Vatican rejects appeal of Fr. Mark White, suspended Virginia priest

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Tis_Bearself

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The Vatican has rejected, possibly on a technicality, the appeal of Fr. Mark White, the pastor of two parishes who was suspended by the Bishop of Richmond for blogging after he was ordered to stop. It appears that Fr. White will now have to take up his new assignment doing prison ministry.

Secular media coverage of this whole affair seems completely blind to the concept of “Obedience” required of priests. They don’t seem to get that it doesn’t matter if Fr. White is an engaging and nice guy in person.

Past thread on Fr. White’s suspension by Bishop Knestout:
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Catholic bishop suspends priest and issues trespass order for disobedience and defying direct instructions Catholic News
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/05/09/virginia-bishop-priest-suspended-blog-mccarrick/
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Current story on appeal getting rejected:

 
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Reading the article, I don’t know why he won’t just remove the blog and move on with life. Is this really the hill to die in disobedience on?
 
I keep wondering if there is more to this story. I don’t see a point of continuing to rant against the bishop in the diocese where you work.
If you have evidence he is committing some crime, then report it to the police.
If you can’t get along with him, seek a transfer to some other diocese or assignment where you won’t have to work for him.

But don’t just keep arguing with him. All it does is drive your own parishioners away from the Church.
 
I’m also not getting why this blog was so crucial for the pastor to communicate with the parish during the COVID shutdown. I follow a number of parish pages, and the pastor and staff manage to communicate with the parishioners just fine without blogs. They use FlockNote, or put a weekly column in an online bulletin, or just put necessary announcements on the parish webpage or Facebook. There’s no need to be reading blog posts by a priest.
 
I’m also pretty surprised a Catholic priest would say he’d never heard the word “procurator.” Did he not have a single canon law course in seminary? He’s never filed a petition for nullity on behalf of a parishioner?

For the sake of all involved, it would be best for him to move into the ministry to which he’s been assigned.
 
We had a Priest who was not in our parish but would show up sometimes to say weekday Masses. He was also a prison chaplain at the state prison. Sometimes, we would get say religious reading materials, brochures and we could send them with him to the state prison. I hope Father White in carrying on his duties at a prison is to be a great benefit to those he serves.
 
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Yes, we have a priest near here who is about to retire who has done a prison ministry for years with a Protestant minister (I think Baptist?) They go out together to prisons and minister. I think it’s a great thing to do.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
The Vatican has rejected, possibly on a technicality, the appeal of Fr. Mark White, the pastor of two parishes who was suspended by the Bishop of Richmond for blogging after he was ordered to stop.
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Technicality or not following proper procedure is important - as any decent lawyer will tell you! Mind you, so is following the lawful directions of one’s superior. Sadly, some priests seem to have overlooked the fact that the promise which they made at ordination was of “respect and obedience” to their ordinary at his successors. That doesn’t mean that priests can’t or shouldn’t speak their mind to their superior, nor that they have to accept any appointment with servile obedience, it doesn’t even mean that you have to like the guy! At the end of the day though what every priest needs to remmebr is that his ministry isn’t about him as an individual.

At the end of the day though, a diocesan priest in particular priest shares in the priesthood of his bishop and can only exercise his ministry in communion with his bishop. For Fr Mark White to say "“I am not a priest of Barry Knestout I am a priest of Jesus Christ. is fundamentally wrong. on multiple levels.
 
Obedience is of the essence in being a priest.

hopefully he thrives in prison ministry. He can do much good there.
 
Please pray for Fr. White, since as of July 2 he has a blog up complaining repeatedly about his “unjust suspension” and is planning to lead some kind of a march on the Cathedral at Richmond.
 
Fr. White and 50 of his parishioners protested in Richmond outside the Chrism Mass yesterday.
Apparently Bishop Knestout issued a statement on this but I cannot find it on the Diocese website yet, perhaps because it’s the weekend and it hasn’t been posted.

I have no idea how these parishioners see the stuff this priest writes in his blog as helpful or supportive, but whatever.

 
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