Walking Out Re Homily Content - Opinion on this action

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BayernAnhaenger

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One or two weeks ago, my parents walked out of Mass during the homily. The reason for this is because the Celebrant (priest) was giving a homily that, according to them, went against the Church’s teaching, and what the Bishops have said regarding gay marriage (i do not know exactly what was said, as I attend college out of state). My home state recently had an amendment proposal regarding gay marriage, and the priest went on during the homily about how health care was a right, etc, etc. In addition to that, he was openly defying (as far as I have heard) what the Bishops (even my own Archbishop!) have said regarding gay marriage and the teachings on it.

This is not the first time that this certain priest has made homilies regarding offensive and divisive issues. (One such issue, that i thought was especially bad, was on July 4th, when he gave an anti-American homily. I know, the Church transcends nationalities, but STILL!). Complaining and addressing this issue to the parish pastor is pointless, as he apparently ALSO did the same thing the previous Masses! (My parents attended Sunday morning Mass, whereas the pastor did Sat. night).

Were my parents wrong in doing this? I am tending to say yes, but if this priest was speaking in contradiction to the Bishops…

I’m not sure. Any comments welcomed! Thanks!

Andy
 
BayernAnhaenger said:
One or two weeks ago, my parents walked out of Mass during the homily. The reason for this is because the Celebrant (priest) was giving a homily that, according to them, went against the Church’s teaching, and what the Bishops have said regarding gay marriage (i do not know exactly what was said, as I attend college out of state). My home state recently had an amendment proposal regarding gay marriage, and the priest went on during the homily about how health care was a right, etc, etc. In addition to that, he was openly defying (as far as I have heard) what the Bishops (even my own Archbishop!) have said regarding gay marriage and the teachings on it.

This is not the first time that this certain priest has made homilies regarding offensive and divisive issues. (One such issue, that i thought was especially bad, was on July 4th, when he gave an anti-American homily. I know, the Church transcends nationalities, but STILL!). Complaining and addressing this issue to the parish pastor is pointless, as he apparently ALSO did the same thing the previous Masses! (My parents attended Sunday morning Mass, whereas the pastor did Sat. night).

Were my parents wrong in doing this? I am tending to say yes, but if this priest was speaking in contradiction to the Bishops…

I’m not sure. Any comments welcomed! Thanks!

Andy
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As painful as this may be to read: yes, they were wrong, assuming that they did not go to another Mass to fulfill their obligation. The Catholic Church teaches that the efficacy of the sacraments does not hinge upon the personal holiness of the priest administering them.
 
CatholicNerd said:
As painful as this may be to read: yes, they were wrong, assuming that they did not go to another Mass to fulfill their obligation. The Catholic Church teaches that the efficacy of the sacraments does not hinge upon the personal holiness of the priest administering them.
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Thanks.

In addition to that, any recommendations on what to do regarding this type of stuff that goes on in my home parish? Aside from avoiding this certain priest like the plague, naturally.

Thanks again!
 
Well, certainly if they disagree with the homily they can leave their pew temporarily, though they must return after the homily is finished in order to fulfil their obligation.

Otherwise, if they’ve already taken up the issue with the priest and the pastor at their parish and received a negative response, the next step is to go to the Bishop. Give as much detail as possible about exactly what was said. Unfortunately these things take time - is there any way they can attend an?other parish in the mean time
 
CatholicNerd said:
As painful as this may be to read: yes, they were wrong, assuming that they did not go to another Mass to fulfill their obligation. The Catholic Church teaches that the efficacy of the sacraments does not hinge upon the personal holiness of the priest administering them.
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It sounds like the OP said they went to another Mass on Sunday after walking out of the Saturday Vigil Mass. “My parents attended Sunday morning Mass, whereas the pastor did Sat. night).”
 
If more people did this, we wouldn’t have the dissent so widespread. They were right to walk out. They should follow up, though and complain to the bishop. I’m sure if everyone who knows better took the effort to do that, we wouldn’t have to suffer these types.

