Portland parish protests new priest’s policies

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Having had first had experience with this parish - albeit several decades ago, and having watched it go further and further into the weeds, it has little or nothing to do with the fact that the priest is from Nigeria. It has to do with the fact that the parish has been a haven for the 1960’s radical progressives, and has moved further and further in that direction. and given the vitriol on the part of the parishioners, the priest most certainy should not sit down “to discuss things”. He has been sent there by the Archbishop; and no one is privy to whatever marching orders he may or may not have been given.

However, the priest has been following the GIRM, the Magisterium, and common sense; the factors which have made no impression on the congregation for ages.

I have known four priests who have been in that parish as administrator or pastor, and they have tried to provide Mass without raising a major confrontation. For whatever reason - because he was ordered to do so, because he comes from an area of the world which does so, or for other reasons, the current priest ended up in a confrontational position, and the parishioners showed their true colors.

it is unclear who exactly filled the trailer or how the vestments got there, and for what I have read, the priest does not seem to be the individual who put them there. and that seems to be the issue which brought it all to flame status.

Because it is such a a small congregation, I would not be surprised if the parish is closed, an action which would seem to be the best resolution. The Archdiocese does not have an abundance of priests; the current priest could be put to good use elsewhere, and with a congregation that actually might appreciate him.
 
I’ve never performed in a church choir, but frankly I detest those in the pews who accuse any church choir that does an excellent job in their ministry of worshiping God through music as turning the Mass into a performance. What judgemental nonsense!

Today’s Catholic church choirs can’t get a break. If they play in a mediocre manner or worse, they get criticized for their lack of musicianship even though many of those are just amateurs with very little music training trying to do their best before God. And heaven forbid that they actually play in a highly skilled manner showing great musicianship for the glory of God because the same people who won’t hesitate criticizing the poor musicianship of one choir will turn right around a criticize the supposed “showmanship” of a great sounding choir.

It’s frankly a no-win situation for Catholic church choirs today. It’s no wonder why it can become very difficult to recruit new members to a church choir when older members age-out or move away from the parish.
 
otjm said:
It is unclear who exactly filled the trailer or how the vestments got there, and for what I have read, the priest does not seem to be the individual who put them there. and that seems to be the issue which brought it all to flame status.

Because it is such a a small congregation, I would not be surprised if the parish is closed, an action which would seem to be the best resolution. The Archdiocese does not have an abundance of priests; the current priest could be put to good use elsewhere, and with a congregation that actually might appreciate him.
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I wouldn’t be surprised at all if there’s a core group of more moderate Catholic parishioners who were simply overjoyed that a pastor finally stood up to these radical “progressives” that were imposing their will on this parish and not letting anyone else have a say.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it was one of these more moderate or traditional Catholic parishioners that took the matter of the vestments into their own hands and decided to toss the offending vestments into the dumpster.
 
The moderates left 30 years ago, give or take 10. You want it in plain English? What has been left is a congregation of 1960’s wacky progressives, and that has been shrinking due to deaths, physical relocations, and simply leaving the Church. There were about 75 when this blew up (I think the article says 74) and the picture is of a church which appears less than 20% full. and the article indicates that maybe 2/3s have either wandered off to another parish, decided to work the soup kitchen but not go to Mass, or simply wandered off. There are too many parishes too near by for any moderates to have put up for the last 20 years with the goings on there.

My guess is that within a year to a year and a half, the parish may simply be shut down. The soup kitchen has been a sore spot in the neighborhood, which has gentrified and much over the years turned into businesses. There is a reason Catholic Charities may be taking over; likely a multiple of reasons.

When it all goes loonie tunes, it is time to change the channel.
 
I’m talking about the church architecture and design, not you and your playing.

Don’t you think there is a different atmosphere when you play in a loft -vs- playing near the sanctuary? Obviously the Catholic Church thought it was better to have the musicians out of view for many centuries.
 
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Loud-living-dogma said:
Don’t you think there is a different atmosphere when you play in a loft -vs- playing near the sanctuary? Obviously the Catholic Church thought it was better to have the musicians out of view for many centuries.
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I honestly don’t think there’s a different attitude in the various locations. I honestly don’t. I personally like balconies in the back of the nave except for one major problem–unless there is an elevator, it is extremely difficult for people like me to climb the stairs to get up there. Also, if there is no bathroom up in the choir area, it is difficult for quite a few people.

This is no mere grouchy old woman talking. I am honestly in pain trying to get up and down steps, and when I’m carrying music, it’s just plain dangerous. But building an elevator that goes up to a balcony that is utilized exclusively by musicians seems a true waste of parish offering money.

Also, depending on how the balcony is constructed, it is sometimes impossible for those in the choir to see the sanctuary–this was fine back in the days when there was nothing to see except a priest’s back (and the backs of the altar servers). But nowadays, we like to see who is talking to us face to face, and for many of us, the high point of the Mass occurs at the elevation, when we see our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament–I have never lost my awe over this miracle.

One really good use of the balcony is for contemporary ensembles (guitar, drums, keyboards) to set up–I think it is helpful for many “conservative” Christians in the congregation to hear the music, but not see the musicians playing those “rock and roll” instruments! One of the hundred-year-old parishes in our city utilizes their balcony for their contemporary ensemble, and it’s really nicely-done.

I think that a pipe organ sounds really good if the pipes are in the balcony. Our parish is a clam shell (ugh) and the pipes are at the side, and depending on where you sit in the clam shell, you either get blasted into deafness, or you hear a faint whistle that might be organ music, or it might be katydids. Clam shells should be banned architecture for church naves!

