Welcome to any and all who may have arrived here through Todd's kind words about this blog over at Catholic Sensibility!
Todd's link has been on the sidebar here for some time. Take a look at his perspective on a priest who has been relieved of his ministry on account of some liturgical irregularities.
ConcordPastor- since you are my "homebase" spiritual blog, on your behalf, I appreciate the positive review you received from Catholic Sensibilty. The issue w/the RC pastor and the Episopalian priest is difficult to follow via the links. I have one question, before commenting further; is the Episcopal priest also female?
ReplyDeleteYes, the Episcopalian priest is a woman.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of trouble are you having linking to the story? I just tried and got through ok.
I had independently seen reports on this from the Baltimore Sun. Among the allegations are that the Episcopal priest extended her hand during the consecration, participation not permitted in the Catholic Church; that Fr. Martin had allowed dogs on the altar; and that he had already been rebuked for other liturgical violations. If a priest persists in disregarding the clear and binding rules of the Church regarding the celebration of the liturgy, is a quiet removal the correct approach? Wouldn't that be called a "cover-up" at a time the Church needs to strive for transparency? Is it better for people to speculate as to the cause of removal, or to leave them ignorant of the rules violated? (Those who attended the service wouldn't come to know how the liturgy is actually supposed to be performed.) As an aside -- I have been to Masses in which the celebrant brought his old dog with him onto the altar. The dog wandered around, finally settling under the altar during consecration. I found this distracting to say the least, and still cringe at the memory.
ReplyDeleteA correction to the above post: Father Martin said the Episcopal priest did not participate in the consecration, but did read the Gospel. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteirish gal: Glad to hear from you - it's been a while!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to sort out truth from rumor with regar to Fr. Martin's alleged past liturgical excesses but it's clear that a number of the items mentioned would have done little to enhance the liturgy or develop a sense of prayer among the people gathered for worship.
I am the anonymous post 11/10/07 @ 11:23
ReplyDeleteI should have been more clear myself. I was not having difficulty with the actual links but with the brief bits of information provided at these sites. It seems that the pastor/priest has some "history" and the problems at the funeral were perhaps the proverbial "straw...".
Thanks for the follow-up.
I don't know enough about the particulars to say much other than Archbishop O'Brien is the person who fired Fr. Tom Doyle a few months before he would have been entitled to full retirement benefits from the Air Force. I wrote to Bishop O'Brien at the time in defense of Fr. Doyle. The response I received was not at all satisfactory. Bishop double-speak.
ReplyDelete