I am sick and tired of putting up with the nonsense. If I have to drive 50 miles to get to a Mass that doesn’t spread lies and irreverence God, so be it. I thank the Lord we have options where we live, although way too much is tolerated.

My hope for the future is that the newly ordained are coming out swinging. They are holy and orthodox and involved. Even if several thousand of us have to squeeze into a few churches it is worth it to me to have a holy, believing priest. God help us.
 
I have only walked out once and that was a few months ago when a visiting priest allowed a woman get up to speak for the homily. I saw this coming from the beginning of the Mass but waited until she got up to speak… Fortunately, there was a 6:00 PM Mass in an ajoining parish.
 
Tell them to find another church. Quick. Surely there is another parish somewhere within driving distance, even if it’s not as convenient as this one. I would not support this parish with my time or money. And I would make sure the Bishop got notified of the ongoing abuses as well.
 
BayernAnhaenger said:
One or two weeks ago, my parents walked out of Mass during the homily. The reason for this is because the Celebrant (priest) was giving a homily that, according to them, went against the Church’s teaching, and what the Bishops have said regarding gay marriage (i do not know exactly what was said, as I attend college out of state). My home state recently had an amendment proposal regarding gay marriage, and the priest went on during the homily about how health care was a right, etc, etc. In addition to that, he was openly defying (as far as I have heard) what the Bishops (even my own Archbishop!) have said regarding gay marriage and the teachings on it.

This is not the first time that this certain priest has made homilies regarding offensive and divisive issues. (One such issue, that i thought was especially bad, was on July 4th, when he gave an anti-American homily. I know, the Church transcends nationalities, but STILL!). Complaining and addressing this issue to the parish pastor is pointless, as he apparently ALSO did the same thing the previous Masses! (My parents attended Sunday morning Mass, whereas the pastor did Sat. night).

Were my parents wrong in doing this? I am tending to say yes, but if this priest was speaking in contradiction to the Bishops…

I’m not sure. Any comments welcomed! Thanks!

Andy
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As long as they fulfilled their Sunday obligations somewhere, they’re well withing their rights to walk out when the priest is preaching something contrary to the Faith.

Also, I would tell them to attend his masses and tape them to pass along to their bishop. They might still have to attend Mass somewhere else though.
 
Instead of walking out, why not turn on a small audio recorder (maybe your cell phone has an audio recording feature?) and record the homily - then send it to your Bishop. (Keep a backup copy in a safe place, just in case it gets “lost” on the way to the Bishop’s office.)
 
I once walked out on a homily and I’m not sorry. It took about five years but that priest’s past finally caught up with him and he was kicked out of the priesthood. The heretical thing he said that day wasn’t just a quirk. In private he was practicing the wrong thing he was advocating in his homily.
 
Heretical homilies/sermons are spiritual poison to your soul.
Since they had already heard the awful homily, they should have remained to receive the body and blood of Jesus, but then refused to attend this priest’s masses ever again, and also complained in writing to the bishop.

My former parish priest was a past master at slipping heresy and modernism into his sermons, and it used to make my blood boil. It got to the point where I had to attend another parish in order not to be raging mad after every mass.

God bless you,
Jaypeeto4 (aka Jaypeeto3)
 
Everyone keeps suggesting to “write the bishop”. It’s the bishop that put that guy in there!! (most of the time)
You must write the bishop (protocol) but PLEASE cc the nuncio, the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments and S.C for Clergy.

Then,
If things don’t change - write the letter to the Nuncio and Sacred Congregations, w/cc of the original letter attached.

They need to hear all of it at every step.
addresses are at www.catholic-hierarchy.org
 
Have never personally walked out of a homily, but have made sure to provide feedback when the situation warranted.

For example, at a former parish I felt the need to take the priest aside after Mass and charitably inform him of how his sermon was not in accordance with Church teaching, on the issue of Terri Schiavo.

