Doing 'nunthing' in Springfield
Did you catch that last line?SPRINGFIELD - A nun who has been involved in the day-to-day operation of St. Jerome Parish in Holyoke for almost 20 years has become the first woman named as an administrator of a parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.
Although the position is temporary until a new pastor arrives in October, a diocesan spokesman said the naming of Sister Joan A. Ryzewicz is significant.
"On a certain level, it is a historic moment in the diocese," said Mark E. Dupont, diocesan spokesman.
With the number of priests declining, Dupont said that nuns and deacons could be increasingly named to head parishes.
"Certainly anyone traveling west would be exposed to more nuns, deacons and even lay people as parish administrators. It's new here," Dupont said.
"Certainly anyone traveling west ..."
Would that be ... mmm ... California?
Obviously, Sister Joan's appointment as parish administrator will not be the last in Springfield. More non-ordained administrators are coming in the future, as was indicated by the diocesan spokesman, Mr. Dupont.
With the number of priests declining, Dupont said that nuns and deacons could be increasingly named to head parishes.The sentiment expressed in Mr. Dupont's statement is one which is shared by Cardinal Mahony and a host of others in the "American" Church. It is, however, a sentiment which directly contravenes authentic Catholic teaching about the priesthood and its indispensability to the life of the Church.
In the introduction to the document, PRIEST, PASTOR AND LEADER OF THE PARISH COMMUNITY, the late Pope John Paul II wrote the following:
It would be a fatal mistake to be resigned to present difficulties, and act as if we should prepare ourselves for a Church of tomorrow that some imagine as being almost without priests. In this way, the measures adopted to remedy the present scarcity, in spite of all good will, would be seriously harmful for the Ecclesial Community.
How many priests, if any, were ordained for Springfield this year? How many men do they have in the seminary? What's being done to foster vocations? From what I can tell -- just like in L.A. -- nothing is being done because they have almost glibly resigned themselves to a future without priests.
Pope John Paul II was much too generous in the statement cited above in assuming the "good will" of those who are promoting priestless parishes. No doubt there are some who because of poor doctrinal formation think that the "Parish Life Director" (as they are called in L.A. and San Bernardino) is the greatest thing since liturgical dance. But most of those who are aggressively promoting this frightening trend are not so innocent. The radical, feminist, call-to-action nuns, as well as their wimpy clerical allies, undoubtedly know what they are doing. Their motto could easily be, "If you can't join 'em (that is, become a priest), beat 'em." And that's exactly what they'll do. As pointed out in the document, PRIEST, PASTOR AND LEADER OF THE PARISH COMMUNITY, the parish without a priest and without the regular celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, will die, as will priestly vocations.
Sister Joan A. Ryzewicz, the new administrator at St. Jerome's, is a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield. Are you asking right about now, "What kind of congregation is the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield?"
You can spare yourself a trip to Springfield by clicking HERE. And as you scroll down, remember, "By their LINKS you shall know them."
See my RELATED POST about Sister "Sledge" and the Sacramental Monster.
posted by Quintero at 8:28 AM
8 Comments:
I do not know why 'peace and justice' seems to have become a 'battle cry' of the dissenters. It SHOULD be a good thing! And yet they do not seem to be a part of a 'pro-life' mindset such as in the protesting of the murders of the most innocent and helpless among us that is happening with abortion and euthanasia. They would protest the execution of a murderer but not save the innocent--go figure.
The Sisters of S. Joseph are a scandal . I know of a few faithful ones who have been terribly persecuted. Those feminist,liberal, call-to-action, peace and "justice" bunch are scarey indeed.
And I live in a diocese with few priests where vocations go elsewhere for good reason. But empowerment of the laity is pushed which seems to mean aging women.
We just had Sunday "celebration' without a priest--read: NO MASS--and the women were so very happy. The faithful were not warned ahead of time. The women said that we are long overdue for these 'communion services'-read : NO MASS. The Mass and sacrametns (our parish priests gets lots of vacation but offers as few Masses as possible and gets retired priests to hear the few confessions and put in the bulletin not to call him because he is too busy. Yes, my husband sees him at the gym quite a bit so we know how busy he is)
There is the movement WITHIN the Church, as we know, to denigrate the priesthood, to ordain unworthy men, and to persecute and run off faithful ones. The feminist nuns have done untold damage. But they are dying out and the faithful new orders of nuns in habits are growing by leaps and bounds. We will be seeing true nuns again!
The gates of hell shall NOT prevail!
We have Our Lord's word on it.
Ave Maria!
ps--St. Padre Pio said that the world could more easily live without the sun than the holy Mass.
IT IS THE MASS THAT MATTERS!
Amen to that!
Prediction:
God willing when Mahony goes and a Catholic Archbishop is appointed to Los Angeles by the pope, vocations will dramatically increase. Instead of closing seminaries, they'll be looking for property to build new ones.
Bad tree, bad fruit.
Good tree, good fruit (but not fruity fruit, if you get my drift).
Hi,
I attent mass at The Father Of Mercy in Kentucky. They have 12 new men entering to study for the priest hood. They had to build on to their home.
The dinosoures are dying and the new MEN are coming.
John
I guess if priests aren't that important in Mahony's vision of the Catholic church, bishops and cardinals are going to be equally replaceable by laity, right? Or does he consider his job too vital to apply the same equations he's making with regard to the importance of priests?
Are there a lot of people reading this blog in LA that have a problem with priests being available? At St. Genevieve's in Panorama City, we have five priests and a visiting priest through December. Though, I've never actually seen or met the pastor in the year that I've been attending Masses. Two Saturdays ago, for evening Confession, two priests showed up. It wasn't really necessary, but it was nice to see.
Mike
P.S. I hope that I didn't tip off someone at the Archdiocese!!
When I read this post or similar thoughts I know if the Holy Spirt leads the church with more leadership from women in the church I do not have a gut reaction to say Nay. Although as a women I need that male leadership along with women. If I examine God's plan with the creation of Adam and Female there are divine reasons for that need.
In my not so humble opinion I think men need male leadership even more especially in the moral and spiritual realm. Besides when we as a people start changing our vision from the Priesthood given by Christ (male) why would any man respond to His call in the 21st century. I would question if our vision of the priesthood is clouded and not on the same page of Our Lord, or by our egalitarian society we send messages that men need not apply. I hear constant messages that include phases better than, even more important than which leads to competition. As a wife and a mother of a son I know that kills any coming together on spirituality it is not cometition.
How to kill your Diocese: Follow Mahony's plan.
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