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PDF versionGood guys wear black
by Heidi Schlumpf on Aug. 12, 2011
Father Kenneally, the 75-year-old retired pastor of St. Gertrude’s Church and volunteer at St. Barnabas Church, said he “and a majority of priests, truthfully” do not agree with the church’s “vapid reasoning” for excluding women. Father Kenneally said he is unfazed by possible reprisals. “Since I’m retired,” he said, “it’s not like they can take a church away from me.”
This summer I’ve read articles about a priest accused of secretly helping a convicted mob killer, of embezzling money from their parishes and, of course, of abusing children or covering up abuse.
I was about to cancel my “Catholic” Google Alert when I happily found this article in the New York Times about the reform group Call to Action. Quoted right at the top is my former pastor, Father Bill Kenneally, boldly declaring that he was among 150 priests to sign a petition protesting the removal of Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois for his support of women’s ordination.
According to the article:
The truth is that Father Bill has always been fearlessly honest, including with the media—even before he was retired. While he respects the institution of the church and has given his life in service to it, he loves it enough to speak up when he thinks the church is falling short of its ideals.
He has personally inspired me so many times that I have written him thank you notes about it. But he is a humble guy, and shuns any recognition or praise. So I’ll just say this here publicly—to Father Bill and all those other priests who have taken risks to follow their conscience:
I was never a Catholic who put all priests on a pedestal, but I do have a healthy bit of admiration for many of them. Your everyday work of preaching, celebrating the Eucharist and sharing your own spiritual journey regularly inspires me, but when I see you taking a public stand against injustice—especially in our own church—I am doubly awed. This shouldn’t be a rare occurrence, but in today’s church, it has become so. Still, your bravery calls me to follow the courage of my own convictions, and to do that in a way that is not caustic, but loving.
Thank you.
"Father Kenneally said he is
"Father Kenneally said he is unfazed by possible reprisals [for speaking his mind on a matter of conscience]."
Perhaps he's somewhat blessed by a tolerant bishop?
In Louisville, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz has reportedly threatened to terminate the church pension of any retired cleric who speaks out against church teaching/policy/practice. Whether the AB can legally do so is one thing. What is more important is that a guy 18 months my senior (I'm 63) would dare treat his "seniors" in such a disrespectful, condescending manner. These presbyters have given their lives in service to the Louisville church. Kurtz, on the other hand, is from out of state. We had no "say" in his appointment to the Louisville church. The Vatican imposed Kurtz on us.
When Catholics toss their shekels into the weekend collection plate, they are effectively endorsing the behaviors of their bishops. This money-giving is called "enabling" --- as in "enabling sinful and, thus, dysfunctional behavior of a hierarch".
It is long past time for Catholics to begin selecting their religious leaders as was done in the earliest Christian communities. Time for transparency, not to mention accountability to the local church. Long past time.
my sheckels are counted out
my sheckels are counted out in pesos and go into the felt bag passed around the Cathedral in Ciudad Juarez, which walks with the poor People of God and supports all in our suffering, and wherein, by the way, a wonderful altar girl assists in the celebration at mid-day Mass, bearing the entering cross and filling quite competently the censor, and even, dare I say it, smiling while singing, and bringing tears of joy to this old man's heart.
But some US bishops apparently consider altar girls the crack in the church door, like bingo leading to a life of crime, and reason for cutting off the pensions of ancient priests who gave their whole life to our Church . . .
Dudes, see these Catholics; how we love one another . . .
Of course His Grace can
Of course His Grace can terminate their retirement. Canon Law gives him that authority, just as it gives an ordinary the power to restrict, limit, or eliminate the salary of a parish priest/associate/chancery official who is a cleric.
An ordinary has full legislative, judicial and executive authority within his diocese, so long as he remains in communion with the Holy Father. Clerics have certain rights under Canon Law, of course, that protects them from arbitrary abuse of power by the Ordinary, but a cleric is not protected from an ordinary exercising his authority to discipline a priest who has violated his promise of obedience to the ordinary. Age is irrelevant, a priest who is 85 owes respect and obedience to his ordinary, even if that bishop is only 35.