This particular priest started out by commenting on how bad it makes us feel if we run over a squirrel by accident. From there, he made an astonishing leap to the statement that “Terri Schiavo’s situation leaves us in a quandary about what to do in such cases.”

On hearing this, I felt that in good conscience I could not leave the church premises without stating, calmly and quietly but very much in public, what the Catholic Church’s stand actually is.

So as the priest stood shaking hands just outside the church door after Mass, I uttered three simple sentences to him: “The Vatican being pro-life has taken the position of defending Terri Schiavo’s right to life. Pope John Paul II clearly stated that Terri should continue to be provided with nutrition and hydration through a feeding tube. There is no quandary.”

(Yes, you can tell by the reference to John Paul the Great that this incident happened some time ago. I now very happily attend a new parish where the sermons are excellent, which is why I don’t have a more recent example.)

That said, I am not a one-note whistle-blower. When a priest gives a good sermon, I am just as quick to publicly praise and thank the priest. The good ones need encouragement, even as those needing improvement deserve to hear the truth spoken with charity.

~~ the phoenix
 
Since the particular events described are hearsay I won’t comment on the actions in particular. However, generally there is a better solution than walking out. I am a firm believer that one should only walk out of mass if it is invalid. If we have to suffer through an illicit mass or a heretical homily it is better to deal with it and address the issue in private with the priest then if nothing changes the priest and the Bishop and if still nothing changes then the Nuncio and the proper Dicasteries. While this is going on it is probably better to attend a different parish and note this in the conversations with the Bishop and others. Heresy is as one poster noted “poison for the soul” and we should not subject ourselves to spiritual violence.
 
Angels_Watchin said:
Everyone keeps suggesting to “write the bishop”. It’s the bishop that put that guy in there!! (most of the time)
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I disagree. I would say “most of the time” the priest has likely been a priest for a number of years and the current bishop is not the bishop who ordained the priest. There are also priests who have come from overseas, transferred from another diocese, come from an order, etc.

Your post is quite uncharitable in that it presumes the Bishop knowingly put a dissenting priest in the parish and implies the Bishop agrees with the priest.

The Bishop cannot be everywhere, or know everything, that a priest says and does. If there are serious concerns that merit his attention, the right thing to do is to contact the Bishop and let him know. We must give our Bishops the benefit of the doubt in these situations.
Angels_Watchin said:
You must write the bishop (protocol) but PLEASE cc the nuncio, the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments and S.C for Clergy.

Then,
If things don’t change - write the letter to the Nuncio and Sacred Congregations, w/cc of the original letter attached.
Click to expand...
I would agree that if things do not improve, further action is warranted. But, this should not be the first step.
 
I have heard that when a priest states things that are heretical all the men in the congregation stand up in protest, I can’t remember where though.
 
I, along with a few other people, walked out of a Thursday evening service when a priest, shortly before the 2004 elections, proceeded to talk politics. The priest has been vocal about his displeasure for the Bishop and isn’t afraid to make his opinion known. This wasn’t my home parish, I was going to get a feel of the Mass at that particular Parish.

I’m sorry, but politics, in my opinion, should NOT be discussed in a church. One hears too much about politics from the secular media - I personally feel that church is a perfect place to try to get away from the troubles our world is facing and gives me a chance to pray about them.
 
WanderAimlessly said:
I have only walked out once and that was a few months ago when a visiting priest allowed a woman get up to speak for the homily. I saw this coming from the beginning of the Mass but waited until she got up to speak… Fortunately, there was a 6:00 PM Mass in an ajoining parish.
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Is this a problem? I know the priest or deacon is supposed to give the homily, but what if the lady was speaking about something instead of giving the homily?

For example:
Where I was growing up, the priest had 3 towns he had to cover. There were many times when he had to skip the homily in order to make it to the next town. (As a kid, that thrilled me to death).

And even now, one of our local priests will give the homily after mass on holy days of obligation so that people can get back to work.
 
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