Very serious problems at the parish

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imroc

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I’ve brought up a few issues, but here’s one that I forgot to mention. Can you help me with this? When I went through RCIA, it was fun and enlightening. Although I really don’t feel that I learned all that much because there was more of a hinted focus on liberation theology, how the Church should change things such as womenly priesthood and such. I kinda blew it off, because I figured the guy who was teaching had a little animosity because he is an ex-priest. I know, that’s the biggest no-no of them all. But like I said, this parish has serious problems and I pray for it often. (I have removed my family from the parish for now…I’ll talk more about this later). Well, I had already been baptised as a southern babdist :). So baptism wasn’t necessary. But! Our class NEVER talked about confession at all. I went through the whole caboodle and never went to confession. As a matter of fact, I never even went to confession until about 3 months later! I had moved about 4 hours away and was in a different parish of course. I told the priest that I had NEVER been to confession and that I was confirmed a few months back. He didn’t even flinch and said very little. It was a very good confession, but I expected him to say something different about me not going to confession. I have moved back down here and live in the same town in which I was confirmed, but don’t go to that parish still. I would love to do what I can to help my parish, but right now I feel powerless. My family is just one of the many who have left and are slowly leaving for other parishes. The social justice issues are great and I feel really convicted about such issues, but it seems that they are putting everything Christian aside in order to rectify social issues. And I feel that my opportunity for reconciliation during the most beautiful moment of my life was missed out on because of the focus on social issues. Is this normal for the RCIA program to skip out on reconcilation??

PS, the parish in which I first went to confession is very similar in beliefs as the parish I was confirmed in! I couldn’t believe it! I didn’t attend mass or anything at that parish, but it’s confession time frame was perfect for my opportunity that day. Liberation Theology was very rampant in that parish. I blindly joined a class at this parish even though I wasn’t a member, called…uh… JustFaith. Yeah, that’s it! My first class was very very uncomfortable. The leader of the class was a Lutheran, one of the ladies was involved in New Age and not a Christian at all, one was a cradle catholic, another 2 were (I hate to say this word though) very liberal in catholic beliefs. And then there was me! Wow! The first night there we introduced ourselves and told our little background. And right away the Lutheran started saying things he didn’t like or believe about the catholic Church! WE WERE IN A CATHOLIC CHURCH!! AND HE’S THERE TEACHING THE CLASS IN A CATHOLIC CHURCH!!! Needless to say, I ended up moving back down here and left the class. I should pray for them all.
 
How can a RCIA class have a leader that is Lutheran and where was the Priest?

I don’t get it?

scared
 
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imroc:
. The social justice issues are great and I feel really convicted about such issues, but it seems that they are putting everything Christian aside in order to rectify social issues. And I feel that my opportunity for reconciliation during the most beautiful moment of my life was missed out on because of the focus on social issues.
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Confession/Reconciliation IS a social issue, and one of the most important sacraments as it brings us back to God, a heals our relationship with Him.
Have you spoken with your bishop? What diocese are you in? Does the Bishop approve of a Lutheran teaching classes to Catholics in a Catholic church? He needs to know about this.
 
Oh silly me I just saw you are in Colorado. Are you in Denver diocese or CO Springs? I am in Denver diocese. I know Archbishop Chaput would not approve!
 
I agree with Mommyjo, Archbishop Chaput (or Bishop Sheridan) needs to know about your experience. There is no way that they would allow this if they had knowledge. Write a polite e-mail, I know from experience that Archbishop Chaput reads every e-mail and responds rather quickly to each also.

And continue to pray for this and all parishes. Satan is indeed attacking the Church.
 
Here’s a tip though, sign your name. I know for a fact that Archbishop Chaput really hates anonymous letters.
 
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mommyjo2:
Oh silly me I just saw you are in Colorado. Are you in Denver diocese or CO Springs? I am in Denver diocese. I know Archbishop Chaput would not approve!
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I may not live in Colorado, but I for one know Bishop Michael Sheridan of CO Springs wouldn’t approve either. Though the pastor of each parish is most often where the buck stops as to who teaches the RCIA classes, it is still very wrong to have a non-Catholic teaching the program and must be reported to the diocese if the parish priest does nothing to rectify the matter.

I for one think the initials RCIA should stand for “Rite of Catholic Initiation for Adults” rather than “Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults”, there is a degree of confusion the official title fosters even though Catholics are Christian.
 
