Should I contact the Bishop about my priest?

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Do you have a second priest you can go for advice to? Generally you shouldn’t go to the bishop because you don’t think the priest is respectful enough at liturgy or you don’t like him. But if he’s doing something to the gravity of embezzling or having an affair, obviously these are reportable. It’s basically up to your prudence.

You also have to consider “what do I expect and what do I think the outcome will be.”
 
ddiaz841 said:
When is it appropriate to contact the Bishop of the Eparchy?:confused:
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In addition to what’s already been said, it can also depend on the nature of issue. Sometimes it’s more appropriate to contact the proto-syncellus or chancellor of the eparchy first.
 
No we only have one priest for two parishes. I have talked to the deacon and the reader, and they have talked to father but father refuses to change. He has purposefully changed the liturgy, has preached from the pulpit that he will give the Eucharist to anyone, even if he knows ahead of time that a person if not a Catholic.

Deacon and Reader have talked to him multiple times, and they said for me to just ignore it because there is nothing we can do about it without the bishops direct intervention.
 
ddiaz841 said:
No we only have one priest for two parishes. I have talked to the deacon and the reader, and they have talked to father but father refuses to change.*** He has purposefully changed the liturgy, has preached from the pulpit that he will give the Eucharist to anyone, even if he knows ahead of time that a person if not a Catholic.***

Deacon and Reader have talked to him multiple times, and they said for me to just ignore it because there is nothing we can do about it without the bishops direct intervention.
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If what you say is true, and we have no reason to think otherwise, perhaps you could ask the Deacon to bring the matter before the bishop. After all, the bishop won’t intervene if he doesn’t know what’s going on. If Fr. Deacon won’t do so, then perhaps you should. If you can document how Fr. has “changed the liturgy” and if you can somehow substantiate that he has actually communed non-Catholics, apart from just preaching that he would do so, then your case would be much stronger.

Just my penny’s-worth.🙂

In Christ,
MinM
 
If your eparchy is anything like mine, not to discourage you, but you won’t seem like anything but a tattletale if you report a priest even if it’s something like, say, skipping the fraction rite every liturgy.
 
ddiaz841 said:
No we only have one priest for two parishes. I have talked to the deacon and the reader, and they have talked to father but father refuses to change. He has purposefully changed the liturgy, has preached from the pulpit that he will give the Eucharist to anyone, even if he knows ahead of time that a person if not a Catholic.

Deacon and Reader have talked to him multiple times, and they said for me to just ignore it because there is nothing we can do about it without the bishops direct intervention.
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Have you yourself approached your priest? Before you go to the Bishop, you would have needed to go to the priest himself to address the issues. You also need to have documentation of what was said, when and where. Let’s say on Sunday at 11 AM Mass, Fr. so and so said this…. It will not do you any good to just rely on either the deacon or lector. If this is bothering you, then you need to go to him first. You yourself will have to have heard or first hand knowledge of the issues and not rely on saying others heard him say this or that. You are kinda vague as to what he changed in the liturgy. If you go to the bishop you will need to have all your facts, first hand witness and proof that you approached the priest and not through third hand info.
 
robwar said:
Have you yourself approached your priest? Before you go to the Bishop, you would have needed to go to the priest himself to address the issues. You also need to have documentation of what was said, when and where. Let’s say on Sunday at 11 AM Mass, Fr. so and so said this…. It will not do you any good to just rely on either the deacon or lector. If this is bothering you, then you need to go to him first. You yourself will have to have heard or first hand knowledge of the issues and not rely on saying others heard him say this or that. You are kinda vague as to what he changed in the liturgy. If you go to the bishop you will need to have all your facts, first hand witness and proof that you approached the priest and not through third hand info.
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^^^This.
And I might add…some Bishops don’t like to see people unless they are accompanied by a priest or a seasoned Deacon. That way he knows in advance that it is not a frivolous or unfounded visit. But for now, it’s a bit vague…What Robwar has said is the proper order of things… I pray it’s a simple misunderstanding. No one likes to have to have controversy in their parish.
Prayers for your parish…
Peace.
 
pianistclare said:
^^^This.
And I might add…some Bishops don’t like to see people unless they are accompanied by a priest or a seasoned Deacon. That way he knows in advance that it is not a frivolous or unfounded visit. But for now, it’s a bit vague…What Robwar has said is the proper order of things… I pray it’s a simple misunderstanding. No one likes to have to have controversy in their parish.
Prayers for your parish…
Peace.
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That is kind of you. My advice comes from personal experience in going to a bishop. We had all the documentation lined up and proof of emails to support our side. (This was related to a Catholic school). The bishop or his office, will not even touch your complaint unless you have already done everything possible to work it out with the priest etc and proof of meeting, emails, and what , when and where. I think looking back and I read people all the time flippantly say “go to the Bishop” but in reality, it is a last resort and should be done so with great caution and humility.
 
