the altar and placed off to the side. Pope Paul IV in a little quoted document fron Vatican II said that the Eucharist is the heart of a Catholic Church. I don’t know how ANYBODY could reason that taking the Tabernacle from the limelight and relegating it to a corner increases adoration and respect to the Eucharist. A priest in our parish commented on this saying that the priest sits like a king in the middle of sanctuary while THE KING has been pushed off to the side. We need to change this back. It is a perversion of the intent of Vatican II and is just one more reason why Church attendance has sharply decreased. We need to be Church…not play Church.
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Phemie’s situation and what this priest did has nothing to do with Vatican II. Did you even read the documents of Vatican II? This is a priest who happens to be a human being and has decided he did not like his assignment. There have always been priests who did not like their job situation. Biographies of St. Francis of Assisi mention one who had a mistress. Rodrigo Borgia was a badly behaved pope long before Vatican II.
 
Sounds like you and the parish council need to go to the bishop. I cannot image having to deal with such and thank God for our priest. Father is so good to us. And things run smoothly.
 
WOW. Just WOW. It’s beyond me how a pastor could so totally disregard his duties… it’s like he got ordained “for the lulz” as one might say. I mean, seriously! Why is he even a priest if he is so apathetic and disrespectful?

This is DEFINITELY a matter you need to discuss with your bishop. I hope that you get a new, better pastor soon too. You and your parish will most certainly be in my prayers… this has got to be a really difficult thing to deal with.
 
To Edward and all those who’ve commented that the priest should be replaced:
“This is DEFINITELY a matter you need to discuss with your bishop. I hope that you get a new, better pastor soon too. You and your parish will most certainly be in my prayers… this has got to be a really difficult thing to deal with.”

I would rather that the Priest involved experiences conversion, repents and becomes the Holy Priest he is called to be. He wouldn’t be the first Priest whose been through a life altering conversion after ordination nor (hopefully) will he be the last! We should always pray for our Priests, no matter how they live their lives. In fact, behaviors such as this only show us how much more we need to pray for them. They are, after all, only human like the rest of us.

Perhaps this incident, if brought to the Bishop, will be the wake up call for this particular guy and he’ll begin the change he and his parishoners need.

Peace,

Gail
 
puzzleannie said:
that person is called the SACRISTAN not the wedding coordinator.
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One person could be trained to do both. Or the Sacristan and servers and cleaning staff could all be scheduled by a coordinator. That is what I mean, someone who coordinates, orgnizes, makes sure that things are done. The Priest could then focus on hearing confessions before the Wedding begins, etc.
 
kage_ar said:
One person could be trained to do both. Or the Sacristan and servers and cleaning staff could all be scheduled by a coordinator. That is what I mean, someone who coordinates, orgnizes, makes sure that things are done. The Priest could then focus on hearing confessions before the Wedding begins, etc.
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We have a sacristan. She wasn’t aware there was a wedding. Come to think of it, nobody but me knew there was a wedding – it was someone from his other parish using our church because theirs is too small – it took place on what is usually his day off.

Come to think of it, most parishioners don’t know when weddings are taking place unless they’re invited. Weddings aren’t announced and I’ve never seen banns published in the 11 years I’ve lived in this parish – oops, wrong, we published banns last summer at the request of another parish because at some point the groom’s parents had lived in this town.
 
You say he’s been a priest for a long time - it sounds like he’s suffering from burn-out. After the scandals about priests, it seems like the dioceses would want to keep tabs on priests like this, who seems to have lost his way.

Is the priest shortage so bad that we have to put up with priests who openly proclaim that they don’t care?

If the shepherd no longer gives a fig about his flock, what happens to the sheep? They get lost or eaten by wolves.

Maybe get up a letter signed by several concerned parishioners and send it to the bishop, not just about this wedding fiasco but about the whole situation (do include the wedding fiasco though).
 
This is truly appalling. I’ll be praying for you and the parish and the priest. To be charitable, maybe he’s burnt out; but really, from what you posted, his conduct and attitude is very sad.

Please post an update and let us know how matters are going. :gopray:
 
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