Anyway, for me, the “feeling” is the same. We are in Mass, and Jesus is Truly Present, and I don’t sense any kind of different “atmosphere.” When I was growing up, my music teacher “booked me” to play at different churches in the city, and I played on pianos in balconies, and I really didn’t have a problem with it (back when I was young and had good knees!).
 
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otjm said:
There are too many parishes too near by for any moderates to have put up for the last 20 years with the goings on there.

My guess is that within a year to a year and a half, the parish may simply be shut down. The soup kitchen has been a sore spot in the neighborhood, which has gentrified and much over the years turned into businesses. There is a reason Catholic Charities may be taking over; likely a multiple of reasons.
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I agree. With at least 10 parishes within 10-15 minutes away and a very small congregation, it most likely will be closed. And the homeless situation with associated crime and littering in the neighborhood has been a problem for many years
 
Sunbreak said:
I agree. With at least 10 parishes within 10-15 minutes away and a very small congregation, it most likely will be closed. And the homeless situation with associated crime and littering in the neighborhood has been a problem for many years
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It is more likely to be because it is a parish with a small parishioner population in an archdiocese with fewer and fewer priests to cover all the parishes. The Archbishop might be accused of shutting the doors because the parishioners have a habit of being loud or defiant, but in the end I don’t think he’d do it unless he simply doesn’t have the priests to cover the smallest parish that is physically the nearest to other available parishes.
Of course, the abuse they’re heaping on the pastor isn’t going to help their cause, either. I wouldn’t blame him if he is forced to choose what parish isn’t getting a pastor and takes the treatment these members of the faithful have given to priests assigned to them. I just don’t think that this would be the primary factor that would lead to that.
 
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Regarding the Aug 25 piece:

“It also astounds me that the story did not note how theologically out of sync these parishioners’ beliefs are with Catholic teaching. My husband and I kept asking each other: “Why are these people clinging to a Catholic parish when their ideology is so unabashedly un-Catholic?””

Why are they clinging to a Catholic parish when they’re ideology is so un-Catholic? I believe it’s because they are trying to destroy the Church from within. Just my humble opinion.
 
Loud-living-dogma said:
Regarding the Aug 25 piece:

“It also astounds me that the story did not note how theologically out of sync these parishioners’ beliefs are with Catholic teaching. My husband and I kept asking each other: “Why are these people clinging to a Catholic parish when their ideology is so unabashedly un-Catholic?””

Why are they clinging to a Catholic parish when they’re ideology is so un-Catholic? I believe it’s because they are trying to destroy the Church from within. Just my humble opinion.
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You would be entirely wrong. They have a wrong-headed view of what it means to be Catholic and where obedience fits in to being Catholic, but they are not trying to destroy the Church. You may as well say that people who get so wound up in fund-raising and rule-following that they neglect their spiritual lives or their relationships with other human beings are trying to wreck the Church. No, no, no. Not every mistake or misguided path is a deliberate attempt to ruin something.

This reminds me of a friend I have who says “you’re killing me here” every time someone does something to frustrate him. No, no one is trying to kill him. He’s just not responding in a very realistic way to the predictable frustrations that come with human relationships on this side of the Second Coming.

He really would do well to stop saying that and we Catholics would do well to stop accusing each other of trying to destroy the Church.
 
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PetraG said:
They have a wrong-headed view of what it means to be Catholic and where obedience fits in to being Catholic, but they are not trying to destroy the Church.
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Maybe a different way to work it would be, they are trying to destroy what does not coincide with how they wish the Catholic church to be.
 
MagdalenaRita said:
Maybe a different way to work it would be, they are trying to destroy what does not coincide with how they wish the Catholic church to be.
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Those are quite different, in terms of motive, and we really need to be charitable when it comes to making pronouncements about the motives of others. That’s very dangerous territory. Besides, there is no quicker way to make someone defensive and resistant to fraternal correction than to assign sinister motives to their behaviors. That’s very deep not just into Golden Rule territory but in plain appreciation of what does and does not work in encouraging other people to make changes in their outlooks.

The best outcome we could hope for, after all, is a reconcilation within the parish and a peaceful marriage that combines what had been the best about the parish before the new pastor came with the best features of his leadership as their pastor. That is the big picture, here. We can still pray for an outcome like that; it isn’t impossible.
 
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I agree we can not judge a person’s motives. We can not judge a person, though we can judge an action whether it is right or wrong.

Perhaps the word “destroy” is not the best term because to some that implies there is an evil minded plot to completely get rid of something but in our modern language that isn’t always what that means. When I hear those words I think more of someone attempting to stop something they do not want to happen or to stop a change they do not want to see happen.

As I said, we can’t judge anyone’s motives but we can look at the actions that are happening that the St. Francis People have made public and discern whether they are right or wrong.

Good point to pray for a reconciliation. It just needs to be in line with Catholic teaching and obedience to the Church.

God bless:
🙂
 
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I don’t agree with everything she said, but I appreciate the paper allowing the other side of the story to be heard.
 
If you read Paul in context I think you will see that your interpretation of his words is off.
 
I’m not surprised since Portland AB is known to be very conservative. It’s a sign of time when some dioceses are struggling to replace aging priests & naturally they are forced to bring foreign priests. I’ve been told that it’s normally between 5-10 years for new priest change for a Parish. It’s more interesting when my local CC still got same one since 2000. Maybe we are too used to him but he played a very important role in our Diocese. This is why we prayed for new priests but the world competes on self-indulgence & guilty pleasures.
 
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