I realized that I made an assumption that the OP was referring to a Byzantine (or perhaps Oriental) parish, but now that I look again, it’s not exactly clear. If it is as I assumed, the deacon really should be the one to bring the matter to the bishop’s attention.
 
ddiaz841 said:
When is it appropriate to contact the Bishop of the Eparchy?:confused:
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Per Redemtionis Sacramentum, §6
  1. Complaints Regarding Abuses in Liturgical Matters
[183.] In an altogether particular manner, let everyone do all that is in their power to ensure that the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist will be protected from any and every irreverence or distortion and that all abuses be thoroughly corrected. This is a most serious duty incumbent upon each and every one, and all are bound to carry it out without any favouritism.

[184.] Any Catholic, whether Priest or Deacon or lay member of Christ’s faithful, has the right to lodge a complaint regarding a liturgical abuse to the diocesan Bishop or the competent Ordinary equivalent to him in law, or to the Apostolic See on account of the primacy of the Roman Pontiff.[290] It is fitting, however, insofar as possible, that the report or complaint be submitted first to the diocesan Bishop. This is naturally to be done in truth and charity.

Other situations that should be immediately report to the bishop include felonious behaviors (serious criminal behavior), public lack of respect for sacraments, or any public scandalous behaviors, especially support of schism or preaching of heresy.

Persistent minor violations of canon law, or of not-unjust civil law, or persistent lack of respect for persons, or self-injurious behavior should also be reported.

But things such as “Father mispronounced a couple words in the Anaphora” are not worthy of report.
 
Hi ddiaz.
ddiaz841 said:
… has preached from the pulpit that he will give the Eucharist to anyone, even if he knows ahead of time that a person if not a Catholic.
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Hmmm … I’ve been in a lot of conversations in which one or more Catholics indicate that they have very little respect for the Orthodox rules against intercommunion, but your priest appears to have taken this a step further: disrespecting the *Catholic *rules about intercommunion.

Could you clarify: has he said this in multiple homilies? About how many?
 
He has said this at least twice. On two separate occasions he has stated this, with once during the homily, and once after the Liturgy during announcements.

I wrote an email to the Bishop and he responded with the following:

"Dear [My Name],

Thanks for the note, and thanks for all the work you do for the Knights of Columbus!

I really can’t accept criticism of a priest in an email, unless it is an emergency. If you need to tell me things about the priest, please write me a letter and sign it.

I don’t know if you are aware of the extreme priest shortage in our Eparchy. Two priests have already come to me to ask for retirement in my first month, leaving four parishes open without a priest! Three more parishes will be open soon with no priest because another one has health problems. One parish is served by an 85 year old priest. Most priests have at least two parishes, some have three. One priest over seventy years of age has four parishes.

Thanks again for taking the time to contact me. I will be happy to receive a letter from you.

God bless you and your family,
  • [Bishops Name]"
 
ddiaz841 said:
He has said this at least twice. On two separate occasions he has stated this, with once during the homily, and once after the Liturgy during announcements.

I wrote an email to the Bishop and he responded with the following:

"Dear [My Name],

Thanks for the note, and thanks for all the work you do for the Knights of Columbus!

I really can’t accept criticism of a priest in an email, unless it is an emergency. If you need to tell me things about the priest, please write me a letter and sign it.

I don’t know if you are aware of the extreme priest shortage in our Eparchy. Two priests have already come to me to ask for retirement in my first month, leaving four parishes open without a priest! Three more parishes will be open soon with no priest because another one has health problems. One parish is served by an 85 year old priest. Most priests have at least two parishes, some have three. One priest over seventy years of age has four parishes.

Thanks again for taking the time to contact me. I will be happy to receive a letter from you.

