Some bishops really do get it!

[m134e5]

For a good many years, dating back to the early 80’s specifically, this Diocese has been under seige by some militant laity.

We had an openly lesbian “nun” in charge of several positions within the Chancery. We had priests complaining that they were being ignored by the Chancery’s lay management. Social action was being touted as the only way to find Christ. Liturgy was taken from the priests and given, again, to lay persons. Vocations were slumping. On and on, things were bad.

Bishop Finn has a huge task to undertake. His actions may not seem to make sense at first, but they seem to be working.

Our new lay education program, the Bishop Helmsing Institute, is incredible and infinitely more accessible to the faithful than New
Wine had ever hoped to be.

Vocations are increasing everyday. A priest is Chancellor (a layman is vice-chancellor).

We have a full time pro-life coordinator.

The spiritual well being of the faithful are now being addressed instead of being told to go do social work to find Christ in our lives.

Bishop Finn has an open door, just call and set a time to meet with him. Or catch him after Mass. He is a strong, very strong, supporter of greater lay participation, but not in replacing the priesthood or episcopacy with the laity.

He made a comment yesterday morning I think may help some people understand things a bit clearer.

“The Novus Ordo is the Mass of my ordination. I love it and always will. But as I studied the Extraordinary form, I have come to see and appreciate the great beauty and holiness of the Liturgy that served the faithful for centuries. It is my hope that we can learn from both the Ordinary and Extraordinary, to enrich each other’s lives.”

He feels that the new should never cancel the old, but should be built upon the old. We are in a time of rebuilding here in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

We also now have a director of Young Adult and Campus Ministry who actually knows how to relate to young adults- who is one herself. We also have a new Young Adult and Campus Minister for Saint Joseph (which was virtually ignored until bishop Finn came- this town has 5 diocesan parishes, one Precious Blood parish, one Ukranian parish, a perpetual adoration chapel, 4 parochial schools, a Catholic high school, and a University with a Catholic ministry- this isn’t just a town in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a truck stop). The seminarians wear their cassocks. The bishop wants them present at diocesan events, and he corresponds with them regularly.

Bishop Finn’s actions have always made sense to me- they were very clear. He fired the chancellor, the vice chancellor, and a few other staff members from the chancery on day one- it’s pretty clear he wants the political correctness and the reduction of the Church to little more than a social institution out- and orthodoxy and reverence back.

The spiritual well being of the faithful are now being addressed instead of being told to go do social work to find Christ in our lives.

This approach of previous bishops very nearly caused me to leave the Church. I started to believe the Church I learned about and fell in love with only existed in the books I had read. It is very disappointing to need some kind of spiritual challenge- spiritual growth- and all you get from people who are supposed to be helping you just say “feed the poor” like baby dolls with strings you pull and who say only one thing.

 

[m134e5]

then there was really no reason for ‘johnnyjoe’ over at the link provided by the OP to complain as he did.

m134e5:

As the post you quoted said…they ran out of books quickly. There was a bit of a problem of not being able to hear. I was near the front, so it wasn’t a problem for me- although I would have preferred a sung Mass- I totally missed the Gloria, Credo, some other parts of the Mass- including the Introit (which was not sung where it should have been…during the prayers at the foot of the altar, the Kyrie was sung instead…but it doesn’t bother me)

JohnnyJoe said…
Well, I must say, I am all the more grateful for the Novus Ordo Mass. I took great comfort in seeing all my friends who love the Extrodinary Rite enjoying the affirmation that our good Bishop displayed in learning and “performing” the rite (is the proper term perform?)

The Epistle was in Latin, the Gospel was in Latin - and none of it was heard by the congregation. It is inexplicable to me - the appeal that this “silent” Mass has for those who attend -, but I am grateful for our bishops efforts, and happy for all my friends who love this rite.

 

[Teakafrog]

Brother Mark’s objections were flatly denounced in very round terms without any further inquiry into the subject.
Not true. Most of us that commented actually live here in this diocese. We have ‘inquired’.

The first remark about social programs really does not have any detail added to it, and so none of us, unless we live in Kansas, should be denouncing or supporting it. We simply don’t know the circumstances.
Actually it’s KC, MO (Missouri), and Bro Mark doesn’t live here either, his profile says he’s in Wisconsin . Anyway, what happened was the huge social justice program, which spent inordinate amounts of the diocese’s money with very little to show for it, and a lot of questionable (read: unorthodox, leaning toward heretical) programs were no longer funded. That is a GOOD thing. Some of that money was redirected to open a new Pro-Life Office in the diocese, since there was NOT one before Bishop Finn came.

Br. Mark’s second remark about laity involvement was grossly misinterpreted as trying to justly silence the sowers of discord. We have no reason to believe this. Maybe perfectly orthodox, devout Catholics with legitimate concerns and questions were being told to follow their priests unquestionably–the TLM isn’t the only thing that traditionalists would like brought back.
Nope. Previously, almost every office in the diocese was run by laity. Laity with little to no actual Church-approved training. And they weren’t following Church teaching in most areas. What the good Bishop did was appoint actual Priests and religious to head most offices instead of the untrained laity. Again, that is a GOOD thing. Getting rid of dissenters, liberals, and other people who have their own gain in mind instead of the betterment of the Church as a whole, yeah, that’s good.

