Portland parish protests new priest’s policies

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CoffeeFanatic said:
Eh- such a sign implies things. Like the Publican and the Pharisee, wherein the Pharisee exclaimed how glad he was to not be like the Publican, such a sign shows an absolute lack of humility on the part of those that put it up.
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I disagree. I would simply take it as an indication that the parish is a “safe space” for immigrants, both documented and otherwise, as well as refugees. Nothing more. The priest might have seen the sign as a magnet for ICE raids and other activity, which would in that case make removal of the sign a prudential judgment.
 
All parishes should be ‘safe spaces’ for all believers. No need for a sign.
 
CoffeeFanatic said:
All parishes should be ‘safe spaces’ for all believers. No need for a sign.
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Yes, but the fear that some of these people live in (due to their irregular legal standing) is very real, and if they can have explicit assurance that the parish is, as I said, a “safe space”, then they can be a little less afraid. My experience with immigrants whose legal status is questionable (I never asked) tells me that they tend to be evasive talking about their families, where they live, where they are from in their home country, and so on. Perfectly understandable.
 
BartholomewB said:
“Somebody of authority” – he seems to be saying that the parishioners have “authority” over the pastor, and that the pastor is an uppity Nigerian who refuses to recognize his inferior status.
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That was one of the things that stuck out to me. I’ve seen several places that see the parish as “theirs” and treat the pastor as an employee that works for the Parish Council.

Having seen a number of handmade vestments, there are probably good reasons he was going to put them in storage. One set I remember seeing reminded me of the vestment equivalent of a fourth grader’s clay ashtray; made with plenty of heart, but no skill or talent.
 
I hate to play up on stereotypes, but why are a bunch of Unitarian Universalist angry at what happens at a Catholic church?
 
Not to sidetrack the thread, but I passed the local Unitarians the other night and they had an advert up for their next sermon which is going to be about “Reclaiming our Democratic Faith”. I wondered whether you now had to be a Democrat to attend there.
 
Aging parish of clueless hippies whitesplain their inclusive community to a Nigerian immigrant priest. Sounds like Portland to me.
 
Lol. Thanks. That’s great. I went to go listen but got sidetracked bu the polish kid who stopped the acronym march with a cross and a rosary.
 
Maybe there actually is something in the water in Portland.

They are very fond of their public protests
 
Thomasbradley312 said:
That’s what I’m saying. Whoever the former priest is should be disciplined or corrected for such liturgical abuse.
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Sounds like the initiator of the abuses was disciplined for much worse abuses.

That said, this is what happens when abuses are allowed to fester for too long. They become « normalized » and create a lot of bad feelings when someone finally has the courage to stop them. This should have been dealt with in 2001 when Durand was removed.
Thomasbradley312 said:
This is why laity shouldn’t be allowed on the altar to begin with.
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Who are you going to get to serve Mass?
 
I was thinking the same thing. I thought I clicked on Eye of the Tiber for a minute.
 
Just go back to how it was in the TLM. Have a few altar servers. Which could be adult acolytes. Have the choir in the loft in the back. And the priest can do all the readings instead of just the Gospel.
 
Time for us to be fools (1 Cor 3:18), “so that no one might boast” (1 Cor 1:29), and pray for those whom we think are the fools:

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

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Zzyzx_Road said:
note the new priest is Nigerian. Somewhere there was an article about how some African dioceses have sent missionaries to Europe. Whoa, I said, are things in Europe really that bad? Africa has many issues of its own, but the Catholic Church there does appear to be more conservative than in Europe or the US.
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The Pacific Northwest is mission territory, indeed. We are blessed with some wonderful priests, of whom many are from countries other than the U.S.
I currently assist at parishes with priests from Vietnam, India, and Poland, in addition to those who are native born. Their catechesis is excellent and sorely needed. I am so grateful for their presence and ministry.
May God continue to raise up Holy Priests for His people.
Amen.
 
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I just find this entire situation sad, and I feel like I’m missing something. Of course the parishioners were wildly inappropriate. I never seen anything like that happen…not even close…not once.

Why didn’t the parishioners just simply talk to the priest about their concerns? It’s Portland, it’s not like there is only one Catholic church in the city. They could always go to another Parish. This is a powerful way lay people can express their concerns.

Were there no Deacons that the parishioners could quietly talk to? Deacons can do quite a lot to quietly resolve situations like this (including telling the parishioners they are wrong!). I’ve seen Deacons really have a lot of influence in situations like this.
 
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It seems possible these are boomers looking to (re)live a bit of the 60’s after watching all the younguns on the local news make Portalnd a miserable place to live.
 
BartholomewB said:
This little quote from the newspaper report is revealing:

“I don’t know anyone that would come to a parish and go to the vestment closet and take all the vestments, still on hangers, and throw them into a trailer without somebody of authority having instructed them to do so,” Alter told The Oregonian.

“Somebody of authority” – he seems to be saying that the parishioners have “authority” over the pastor, and that the pastor is an uppity Nigerian who refuses to recognize his inferior status.
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Not to mention that the pastor IS the canonical authority over the parish.
 
I think they mean the bishop told him to go ahead and toss them. I’d hope they’re right, except that I hope he didn’t bother to ask.
 
It does seem that these particular boomers are refusing to let the rebellion of the 60’s die.
 
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