Sorry, I posted the last reply before I was done!
It came up at our church (in Littleton) that someone objected to the sermon (which was about the evils of abortion). They wrote an anonymous letter to the Bishop, who addressed it immediately with our pastor. Fortunately, that sermon were being recorded and our pastor had proof that he was being misquoted. But I do know that Chaput took it very seriously and looked into the matter.
(also now all the sermons are recorded, our preist tells it like it is and sometimes that offends people who would rather not hear that something is a sin.)
 
I’m happy for you that you have a pastor who isn’t afraid of ruffling feathers by telling it like it is in his homilies. It takes a brave soul to do so these days! I hope the Bishop did a good job of demonstrating defense of the priest for having spoken the truth!

As for the Lutheran teaching a course, unless I’ve misread Imroc’s post, I believe the course that was being referred to wasn’t the RCIA but rather the course in his new (and now previous) community, where he received his first confession. It’s sad to hear that any pastor would allow such a program to be taught in the parish, especially when it starts off with a bashing of the Church, and it would be good to start by ensuring that the pastor of that church knew that this was what was going on, that the instructor was using the course as an opportunity to share why they disagree with the Catholic Church. And if that didn’t get the result of ending this teachers opportunity to teach in a Catholic Church, the bishop (but it wouldn’t be in CO) should be informed. However, if I read it correctly, this is no longer imroc’s community, so follow-up would be more difficult, making prayer a good response.

God Bless, and Merry Christmas,

CARose
 
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imroc:
I’ve brought up a few issues, but here’s one that I forgot to mention. Can you help me with this? When I went through RCIA, it was fun and enlightening. Although I really don’t feel that I learned all that much because there was more of a hinted focus on liberation theology, how the Church should change things such as womenly priesthood and such. I kinda blew it off, because I figured the guy who was teaching had a little animosity because he is an ex-priest. I know, that’s the biggest no-no of them all. But like I said, this parish has serious problems and I pray for it often. (I have removed my family from the parish for now…I’ll talk more about this later). Well, I had already been baptised as a southern babdist :). So baptism wasn’t necessary. But! Our class NEVER talked about confession at all. I went through the whole caboodle and never went to confession. As a matter of fact, I never even went to confession until about 3 months later! I had moved about 4 hours away and was in a different parish of course. I told the priest that I had NEVER been to confession and that I was confirmed a few months back. He didn’t even flinch and said very little. It was a very good confession, but I expected him to say something different about me not going to confession. I have moved back down here and live in the same town in which I was confirmed, but don’t go to that parish still. I would love to do what I can to help my parish, but right now I feel powerless. My family is just one of the many who have left and are slowly leaving for other parishes. The social justice issues are great and I feel really convicted about such issues, but it seems that they are putting everything Christian aside in order to rectify social issues. And I feel that my opportunity for reconciliation during the most beautiful moment of my life was missed out on because of the focus on social issues. Is this normal for the RCIA program to skip out on reconcilation??

PS, the parish in which I first went to confession is very similar in beliefs as the parish I was confirmed in! I couldn’t believe it! I didn’t attend mass or anything at that parish, but it’s confession time frame was perfect for my opportunity that day. Liberation Theology was very rampant in that parish. I blindly joined a class at this parish even though I wasn’t a member, called…uh… JustFaith. Yeah, that’s it! My first class was very very uncomfortable. The leader of the class was a Lutheran, one of the ladies was involved in New Age and not a Christian at all, one was a cradle catholic, another 2 were (I hate to say this word though) very liberal in catholic beliefs. And then there was me! Wow! The first night there we introduced ourselves and told our little background. And right away the Lutheran started saying things he didn’t like or believe about the catholic Church! WE WERE IN A CATHOLIC CHURCH!! AND HE’S THERE TEACHING THE CLASS IN A CATHOLIC CHURCH!!! Needless to say, I ended up moving back down here and left the class. I should pray for them all.
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Wow, that’s incredible! You need to have a copy of the Catechism handy. If it’s not in there, it’s not correct! Don’t back down from anyone who tells you otherwise. And I would most certainly talk to the Bishop about this purported Catholic Church.
 
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mommyjo2:
Sorry, I posted the last reply before I was done!
It came up at our church (in Littleton) that someone objected to the sermon (which was about the evils of abortion). They wrote an anonymous letter to the Bishop, who addressed it immediately with our pastor. Fortunately, that sermon were being recorded and our pastor had proof that he was being misquoted. But I do know that Chaput took it very seriously and looked into the matter.
(also now all the sermons are recorded, our preist tells it like it is and sometimes that offends people who would rather not hear that something is a sin.)
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Wow, that’s strange that a priest has to record his sermons to protect himself. Very sad.
 
