Ft. Worth student suspended for opposing homosexuality September 22, 2011
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, Dallas Diocese, foolishness, General Catholic, sadness, scandals, sickness, Society.comments closed
We don’t have a TV, so this may be old news, but a Ft. Worth ISD student, self-identifying as a Christian, was suspended for saying he opposed “homosexuality” on religious grounds:
A Fort Worth high school student was sent to the principal’s office earlier this week for telling another classmate he believes homosexuality is wrong.
Fourteen-year-old Dakota Ary spent most of the day Tuesday serving an in-school suspension. It was punishment for discussion in his German class at Fort Worth’s Western Hills High School.
“We were talking about religions in Germany. I said, ‘I’m a Christian. I think being a homosexual is wrong,’” he said. “It wasn’t directed to anyone except my friend who was sitting behind me. I guess [the teacher] heard me. He started yelling. He told me he was going to write me an infraction and send me to the office.”
An assistant principal called Ary’s mother at work to let her know he was in trouble.
“At first I was in disbelief. My son is on the honor roll with great grades. I don’t have any problems out of him,” Holly Pope said.
After hearing Ary’s explanation of what happened, the assistant principal reduced the original suspension from two days to one. But Pope was not satisfied with that.
“He was stating an opinion. He has a right to do that. They punished him for it,” she said.
Have I mentioned how much we enjoy homeschooling?
+Olmstead, Phoenix Diocese to limit EHMCs…. September 22, 2011
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, Dallas Diocese, episcopate, Eucharist, General Catholic, Liturgy, North Deanery, priests, sadness, scandals, sickness.comments closed
…….or (un)Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. Not unextraordinary because they are not wonderful people, but because in most diocese in the US the practice has become so commonplace and banal that they are not what was originally intended when the indult began. The Diocese of Phoenix presents some very, very interesting information regarding Communion under both kinds and EHMCs, stating they will limit both:
“In the Roman Missal (1975), 14 instances were provided when the chalice could be offered to the laity,” the diocese noted. “From 1975 on, the United States, United Kingdom and Oceania were given experimental privileges for the distribution of Holy Communion under both kinds. These privileges expired in 2005 and were not renewed by the Holy See. The new norms issued in June 2011 are what guide the liturgical practice today and in the future.” [Apparently, those norms limit Communion under both kinds to limited cases like conventual Masses, Chrism Mass, and reserving the Chalice for non-concelebrating priests, seminarians, etc]
“These universal norms for the distribution of Holy Communion under both kinds greatly expanded those times when the chalice could be offered to the lay faithful for most of the Catholic world (since in most countries their practice was virtually non-existent),” the diocesan statement continued. “In the Diocese of Phoenix, like other places where the practice of reception from the chalice became frequent or even commonplace, the new norms call for the practice of less frequent distribution of Holy Communion under both kinds than the faithful may have been accustomed.” [somehow, I don’t think the recognition of this reality will permeate to many dioceses]
“In normal circumstances, only priests and deacons are to distribute Holy Communion,” the diocese added; “when both forms of Communion are used frequently, ‘extraordinary’ ministers of Holy Communion are disproportionately multiplied.” [I must wonder how well this directive will be obeyed? I pray well, but I don’t know how well received these norms will be. Sadly, there are many times when directives like this are simply ignored]
The bit about the privileges expiring in 2005 is extremely interesting. It seems the Phoenix Diocese is interpreting the new norms to drastically limit Communion under both kinds and EHMCs. Perhaps Bishop Olmstead largely agrees with Bishop Schneider, who believes EHMCs represent a novel practice.
