The Homily that Caused an Outcry and the Priest to be Dismissed

[GodsGadfly]

1. To Bishop Doran’s Defenders: I applaud your sincerety, but there are other ways of being a bad bishop besides being “liberal” or “heterodox.” Bishop Loverde says many wonderful things against abortion, etc., but he still persecutes outspokenly orthodox and/or devout priests in the Arlington Diocese, and he still does a lot of behind-the scenes stuff on liturgical practice. BIshop Trautman says many good things about abortion but is otherwise evil.

Also, remember that Bishop Doran was the judge at the canonical trial of Fr. Haley, once one of the holiest priests I’ve ever known, a very sincere priest whose vocation and faith have now been destroyed.

1. That said, Fr. Bartholomeo has said himself not to criticize the bishop in this matter, so I think it’s a mutual decision. On the one hand, he’s a priest who, like Fr. Corapi says of himself, is old enough that he no longer gives a darn.

On the other hand, based upon what the parishioners are posting online, they claim that most of the Congregation filed out, that no one “went to his line for Communion” (how petty is that ! THey shouldn’t have gone at all!) ,e tc.

It was a pretty bad reaction. If I was Fr. Bartholomeo, I’d have begged the bishop to transfer me.

The very reason I didn’t become a priest was that I didn’t want to ahve to put up with stuff like that.

 

[johnstown_johnn]

I’m sorry for throwing a curveball post… the second portion of the signature regarding Mary pointing us to Jesus is fine… but the first part… yes Mary bore Jesus and was created specifically for this function… yes she is the Queen Mother of our Lord… but to say “No Mary, No Jesus” is to say that Jesus does not exist without Mary… this borders on blasphemy.

Jesus created Mary and WAS long before Mary was created… since before the foundations of the earth were laid… before the beginning of time… our Lord WAS. To say No Mary, No Jesus is not correct, nor is it wise.

This is too heavy for me.

 

[aaronlgates]

This is too heavy for me.

LOL.

We must have humor every once in a while to lighten the mood… thanks for the break in the seriousness. While I hold to my statements, it was a tangent off subject!

 

[johnstown_johnn]

aaronlgates - Fr. Tom was an associate pastor so is not listed in the directory of parishes for the Diocese, the parish itself does not have a Web site. He was most recently at St. James Parish, 428 N. Second St., Rockford, IL 61107.

I’ve asked around, no one seems to know where he is currently. If you send a note marked “personal” it may be forwarded to him, although our Chancery has been known to meddle in the affairs of parish offices so there may be an order in place to not forward any mail directly to Fr. Tom.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Fr. Tom has Googled himself and found all the messages of support - the Chancery has yet to find a way to shut down the World Wide Web.

Peace,
Alice

Would “Registered Mail” assure Fr. Tom receives it? Someone will have to sign for it and therebt take the responsibilty that it is then forwarded to Fr. Tom. Just a suggestion.

 

[wisdomseeker]

So now we dont punish the sinners but those who speak the truth.
what have we come to.
what is happening to our church?

 

[davidcoit]

I also would love to have a Priest with guts in my Parish. It’s so sad that a Priest that teaches the truth is dismissed and sadder yet that a Priest that teaches the true Catholic Faith is described as having “guts”.

 

[dessert]

aaron, if you think My sign. borders on blasphemy, check out this for real blasphemy

Your signature has always sort of bothered me also.
I didn’t know why but I think if you put just know Mary know Jesus
it would be better.
I wouldn’t say it is bordering on blasphemy but what are you trying to mean with it?

 

[Like]

Your signature has always sort of bothered me also.
I didn’t know why but I think if you put just know Mary know Jesus
it would be better.
I wouldn’t say it is bordering on blasphemy but what are you trying to mean with it?

I’m sorry Barbara, but it really speaks for itself.
“If there was no Mary, there was no Jesus”

“To know Mary is to know Jesus”

I got it from a website many moons ago, I wish I could remember where, but I do assure you it was a VERY ORTHODOX CATHOLIC SITE.

 

[Mimi]

So now we dont punish the sinners but those who speak the truth.
what have we come to.
what is happening to our church?

It is being attacked by ol’ slue foot and the usual suspects. There are too many who don’t know or live their faith – I used to be one of them.

