Local blogger Lee Strong is taking to task - and rightly so, in my opinion - various commenters on this and other blogs who have been using the cloak of anonymity to post undocumented assertions and outright insults against Bishop Matthew Clark and other members of the local clergy.
While I firmly believe that Matthew Clark's 30 year tenure as Bishop of Rochester has been characterized by far more negatives than positives and that, as a result, the diocese is in such a state of decline that many years of truly orthodox leadership will be required to bring it back to some semblance of its former glory, I also firmly believe that I can make my case by citing documented evidence and by avoiding ad hominems and other insulting language that shed far more heat than light. (I freely admit that I haven't been perfect on that last point at times, but I am trying.)
And so, in order to discourage a bit those who would rather repeat (or start) unsubstantiated rumors or who have never learned the difference between honest criticism and insult, I have turned off anonymous comments on this blog.
Starting today, anyone who wishes to post a comment here must have - and use - a Google ID. If you do not already have one you can sign up here.
19 comments:
You might want to check the video from St. Vincent dePaul (Churchville). The narrator, Charlotte Burney, tell how she "shares the preaching ministry" with Father Auble.
http://www.stvincentdepaulchurch.net/
Once there, click on the "our video" selection and what she says shows up about 3:33 into the video.
Ciao!
I agree - we just need to let the truth speak. Getting the truth out about what our diocese does versus what the Church teaches is what we should focus on. We don't need to go overboard and make nasty and unverifiable claims. There's enough true and verifiable information out there to make our case. It's interesting - I just read a great post over at Fr Z's blog about honesty:
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2009/06/statement-of-sspx-rector-about-priesthood-ordinations-on-27-june-2009/
Short of intervention from Rome, our Bishop won't do anything lasting. Since he is a lame-duck, he is just going to ride out the rest of his administration.
I can't help but wonder if at some point the diocese gets so small and weak in terms of priest and parishes, that it closes down and gets folded into Buffalo and Syracuse. Then what happens to the women administrators? And everything else too?
Take a diocese like Wheeling-Charleston WV. It's so big, geographically that they have one main cathedral and a pro-cathedral. I'm not sure which city has what cathedral.
But, hey, anything is possible! When I was a kid the two words "women" and "priest" I never thought would be used together. It was inconceivable.
I agree, Dr. K. If Rochester is kept as a diocese (after 30+ years of destruction), it may be seen by our Metropolitan and Rome too as a diocese similar to Ogdensburg. Ogdensburg is a very small diocese usually given to a newly consecrated (the term now is ordained) bishop to see how it does with it. Bishop Cunningham was ordinary in Ogdensburg and proved himself and now is Bishop of Syracuse.
Maybe a parallel situation would be in Rochester. Since the diocese here is in "rough" shape, it would be given to a newly created Bishop to see if he can get it "back into shape".
Like you said, a lot of foot stomping and screaming is something our next Bishop (assuming he is totally orthodox) will have to put up with. He'll have to have nerves of steel and a firm resolve to "right the ship".
Thanks for letting me pontificate.
Choir & Dr. K.,
Do we have a definitive list of DOR's current corps of lay homilists?
I know of the following:
1-Sr. Joan Sobala at St. Anne/Our Lady of Lourdes,
2-Nancy DeRycke at Good Shepherd,
3-Barbara Hesenius at St. John of Rochester, and now
4-Charlotte Burney at St. Vincent dePaul.
Are there others?
Mike...You got me on that one. I don't usually attend anything other than the TLM at St. Stan's and OLV, and sometimes the Carmelite Monastery. Sorry! but I'll keep my eyes and ears opened for ya.
Actualy, I believe lay preaching is permitted at non-Eucharistic services (like a Stations of the Cross).
"Homilies in non-eucharistic liturgies may be preached by the non-ordained faithful only when expressly permitted by law and when its prescriptions for doing so are observed."
[From Article 3 §4, From the 1997 Instruction "On certain questions regarding the collaboration of the non-ordained faithful in the sacred ministry of priests" also know as "Ecclesiae de mysterio"]
The Code of Canon Law has in canon 766: "The laity may be allowed to preach in a church or oratory if in certain circumstances it is necessary, or in particular cases it would be advantageous, according to the provisions of the Bishops' Conference and without prejudice to Can. 767 §1".
Anonymous comments off.
Good idea Mike. It gives us much better credibility . No need to hide if we tell the truth.Maybe now I can find out why Dr.K and In the choir loft know so much.Ha Ha.
(no really they do)
Great idea to not allow anonymous comments.
Besides the reducing the snark factor, nothing drives me up a wall more than a long string of Anonymous posts and trying to figure out which are unique people and which are repeats from the same person.
Mary Kay,
Amen to that!
I'm still not sure which Anon. is which in the 20 anonymous comments on this post.
At our church we get to hear the homiletics of Sr. Barbara Moore every second Sunday of the month. The lector announces at the beginning of Mass, "today our homilist is Fr. X. Also participating in the ministry of preaching is Sr. Barbara." I know she preaches at the other churches in the Northwest Ontario Planning Group.
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