Slovakian priest refuses to obey his bishop

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Bessarion

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This unprecedented case had lasted almost 2 years, until this situation has been handled by force by the police.

It started back in June 2005, when the priest was transferred from his parish by the bishop. He refused to leave and send an appeal to Vatican. He was suspended by his bishop in September 2005 and all the sacraments he would perform were to be invalid. Meanwhile in June 2006 the congregation responsible for handling problems in discipline and responsibilities of the clerics in Vatican, confirmed bishop’s decrees. He did not obey that either and once again appealed to the Supreme Tribunal of Apostolic Signature, which has not decided in this case yet.

In the meantime a new priest was sent to the parish to perform the sacraments, but he had to stay in a rented apartment, as he was not allowed to enter the parish priest residence house by the old priest.

Clearly the bishop got fed up with this case and on March 7, 2007 he decided to take a course of action and appointed an executor to give out an order to the police to clear the residence and make way for the new priest.

Unfortunately this is not where the story ends. The parish (a small village) is now divided between the supporters of one or the other priests with quarrel incidents taking place. The two groups have their own “praying sessions” with the old parish priest’s group praying outside the church, because he is not allowed to enter it now. Quarrels and fights concerning the priests are even dividing some families (I saw a scene on TV with an elderly lady fighting with her granddaughter).

The old priest says the new priest is there illegally, but the new priest, bishop and basically all official representatives of the diocese say he should have left the parish once he received the decrees from the bishop and prepare the residence for the new priest.

This is a very sad story and shows how one stubborn priest can divide the whole village into two fronts and cause pain and worries among families. I’m not quite sure what caused his decision to revolt against his bishop, it may be some kind of a personal conflict or he might think he is fighting for a “higher cause”, but one thing is certain. When becoming a priest he promised obedience to his bishop and he should have lived by that.

What do you guys think?

cassovia.sk/korzar/clanok…5.7.2006/2491Z
cassovia.sk/korzar/archiv…10.2006/2895Z
bleskovky.sk/cl/10/146930…zahadne-zmizol
bleskovky.sk/cl/10/120825…a-odist-z-fary
sme.sk/c/3185671/Neposlus…xekuovali.html
denik.cz/zahranici/farar070310.html
plus1den.sk/2007/03/08/sl…-cez-okno.html
 
I live in Slovakia and I am quite surprised to find this here 🙂 But of course he should have obeyed the bishop.
 
This is very sad. I hope the older priest will reconcile his difference with the bishop and move on. Obedience is very important when one take vows. One is often reminded that Jesus obey the will of his Father.

Warmest regards,
Ben
 
It is sad indeed, but we can always pray for him and all at the church…including the new priest to know how to solve this in the light and love of the Holy Spirit.
 
I don’t think all his sacraments would be invalid though…just illicit. As I understand it, the validity of confession depends upon a priest having faculties to hear confessions from the bishop…but any priest can confect the Eucharist even if he does so illicitly.
 
twf said:
I don’t think all his sacraments would be invalid though…just illicit. As I understand it, the validity of confession depends upon a priest having faculties to hear confessions from the bishop…but any priest can confect the Eucharist even if he does so illicitly.
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Right, Eucharist and Baptisms would be valid but illicit. Marriages and Confessions would be invalid.
 
Thank you for the replies. News is that the priest is still in the village and serving his own mass in the backyard of one of his supporters, as he is not permitted to serve masses in the church now. Still maybe some 40 people are supporting him, but more and more come to church for the mass of the new priest. About 500 attends the church masses now.
 
Substitute “indulgences” for “parish reassignment” and Germany for Slovakia and and 150x for 200x and you got yourself a repeat of history. Hopefully on a MUCH smaller scale…
 
manualman said:
Substitute “indulgences” for “parish reassignment” and Germany for Slovakia and and 150x for 200x and you got yourself a repeat of history. Hopefully on a MUCH smaller scale…
Click to expand...
What exactly do you mean? Could you provide us with a link?
 
The reformation is commonly thought of as a revolution in theological thought. In reality, heterodox ideas pop up all the time in a variety of places. Most times, they die out of their own internal inconsistancies very quickly. In the reformation, one stubborn, proud and rebellious priest sparked an explosion that hideously wounded the church right up to today. His spark of erroneous theology didn’t POWER the explosion, the gasoline vapor of corruption and greed in the secular rulers (and in some cases church leaders) was the power. Kidnap Luther and drop him into history a couple hundred years sooner and he’d likely never have been known to history. Like a spark without any fuel to ignite.

Read “How the Reformation Happened” by Hillaire Belloc for a surprising look at how the politics of the era was the force behind the “Reformation,” not the theology.

The point of my post was that the priest ought to think hard about unintended consequences of rebellion. Prior to getting PO’d about indulgence abuses, Luther would have never DREAMED that he’d one day amputate a large portion of the church from its roots by his protests.
 
The story is nebulous: no hint as to what caused the priest and bishop toward altercation.

This begs another question: If a bishop orders a priest to do something not in accord with the Church/Vatican is the priest bound to obey? If it is a blatant contradiction?
 
I can’t help but think there is more to this story. Is is possible that the elderly priest is sick and suffering from a type of dementia. Perhaps even Alzheimer’s? My father in law had Alzheimers and one of the symptoms is stubborness and unco-operativeness. It is a shame that an elderly priest devoted to the church all of his life should end his vocation on such a sad note. I hope someone will take him under their wing and give him the love and care that he needs in his old age. Perhaps a home where he feels loved. And I am sure that the young priest will be understanding.
We have to take care of our elderly priests, otherwise we are not true Christians. You can’t throw a human being out to pasture and forget about him just because he is no longer of service. That is a terrible and callous attitude. That old priest needs to still feel wanted, needed and loved.
 
He was suspended by his bishop in September 2005 and all the sacraments he would perform were to be invalid.

**Wrong.

Only the sacraments of Marriage and Confession would be invalid, as they require jurisdiction.

The others would be valid, but illicit, as he is exercising his ministry in DISOBEDIENCE to the bishop.**
 
Obedience to the bishop should take precedence; however, we are not aware of the minute details of the case.
 
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