God bless you and your family,
  • [Bishops Name]"
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👍 :cool:

A side thought: I notice your post count is now at 7 (including the three in this thread), so I’m guessing that none of us on the forum know you terribly well. Perhaps if you tell us more about yourself (background, etc.) it might help us connect with your situation. 🙂
 
Well, it sounds to me that you can do two things:
  1. follow up as the Bishop instructed you
  2. assume you were mistaken and forget it.
Personally, I’m amazed that you rec’d a reply. I have never known our Bishops to reply to an unsigned letter. It’s policy that those go in the round filing cabinet. A signed letter gets some sort of response and also gets copied to the priest whom the complaint/accusation is leveled against. (since he specifically asks for a signature, I’m assuming the first letter was unsigned.) Or, he wants to make sure of the source.
Since it’s been a while since you posted, I’m assuming this is not a troll situation.
But honestly, I myself (just my 2 cents) I would not publish a personal letter from my Bishop on the internet.
Something is off here.

I wish you peace of mind, either way.
 
pianistclare said:
Well, it sounds to me that you can do two things:
  1. follow up as the Bishop instructed you
  2. assume you were mistaken and forget it.
Personally, I’m amazed that you rec’d a reply. I have never known our Bishops to reply to an unsigned letter. It’s policy that those go in the round filing cabinet. A signed letter gets some sort of response and also gets copied to the priest whom the complaint/accusation is leveled against. (since he specifically asks for a signature, I’m assuming the first letter was unsigned.) Or, he wants to make sure of the source.
Since it’s been a while since you posted, I’m assuming this is not a troll situation.
But honestly, I myself (just my 2 cents) I would not publish a personal letter from my Bishop on the internet.
Something is off here.

I wish you peace of mind, either way.
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  1. Byzantine Eparchies are far smaller than Roman Dioceses.
  2. This particular bishop is very accessible. One of the faithful in his eparchy told me that she was stunned when he answered the chancery phone when she called.
  3. He is also tremendously prudent. I do recognize some of the potential issues with replying to an unsigned letter.
  4. I agree that posting this e-mail was probably not the best thing for the person to do.
 
ddiaz841 said:
When is it appropriate to contact the Bishop of the Eparchy?:confused:
Click to expand...
if you go to the bishop to report the priest more often than not he will ask you first, did you talk to the priest about it. If you didn’t he probably tell you talk to the priest and come back to me.

always talk to the priest first before going to the bishop. Many times the priest can give an explanation why he did what he did or didn’t do what he did. If that explanation doesn’t line up with Church teaching than you go to the bishop.
 
Hello all. I am new here and New to the Catholic faith. I will be joining RCIA classes here in Pittsburgh this fall and am so looking forward to learning the Catholic faith do’s and don’ts.

But I must say, I am not in agreement with the “Catholic Only” Communion. I know that Jesus himself would not turn me away from HIS table. I truely believe that Pope Francis will more than likely change this “rule” as he seems to want to give more “power” (I use power for the lack of a better word) to the priests of the church. and he should.

I go to mass almost daily, being feed the word of our Lord each morning before I start my day, has made a big difference in my life, and has deminished stress greatly. Yet I walk away from Mass almost angry at the church for excluding me from Communion with my Lord.

I am a Christian, I was baptised, had my confirmation, and taken communion in the Episcopal Church, to be turned away is unjust and I applaud the Priest in your church for shepparding the children of God to his table. God himself would not have it any other way.
 
LindaAndrews said:
Hello all. I am new here and New to the Catholic faith. I will be joining RCIA classes here in Pittsburgh this fall and am so looking forward to learning the Catholic faith do’s and don’ts.

But I must say, I am not in agreement with the “Catholic Only” Communion. I know that Jesus himself would not turn me away from HIS table. I truely believe that Pope Francis will more than likely change this “rule” as he seems to want to give more “power” (I use power for the lack of a better word) to the priests of the church. and he should.

I go to mass almost daily, being feed the word of our Lord each morning before I start my day, has made a big difference in my life, and has deminished stress greatly. Yet I walk away from Mass almost angry at the church for excluding me from Communion with my Lord.

I am a Christian, I was baptised, had my confirmation, and taken communion in the Episcopal Church, to be turned away is unjust and I applaud the Priest in your church for shepparding the children of God to his table. God himself would not have it any other way.
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Hi Linda. I hope you don’t mind, I’m going to go out on a limb a little bit here: is it possible that there’s a slight bit of “a plague on both your houses” attitude in your thinking? Perhaps not, but I have to wonder because on the one hand, you’ve decided to leave Anglicanism for Roman Catholicism, but on the other hand you’re telling us that we need to become like the Anglicans in terms of open communion. :hmmm:
 
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