Is this normal for the RCIA program to skip out on reconcilation??
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No, all seven sacraments are normally covered as topics.

RCIA in itself is properly for catechumens, who by nature do not need to go to confession first, because they are getting baptized. Were you the only candidate (or already baptized person) in the class?
 
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mommyjo2:
It came up at our church (in Littleton) that someone objected to the sermon (which was about the evils of abortion). They wrote an anonymous letter to the Bishop, who addressed it immediately with our pastor. Fortunately, that sermon were being recorded and our pastor had proof that he was being misquoted. But I do know that Chaput took it very seriously and looked into the matter.
(also now all the sermons are recorded, our preist tells it like it is and sometimes that offends people who would rather not hear that something is a sin.)
Click to expand...
Let me guess! Saint Francis Cabrini? Excellent Parish!
 
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CARose:
I’m happy for you that you have a pastor who isn’t afraid of ruffling feathers by telling it like it is in his homilies. It takes a brave soul to do so these days! I hope the Bishop did a good job of demonstrating defense of the priest for having spoken the truth!

As for the Lutheran teaching a course, unless I’ve misread Imroc’s post, I believe the course that was being referred to wasn’t the RCIA but rather the course in his new (and now previous) community, where he received his first confession. It’s sad to hear that any pastor would allow such a program to be taught in the parish, especially when it starts off with a bashing of the Church, and it would be good to start by ensuring that the pastor of that church knew that this was what was going on, that the instructor was using the course as an opportunity to share why they disagree with the Catholic Church. And if that didn’t get the result of ending this teachers opportunity to teach in a Catholic Church, the bishop (but it wouldn’t be in CO) should be informed. However, if I read it correctly, this is no longer imroc’s community, so follow-up would be more difficult, making prayer a good response.

God Bless, and Merry Christmas,

CARose
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CARose is correct. My writing was very confusing:
  1. Entered RCIA in Parish #1 (not in the town of Pueblo, but Pueblo Diocese)
  2. Confirmed in Parish #1
  3. Moved, registered and attended Parish #2 (St. Joseph’s in Ft. Collins)
  4. Confessed in Parish #3 (Another Ft. Collins Parish…not to be mentioned just yet)
  5. Began JustFaith course in Parish #3 while regularly attending Mass at Parish #2
  6. Moved back down to the town where Parish #1
  7. Attend Mass at Parish #4 now…(near town where I live, Pueblo Diosece)
 
I first started (but did not finish) RCIA in a wonderful Catholic church, St. Michael the Archangel in Miami, in 1991.
For various reasons, I then backed away from the Catholic Faith. In the mid-1990s I began attending Catholic church again, and in 1998 began RCIA at a different parish near my home. The parish priest was a flaming liberal heterodox modernist and he taught the RCIA class. I was already baptized (Presbyterian), but went thru RCIA anyway. It was hell being subjected to the heterodox teaching of this priest, and I bought copies of LIFE IN CHRIST and gave them to my RCIA classmates in hopes of correcting the nauseating dissident nonsemse our RCIA priest-teacher had taught them. During our confirmation at the Easter Vigil of 1999, during the litany of the Saints, among the “Saints” invoked to
“pray for us!” were pagan idolator Mahatma Ghandi, communist activist Steven Biko of South Africa, protestant minister Martin Luther King Junior, evolutionist Teilhard De Chardin, and a host of other non-Catholics and non-Christians. Finally, this priest was transferred to another parish in the Archdiocese of Miami. Recently, because my conscience had been beating me for years to get me to say something, I wrote to the Archbishop and reported this priest for his views, teachings, and antics. In response I got a short, curt letter from the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Miami basically telling me that I was the only person who had ever complained about this priest in the 37 years of his priesthood with the archdiocese of Miami. To me, that speaks volumes about the spiritual health of Catholics in this archdiocese because that man is WAY off the deep end. The letter from the vicar general also said that the priest denied my allegations, and wished me a merry Christmas, case closed.
I feel like I just met the Mafia. Still, my conscience is clear. I have told the proper authorities and they choose to believe the heterodox dissident over me. Fine. At least I told the truth.
I hope that you get a better, more godly response from your bishop in Colorado.
Love, Jaypeeto4 (aka Jaypeeto3)
 
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