The axe falls on the noble Fr. Rodriguez – UPDATE w/ CORRECTION September 22, 2011
Posted by Tantumblogo in Basics, disaster, episcopate, foolishness, General Catholic, Glory, Interior Life, Latin Mass, priests, sadness, scandals, sickness, silliness, Tradition, Virtue.comments closed
It is a very sad testament to the Church at this time, in this country, that many who knew and followed Fr. Michael Rodriguez’ work wondered how long he would be able to continue giving forthright, even strident, presentations on aspects of the Faith in a very public manner before he was forced to desist by some ecclesial action. Well, sadly, that action has come, yesterday. Fr. Michael Rodriguez has been removed from his role as “pastoral administrator” of San Juan Bautista parish, to be replaced by what all evidence reveals is a very different kind a priest, a man much more attuned to the desires of his bishop and much more hostile towards Tradition and especially the Traditional Latin Mass. (UPDATE: I have received updated and corrected information that a new priest has not been assigned to San Juan Bautista. There will be a Latin Mass of unknown kind this coming Sunday at 9:30a celebrated by a Franciscan priest. There is no word on the future of the parish, but it the outlook is uncertain to grim.) Fr. Rodriguez is to be sent to ecclesial “Siberia,” to a location as far from the center of the Diocese as possible, to a parish with 4 dependent mission churches with no priests assigned, meaning he will likely spend most of his time traveling extensively and having little time to build up the laity at any particular parish.
Why has this occurred? The official reason is that Fr. Rodriguez’s very strong and forthright expositions on Church Doctrine regarding marriage, chastity, and homosexuality somehow threatened that most important, most cherished of Church privileges in this country – it’s 501 status as a charity with the IRS. There is a recall election afoot in El Paso to remove from office the mayor and two council members who, over the intent of the voters expressed in a special election dedicated to this topic, chose to implement same-sex partner benefits for city employees through legislative fiat. Fr. Rodriguez has of course spoken at length about how wrong this action is, but he has not endorsed any candidate or party, so the IRS status issue is a farce. It is a red herring, a falsity. While we may only speculate regarding the “real” reasoning, I think it should be mentioned that there are many reports that the clergy in El Paso is sadly made up of many priests who were personally…….PERSONALLY……offended by Fr. Rodriguez’ expositions on Church Doctrine. Those presentations were, for some, perhaps many in that Diocese, very painful reminders of the Truth Christ has revealed through His Church, both before His Incarnation and since, that homosexual acts are always and everywhere mortally sinful and the homosexual inclination intrinsically disordered and unnatural. They constitute, literally, the sins that “cry out to God for vengeance.” These expositions could no longer be tolerated. Fr. Rodriguez had to go.
In the coming days or weeks, there may be other allegations of alleged impropriety regarding Fr. Rodriguez, in order to justify this action taken by Bishop Armand Ochoa, he who still holds such a very warm place in his heart for his ecclesiological ‘home,’ the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Cardinal Roger Mahony. They will all be false. Period, end of sentence, no matter what is presented, do not believe any of it. That is all I will say.
Meanwhile, the dedicated and devout parishioners of San Juan Bautista have lost their pastor, for such he was even though denied the title by Bishop Ochoa (the more to limit his rights under Canon Law), suddenly, in the middle of the night, without warning. There is no daily Mass as usual, no Confession, nothing until Saturday night, apparently, when they will meet their new priest. It is approximately 250 (thanks for the correction!) miles from El Paso to Presidio (Fr. Rodriguez was transferred to the furthest out parish possible by Bishop Ochoa) – it will be next to impossible for many, if any, of the San Juan Bautista parishioners who have an attachment to the Traditional Mass to avail themselves of the Mass of All Ages, which the good Pope Benedict XVI has so plainly indicated he would like to be freely available wherever desired. Fr. Michael Rodriguez is the only priest in the Diocese of El Paso who celebrates Mass according to the Traditional Rite.
To say this decision has upset many people would be a gross understatement. Many are broken hearted, devastated. They felt they had finally found a true pastor and shepherd, and now he is gone. I pray those so affected will not be downcast or defeated, but will joyfully accept this cross, which could even be described as a persecution, as a triumphal sacrifice to offer to our Lord in union with His own, Perfect Sacrifice. It is through sufferings that we grow most in the Faith. Willing acceptance of this cross can bring much spiritual fruit.