It is the lay faithful’s job to keep praying for our pastors, bishops, and others to encourage them to be faithful and shepherd us. We need leaders, not people who want to be popular and well liked. One of our former pastors was a bit like that. He did get our parish on a stable financial footing, and the bishop really liked that; he also packed 'em in for Xmas eve, but not bc of his homily; he had sort of an “act”. But God bless him, he became more strongly pro-life during that time, too. Our current pastor is more attentive to liturgy & reverence, but numbers are down – noticeably down. We do have new members, though. Still…

I live near where Fr. Bartolomeo preached, but N of the border. I’m seriously considering moving there in the future, just to be in a diocese and parish where Catholic culture is more prominent, and it is not so hard to be involved in Catholic groups or to get something started, such as the rosary, or a chastity program – and – where Sr. Joan CHittister is banned from speaking in accordance with the Pope’s cease and desist order!

God bless,
Mimi

 

[Wedgewood]

Mimi: Just wondered what you don’t like about Sr. Joan. I’ve never been to any of her lectures. She is from my town and I’ve many people speak very highly of her.

 

[Wedgewood]

Never mind Mimi, I just read the other thread titled Sr. Joan.

I am shocked, this will all take a little discernment.

I am very active with the Sisters of St. Joseph and I would just weep if anyone spoke of them in that way.

 

[Mimi]

Mimi: Just wondered what you don’t like about Sr. Joan. I’ve never been to any of her lectures. She is from my town and I’ve many people speak very highly of her.

She actively works against the Church, esp. in promoting femal ordination which the Pope has said is not possible. She is a notorious dissenter. Yes, there are a lot of supporters out there for her, many of them of about her age.

One can admire her tenacity, diligence and all that, but to call one’s self Catholic, but promote heterdox ideas is hardly Catholic. And that’s not just my opinion.

May God lead her back to the One True faith.

Mimi

 

[Mimi]

Here is a much more detailed answer to your query, Wedgewood:

romancatholicblog.typepad.com/roman_catholic_blog/2007/02/index.html

You’ll have to scroll down about 1/4; the title of the entry is “Sr. Joan is full of Chit” (hey, I didn’t write it!).

Here’s an excerpt:
Sister Joan D. Chittister is a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Pennsylvania. She is known to dissent from Church teaching, especially with respect to the Church’s teaching that the sacrament of Holy Orders can only be validly conferred to a man. She writes a column for the National Catholic Reporter. The National Catholic Reporter is often called the National Catholic Distorter, partly as a way to distinguish it from the National Catholic Register, which is published by The Legionaries of Christ, but mainly because the NCR is a newspaper that is known to support dissent from the Magisterium, and is one of the primary organs of Catholic dissent in the United States (along with the “Catholic” magazines Commonweal, America, and U.S. Catholic).

In 2006 Sr. Joan was an invited panalist on “Meet the Press” with Tim Russert; in 2004, a guest on “Now with Bill Moyers,” and during the Papal funeral and election in April 2005, she was a commentator for the BBC from Rome. It seems likely that she was chosen to represent the Church on these broadcasts precisely because of her dissent and left leaning politics. It is maddening that these news organizations have Sr. Joan represent the Church at all, but even more so, since they seldom (if ever) tell viewers that Sr. Joan Chittister is heterodox, or at least that she is a dissenting Catholic nun.

Gerald at The Cafeteria Is Closed has called attention to the most recent, extremely problematic column Sr. Joan has written for the National Catholic Reporter: Moral relativism at work

Sr. Joan’s most recent column is here: Morality: Is it a many-splendored thing?

The column begins by discussing the issues surrounding the drinking and driving laws in Ireland. Reasonable people can disagree about different ways to prevent people from driving while intoxicated, and thereby promote public safety. As for the morality of deliberate intoxication, that is clearly sinful, and if done with sufficient reflection and full consent, it is a mortal sin.

I’d like to read your comments, but only if you’ve read the entire article.

Blessed Lent,
Mimi

We are expected to defend the precious gift of faith lest we lose it (cf. 1 Tim. 1:18-19; Catechism, no. 162). The First Commandment “requires us to
nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it” (Catechism, no. 2088).
cuf.org/LayWitness/Articles/Archive/Sep01/Sep01suprenant.asp

 

[Mimi]

More on Sr. Chittister:
magisterium.net/chitt.htm]

An excerpt:

Saturday, February 01, 200

Dissident Joan Chittister Endorses “Voice of the Faithful”

Voice of the Faithful website’s recommended reading list showed the group’s affinity for Joan Chittister’s dissident agenda. In the Jan. 31, 2003, issue of the National Catholic Reporter, she has a column endorsing Voice of the Faithful as the great hope for “declericalizing” what she calls an “imperial church.”

She goes on to say that authority in the Church is “the biggest issue of all” because once clerical authority is dismantled then the entire “renewal” (read: dissident) agenda will follow.

