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Priest who denied Holy Communion to lesbian placed on leave [CWN]
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Michael_C
Guest
Mary, Do you really think it is so easy to write the Bishop and have a preist put on administrative leave and have his preistly faculties removed so quickly? I don’t think it’s a stretch to say there was a political motivation.
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maryjk
Guest
After the child abuse scandal, do you really think it would be that hard to write to the bishop? Do you really think that if the bishop received multiple letters he would blow them off?
Do you think the bishop cares that little for parish employees?
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NewEnglandPriest
Guest
The media is wrong. Not the first time that’s happened…
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maryjk
Guest
It won’t be the last, either.
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NewEnglandPriest
Guest
The diocese came right out and said there were allegations that he was intimidating the parish staff. How is that not clarifying?
Secondly, the particulars are purposely left out to protect all parties involved, including the priest.
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Michael_C
Guest
I never said he or any Bishop would blow them off. I question the extent of his reaction. Administrative leave and the removal of his preistly facilities seems to have happened very quickly. That’s what I question.After the child abuse scandal, do you really think it would be that hard to write to the bishop? Do you really think that if the bishop received multiple letters he would blow them off?
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Phemie
Guest
We don’t know that there haven’t been problems with this priest before. Just because the first time his name hits the media in a big way it’s about the Barbara J. Communion fiasco doesn’t mean that the bishop hasn’t been getting an earful on him for a while.
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maryjk
Guest
It seems quickly to us. But the priest could have been under investigation for months or even years.
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NewEnglandPriest
Guest
Bishops’ offices receive lots of complaints about priests. Usually its minor stuff, misunderstandings, and the outright silly. However someone does read them all and passes along the important ones to the appropriate people.
As has been pointed out, this priest was not a pastor and was not incardinated into the archdiocese thus it would be relatively easy to place him on administrative leave. However, that being said, its more likely that the archdiocese would have waited for this lesbian communion storm to blow over if they thought they could wait on taking action. The last thing the archdiocese would have wanted to do is have this all in the papers/internet again. Apparently, for whatever reason, they felt the priest’s alleged behavior with parish staff required immediate action.
The Holy Father trusted these individuals enough to make them bishops, let’s trust them as well.
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Tighty_Whitey
Guest
I think that the totality of the information, including this recent news story demonstrates that he is very confrontational, I suppose the word used by the Bishop is “intimidating”. How does that conform to his pastoral role? Again, my statement is that he “mishandled” the lesbian’s mother’s funeral. Now we have additional aquisations. He needs our prayers.
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Ender
Guest
??? There was no mention one way or the other about the incident with the lesbian. How can the situation be clarified if there is no comment on what will be perceived to cause of his troubles? Clarification comes in the form of a statement that “the incident at the funeral was/was not the cause of this action.”
If the particulars are purposely omitted then how can you claim that there is sufficient information to clarify the situation? It is reasonable to claim they could not give details … but not at the same time to then claim the situation has been explained when the details necessary to explain it have been left out.
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Luigi_Daniele
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losh14
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Timing is suspect, but with any news story you have to read between the lines. The headline doesn’t say “Priest placed on leave because he denied communion to a lesbian.”
If he was bullying his staff, that’s important and should be taken care of. He’s on leave, maybe some coaching on personnel management and conflict resolution would be of use. He wouldn’t be the first priest who could learn to use a gentle hand when needed.
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NewEnglandPriest
Guest
Why would they say that? They explicitly stated their reason for placing him on administrative leave.
Easy. Its clarified as to the reason, not the details of the allegations.
Details aren’t necessary to clarify a situation. People are raising questions and accusations with no basis.
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NewEnglandPriest
Guest
Dr. Peters is drawing the distinctions that the average person does not make. Canonically he is not suspended. That is a formal canonical process for specific canonical issues.
The priest is on “administrative leave” which means that he is relieved of parish duties, can’t publicly say Mass, or perform sacraments (except for persons in danger of death). The average person would view that as a “suspension” but canon law would not.
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Phemie
Guest
He may not be ‘suspended’ as it is meant in Canon Law. But he was placed on administrative leave and had his faculties lifted. That’s in the letter from the Vicar General. So he can’t celebrate Mass or any liturgy in public and he can’t hear confessions. That’s not exactly “things go on as usual” and it’s not something that a bishop does lightly.
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maiello
Guest
The leader of the archdiocese of Washington, cardinal Wherl,(Spelling), was one of the authors of "Always My Children, a scandalous composition written by a few bishops that encouraged parents to allow their children to experiment with the gay and lesbian lifestyle if they were so inclined. The work was later retracted. Now, 17 years later, this same individual is the leader of the Archdiocese in our nation’s capital and is condemning a priest for dutifully exercising his role as pastor because he was concerned for the soul of the woman.
I smell a rat!
I smell a rat!
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Phemie
Guest
Why can’t anyone accept what the VG said in his letter?
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Church_Man
Guest
I have a couple of thoughts on this:
And guess what… we are all sinners.
All divorced people,
All Democrats (after all, they are for abortions),
All people who aren’t “orthodox”
All people who ask questions about their Church leadership (even if concerns financial mismanagement, extremely poor pastoral care and even out and out sinful and illegal behavior).
All homosexuals,
And anyone else who doesn’t think the way they do.
The Church isn’t the Hotel of the Holy, but the Hospital of the Hurting. We come to Christ because we are all sinners and we all need Jesus. We come to the great physician for healing.
This whole situation could have been handled in a more pastoral way.
- I wonder how Jesus would have responded if a lesbian approached him during his lifetime? Especially at her mother’s funeral. Would Jesus have pushed her away? Would Jesus publicly point out her all her faults and sins? Would he have condemned her to hell? Would He have alienated her?
And guess what… we are all sinners.
- I get concerned when “Catholics” applaud priests who deny communion to their parishioners. It almost seems like, the more people they can exclude the holier they must be.
All divorced people,
All Democrats (after all, they are for abortions),
All people who aren’t “orthodox”
All people who ask questions about their Church leadership (even if concerns financial mismanagement, extremely poor pastoral care and even out and out sinful and illegal behavior).
All homosexuals,
And anyone else who doesn’t think the way they do.
The Church isn’t the Hotel of the Holy, but the Hospital of the Hurting. We come to Christ because we are all sinners and we all need Jesus. We come to the great physician for healing.
This whole situation could have been handled in a more pastoral way.
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