The same applies to the surpression of the clergy association. We don’t know what’s going on. We do know, however, that priests should be very present in their community, especially on a spiritual level, and if Bishop Finn is stopping this, it is wrong. However, again, we don’t know what’s really going on.
Don’t know anything about this. Our priest is very involved in the community clergy association, and very present in the community. Several other priests I know are as well. So I don’t know where he came up with that one.

 

[m134e5]

Brother Mark,

First of all…Immaculate Conception parish in St. Joseph closed 15 years ago. A lot’s changed since then.

I’ve seen parishes marked for closing because the habitless nuns who basically ran the diocese didn’t like the pastor. They refused to accept that their vision can’t work. Bishop Finn fired them- that should have happened years ago- for taking advantage of the ignorant & filling them with false ideas about women’s ordination & many other things that are contrary to the Church- for allowing all kinds of crazy things under the banner of tolerance, but setting traditional priests up for failure. One of the nuns tried to get 3 parishes in this town closed- including, ironically, the only debt-free one in the diocese. Does that make any sense?

Any dissolving of diocesan social agencies was only because money was needed more in other areas- and the needs these agencies met were being met, more or less in other areas (either other diocesan or public agencies). Bishop Sullivan cut the campus ministry for Saint Joseph. It’s back now, but still hasn’t recovered. Bishop Boland brought it back, but didn’t do much to make it a success. He acted like this town barely existed. The liberals in the chancery handed out money all over the place to charitable organizations, but made no real effort to support young adult/campus ministry. They paid for heretical columns in the diocesan newspaper, and the diocesan ministry to lesbians & gays. They set up faithful priests for failure- or put them in places where they didn’t think they would have much of an impact (but they did!), and hired a director of Young Adult & Campus ministry who was shockingly out of touch with today’s youth & young adults. Bishop Boland will always have my respect- he’s a bishop and his office deserves a certain respect. He certainly wasn’t the worst bishop either. His staff did far more damage than he did, and he didn’t hire them- he kept Bishop Sullivan’s staff, who advised him when more staff was needed. He let his staff control him, and he assumed that what they wanted was were the needs of the majority.

Bishop Finn “gets it” because.

1.) He gets the seminarians involved in the life of the diocese- and had them wear cassocks. They truly are an inspiration to see.

2.) He hired a director for consecrated life. The diocesan priesthood and the religious life are two different things. They need two different directors.

3.) He started the Respect Life office- pro-life issues are big right now, and they need someone with a passion for that kind of activity specifically to work at it full time. I have full confidence in the director they hired.

4.) He started the annual diocesan Corpus Christi procession- one of the highlights of the liturgical year for me, and many other people.

5.) He stands outside after Mass visiting with people- with anyone who wants to visit with him. I’m sorry to say my only contact with Bishop Boland was when he shook my hand at the Rite of Election- he never stayed to talk to anyone, not that I saw anyway.

6.) He started doing installations of new pastors at parishes. This helped him connect with the diocese on a parish level.

7.) He brought the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles to the diocese. They are a traditional group of nuns whose charism is to pray for the sanctification of priests. They are hoping to build a monastery on their property near Gower (a small town about halfway between St. Joseph and KCI airport). They also plan to build a retreat house for priests. They make vestments for priests, and do all they can to help priests. They’re about the holiest nuns I’ve ever met. Some have such a problem with traditional Catholics. Why? Are they causing trouble? Are they giving Catholics a bad name? Of course there are some who seem ready to stone priests when they don’t put on a good show for them at Mass, but they’re a different group altogether. The true traditional Catholics are among the happiest people you’ll find- like the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles. They’re very enthusiastic about God and the Church, and they treat the people they meet as if they were meeting Christ.

8.) He hired a new director of Young Adult and Campus ministry for the diocese who is young, dynamic, and on fire for God. I mean no disrespect towards the former one, but he was 60+ and just didn’t “get” what young adults are looking for nowadays.

9.) He made a gesture of recognition of the pope’s Motu Proprio by celebrating a Tridentine Mass at the Cathedral. No one had to go- it wasn’t even a Sunday Mass- it was purely optional. He reached out to the traditional community by doing this and by giving them an historical church in downtown Kansas City to restore and to have as their home. What’s wrong with that?

 

[Teakafrog]

Bishop Finn “gets it” because…
What’s wrong with that?

Thanks for the list, M. I knew most of this stuff, but not in such detail. Again, the changes he made are obviously for the GOOD, unless you’re a nun who wanted to be ordained, or a layperson who wanted to control the diocese for your own heretical purposes. If you’re just a faithful Catholic who loves and obeys the Church, the this is the Bishop you want!

 

[ChristopherM]

ive got some additional Pictures up on my blog as well now

lostlambs.blogspot.com