In contrast, the early Church Fathers viewed the authority centered on the bishop as the bulwark against heresy and the dissolution of the living faith passed on by the apostles. So I agree with Chittister that “authority” is a big issue but for diametrically opposed reasons. Authority is the biggest issue because it guards the truth in a world beset with lies that result from malice but more frequently from self-deception and rationalization. Her column is another exhibit in the strong case that “Voice of the Faithful” is a grand charade similar to the other dissident groups that have long haunted American Catholics.

Understand this: I am trying to educate and enlighten those who may be swayed by her rhetoric, which is not in line with the Magisterium and what the Church teaches, not to slander Sr. Joan in any way.

Blessed Lent,
Mimi

 

[Genevan]

For more information and truth about the Rockford Diocese, visit www.WeAreCATHOLICS.com

 

[Lance]

I have been a member of the Rockford Diocese since 1989. I have never once heard NFP mentioned in a homily so the stuff about the Rockford Diocese being in the forefront of NFP is a bunch of fluff.

 

[Mimi]

For more information and truth about the Rockford Diocese, visit www.WeAreCATHOLICS.com

I like the quote by Archbishop Sheen at the above site:

“Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, the ears, to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops act like bishops, and your religious act like religious.”

Whoo! I'm going to send that around, and maybe make it my new signature.

Blessed Lent,
Mimi

 

[joyreno]

“The Catholic Church teaches that the use of contraception is intrinsically and gravely immoral. Church teaching does, however, allow married couples to use the natural rhythms of the female body to knowingly space children, if there is a sufficiently grave reason to do so. These fundamental moral teachings formed the basis of Fr. Bartolomeo’s homily.”

Why would a priest be dismissed for preaching the truth from the pulpit, No wonder we lose so many Catholics, the bishops have forgotten their duty to succeed the apostles and give up public support & worldly ways. Pray for guidance because this action is wrong.

sent e-mail to ‘observer@rockforddiocese.org’

 

[Genevan]

Where is Fr. Bartolomeo now? Transferred to another parish or outside the diocese? Given desk duty at the diocese? Banished into no-man’s-land of the Rockford region?

It’s too risky for Bishop Doran to have a priest who has the guts to give the homily he did. He might actually accept and tell the truth, no matter the consequence.

Doran only wants priests who’ll toe the line - his line. Keep quiet. Don’ ruffle any feathers. But, it’s okay if you hire an attorney to act in ways that bring scandal to the church.

Doran knew Mark Campobello had a problem keeping his hands off of young girls. So, he transferred him around to different parishes, schools, boarding schools, and had him take a short breather at St. Luke’s before coming back to yet a new parish with a school.

Innocent girls were repeatedly molested because Doran wouldn’t yank Campobello out of public ministry - the police had to do it. St. Peter Parish in Geneva is in the pits because Doran won’t remove our pastor, Joe Jarmoluk, when he is involved in a scam with an ex-con, a pornographic filmmaker, and an internet blog that attacks, defames, harasses, and spreads hate against parishionners. But, he’ll immediately yank a priest who gives a homily consistent with Catholic teaching?

In Doran’s own words, “Evildoers protect evildoers. Malefactors protect malefactors.” At least we know where Doran stands.

 

[Nordar]

Where is Fr. Bartolomeo now? Transferred to another parish or outside the diocese? Given desk duty at the diocese? Banished into no-man’s-land of the Rockford region?

It’s too risky for Bishop Doran to have a priest who has the guts to give the homily he did. He might actually accept and tell the truth, no matter the consequence.

Doran only wants priests who’ll toe the line - his line. Keep quiet. Don’ ruffle any feathers. But, it’s okay if you hire an attorney to act in ways that bring scandal to the church.

Doran knew Mark Campobello had a problem keeping his hands off of young girls. So, he transferred him around to different parishes, schools, boarding schools, and had him take a short breather at St. Luke’s before coming back to yet a new parish with a school.

Innocent girls were repeatedly molested because Doran wouldn’t yank Campobello out of public ministry - the police had to do it. St. Peter Parish in Geneva is in the pits because Doran won’t remove our pastor, Joe Jarmoluk, when he is involved in a scam with an ex-con, a pornographic filmmaker, and an internet blog that attacks, defames, harasses, and spreads hate against parishionners. But, he’ll immediately yank a priest who gives a homily consistent with Catholic teaching?

In Doran’s own words, “Evildoers protect evildoers. Malefactors protect malefactors.” At least we know where Doran stands.

The Catholic Church is certainly not doing God’s work by allowing Bishops like Doran to remain.