But, at the same time, the facts must be made clear. I think it very fortuitous, even Providential, that Michael Voris has been running a series this week on the influence of homosexuality in the Church, and, in particular, the clergy. Here is his latest video, which is 100% accurate, apropos, and very much worth watching:
“The problem only surfaces once Catholic Truth is preached.” And thus it has always been –
there are those who seek accomodation with the world, and those who cling to the Truth Christ has revealed through His Church. Those latter tend to get to suffer a great deal. For that we should be grateful, although it is very hard.
But as to the question of why………I leave it to the reader to ruminate on that.
The Truth, that so few can stand:
The discipline double standard in the Church September 22, 2011
Posted by Tantumblogo in asshatery, Basics, Dallas Diocese, disaster, foolishness, General Catholic, Interior Life, sadness, scandals, sickness.comments closed
Why does it seem like faithful, orthodox priests get cashiered, when pro-abort politicians and heterodox clergy just keep on keepin’ on? Pewsitter asks:
Over the last year, three prominent priests, all outspokenly pro-life, have been the subject of disciplinary actions by their bishop or immediate superior. Fr. Frank Pavone is the latest of these. The other two are of course, Fr. Corapi and Fr. Euteneuer. [Those are just the very public ones we know about. Plus, we have had attacks on Michael Voris and a pending attack on Fr. Zuhlsdorf. Many good and holy priests have suffered persecution simply for being good and holy] It is not my intent to lump these three together in terms of guilt or innocence; rather it is only to illustrate that in each case a very public action was initiated against them.
To be clear, I am NOT criticizing a Bishop’s right or obligation to discipline. As lay Catholics from the outside looking in, we may not always understand or even agree with the actions taken by the Church hierarchy. However, we do acknowledge that one of the duties of a spiritual shepherd is to reprove and correct all of the faithful under their care, whether priest or layperson.
According to the website OneNationUnderGod.com that tracks Catholic politicians and their votes, as of 2009 there were 161 Catholics serving in Congress. Twenty-six had a 100% voting record on all life issue votes and twenty-eight have never taken a pro-life position, earning a 0% voting record. Thirty four Catholic lawmakers co-sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act of 2007. Seventy-five Catholic members of Congress accepted campaign donations from groups that advocated for unrestricted abortion rights.
Unfortunately, there appears to be double standard within the hierarchy when it comes to meting out discipline. In the three cases mentioned above, highly public steps were taken where a problem was perceived to have existed. Would it be that equally decisive action were taken to correct and reprove Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, Andrew Cuomo, Rudy Giuliani, John Kerry, and other prominent pro-abortion Catholics politicians in public life. [There does seem to be a discrepancy, but the Church does have more ‘control’ over clergy than over wayward lay people. Even then, however, it is amazing that after all these years and so many examples of rejecting the Faith, publicly, that none of these notorious pro-abort (and other things) ‘Catholics’ have incured any ecclesial penalty]
Catholics understand and support the behind-the-scenes dialogue and diplomacy that Bishops and others within the Church hierarchy must use with prominent Catholic officials.[Up to a point…..] Most Catholics would prefer to have such issues resolved in this way and not to air our dirty laundry in public. However, when public dissent by prominent Catholics continues for years and in some cases decades – as is the case with many politicians – some kind of public disciplinary action is necessary. [How long, Lord, how long? Does this inaction have anything to do with the great dependence of the Church, and especially its ‘charities,’ on government funding?]
I can think of only one instance in the last five years where a Bishop actually took a public position against a Catholic politician. That instance was when Archbishop Joseph Naumann publicly requested that then Gov. Kathleen Sebelius not receive Holy Communion due to her pro-abortion position…….
…….Many faithful Catholics see a double standard here. If public action is called for when prominent pro-life priests who have strayed from the path, surely there is an equal need to take a public stand against prominent pro-abortion Catholics who have dissented for years or even decades – and remain unrepentant to this very day.
Some may say, “well, those very public priests did very bad things, and deserved the proscriptions meted out against them!” Perhaps so, but there are many cases of other good and holy priests who have done nothing but pour their heart and soul into their apostolate and who love Christ and His Church, and have been “punished” with demotion, assignment to ecclesiastical Siberia, etc, simply for being what they are.
It’s past time for it to stop.
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