Finally, the laity do not have a "say" in who their ordinary is. That is Church law. The Vatican II folks sing the same refrain about the Church's teaching "evolving" and "growing", well Church law has done that as well. After centuries of kings and emperors imposing their choice of bishop (often more corrupt that any prelate alive in the last 100 years) on the Holy See and the people of a particular diocese, the Holy See rightly exercises its supreme and universal jurisdiction and authority in appointing prelates today. It's a shame that some people in a diocese may not like the bishop appointed, but no one is ever universally popular. In any event, all that I have heard from friends, clergy and laity alike in Louisville and other dioceses in Kentucky, is that His Grace is a breath of fresh orthodox air after Archbishop Kelly. While I do not know Archbishop Kelly, I have seen the hideous "renovation" (wreckovation, actually; the turning of a beautiful Catholic Cathedral into a Protestant conventical) that he perpetrated on the Cathedral of the Assumption tells me all I need to know about his reign in Louisville.
seen China lately?
seen China lately?
To think of it: 150 priests
To think of it: 150 priests have actually signed on (with, even then, a pledge not to reveal their names). With 40,000 priests in the US, (and, supposedly, as Fr. Bill says, "most of them support female and married priests") one can only womder where the other 39,850 of them are hiding out... In their basements, or closets? So sad that so few, ever, stand up and be counted. Abject fear has taken over the Church, on all fronts. Jim Ewens
Yeah, no, I suspect that Fr.
Yeah, no, I suspect that Fr. Bill is grossly exaggerating the number of priests how support the blasphemy of ordaining women (a contradiction in terms, of course). Many more may indeed support the idea of ordaining married men, but unlike the issue of ordaining women, priestly celibacy is a matter of Church discipline and can be changed or dispensed with, if needs be. The subject of the ordination of women is a matter of Church teaching, a part of the infallible Ordinary Magisterium, and as such, is unchangeable.
The other 39,850 priests are not hiding, they are busy celebrating Mass and hearing Confession, baptizing babies and marrying couples, tending to the sick and burying the dead, teaching the young, instructing the ignorant, caring for the sick and the poor, preaching the Gospel. In short, they are busy living lives of priestly service to God and His Church; they don't have time to endorse some disobedient cleric who is suffering a just punishment for his pride and disobedience.
I hope more priests who are
I hope more priests who are not retired, sign the petition supporting Fr Roy Bourgeois. I have met Fr Roy and he does not deserve the treatment he is getting from Rome and Maryknoll. If the majority of American Roman Catholic priests came out in support of him, what would the authorities do, close the doors? This will not happen, the silent majority in the pews and pulpits bwill just keep their heads in the sand and ignore the awful mess the RC church is in. We need a lot of priests like Lutheran Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was not afraid to stand up to the authorities.
So someone is honest and
So someone is honest and inspiring only when (s)he agrees with you? There's no possibility that you may be wrong about anything? You don't admit that Roy is being disciplined, not for supporting women's ordination, but because he participated in one? I'm glad you're "doubly awed," lady, but I wish you were doubly objective in your reasoning.
You have a point and the
You have a point and the issue does go both ways, But keep in mind that there is no risk in speaking out in support of the hierarchy, only in criticizing it.
Of course there is, if you
Of course there is, if you support the Catholic Church in this country, you will be marginalized, and demonized, if you work against it, you will be rewarded.
and if you truly support the
and if you truly support the true Catholic Church the clerical Catholic hierarchy will marginalize and demonize you, as Jesus promises
when you discipline someone
when you discipline someone you don't kick them out of the family!
I'm glad Fr. Roy participated
I'm glad Fr. Roy participated in that ordination ceremony, and not at all surprised, as he has always been one to "walk his talk."
Bishop Morris was disciplined
Bishop Morris was disciplined for even mentioning the possibility of women's ordination. He did not participate in one.
Maryknoll maybe trying to run this participation excuse to confuse people, but Morris's knockdown tells the real story. Fr Roy is a veteran of this kind of 'double speak' in story telling. He's dealt with the US government over SOA for decades. Double speak only ever works for one side, and that's the side with the power to enforce their double speak.
Heidi writes: Father
Heidi writes: Father Kenneally said he is unfazed by possible reprisals. “Since I’m retired,” he said, “it’s not like they can take a church away from me.”
as they have done to the Reverend Father John Dear SJ in New Mexico, where we ever need him and miss him and love him.
Still it reminds me of the tragic case of the attempted silencing of the Reverend Father Charles Curran as recounted in his Loyal Dissent and Faithful Dissent. Once the papal powers forbid him from teaching in Catholic schools, he writes, they could do nothing further to him and he was free to pursue his true theological vocation and studies, and to publish, and to open for our understanding our Faith, and its ethical application, for instance, in the field of medicine. Father Curran wrote it is those coleagues who were left behind, who were not cast out, who remained under the fearful shadow of the Wojtyla Vatican, under its tight and totalitarian control, where no Divino Spiritu dares Afflante.
And we must stand behind
And we must stand behind priests such as Father Bill Kenneally and Father Roy Bourgeois who have the courage to SHOUT OUT for all the hear.
Unfortunately we could see shredding of the institutional church as we saw in Phoenix where St. Joseph's Hospital is Catholic to everyone except the local bishop.
Sadly, if we had real dialog, this would not have to happen. The real vitality in the church is at the local level with lay ministry with their local priest. To paraphrase Father Bill, I will not let them take my church away from me.
The Vatican decides what's
The Vatican decides what's Catholic,and if that's not your faith you have no claim to belong to their Church...just as Roy Bourgeois forfeits his legitimacy by his failure to keep his oath of obedience and insistent defiance of the authority from which his standing comes.
a concise statement of the
a concise statement of the proud wojtylian heresy
They can take Fr Kenneally's
They can take Fr Kenneally's pension check away! I would suggest that he stop shooting his mouth off in the interest of not living in the streets!
he is welcome to live in our
he is welcome to live in our hermitage, thus blessing its poverty
Can he slip some Courage
Can he slip some Courage Pills into the drinks of non-retired clerics?
Heidi, the NY Times article
Heidi, the NY Times article brought out the same pride in me that you felt even if I know Fr. Kenneally only from a third degree away (as in most social networks). For a while I've felt the need to raise a voice in their favor - to let them know someone has their back. In fact, earlier this summer I began to compose an article enumerating the good priest guys who've graced my life and why I view them in this manner. All but a very few are from the Chicago Archdiocese. Most are still living; some have gone to their reward (I'm positive). For some, retired means active ministry in a less official manner. The article wasn't completed nor sent on due to concerns about feelings. Perhaps in the near or not-so-near future I'll (personally or in collaboration) find a way to let the world know there are many, many priests out there animated by a vocation to discipleship; who know and preach by their lives that it's all about relationships; for whom "truth in charity" is not a catch phrase but a way of living and for whom being equals before God is not a bad thing. Thanks for the reminder.
I am so weary, tired and
I am so weary, tired and disappointed with the Church's constant heavy-handed, authoritarian and often abusive manner in which it deals with it's members such as Father Roy Bourgeois's and his position on the ordination of women to the priesthood. Threats of removal and excommunication are tactics of an entity afraid to discuss or dialogue with anyone who might have a contrasting idea or opinion. Why the FEAR? If obedience demands anything it most assuredly requires fidelity to one's conscience. Sadly, the hierarchy prizes obedience above justice and charity. With the Vatican's recent position that priests are not employees but rather self-employed what control do they have over Father Bourgeois at the end of the day?
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