Hit the road (Father) Jack
His Excellency Bishop Thomas Olmsted
Dom over at bettnet.com cites an interesting piece from the Arizona Republic about how the new bishop of Phoenix is cleaning house, so to speak.
Michael Clancy
The Arizona Republic
"Five of the nine Catholic priests who signed the pro-gay Phoenix Declaration no longer are on active duty in the Phoenix Diocese.
"Three of those who have left active duty say they were forced out by Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted. One other is seriously ill, and the fifth resigned on his own, in part because of philosophical differences with the bishop. They all signed a 2003 declaration endorsing civil rights for gays and lesbians that was endorsed by clergy members from several Christian denominations.
"The ousted men are among at least 11 Catholic priests who have left active ministry since Olmsted became bishop in late 2003. Their departures further exacerbate a shortage of priests in the diocese, which has several parish vacancies.
" ... But some church insiders believe the recent ousters are an indication that Olmsted is cracking down on liberal-minded priests, and possibly all of the Phoenix Declaration signers. Olmsted is known for his orthodox ways. He has put a stop to what he considers liturgical violations, has brought back Mass in Latin and has written three articles about church teachings against homosexuality.
"I believe he wants to purify the church," said the Rev. Ken Van de Ven, a declaration signer who was forced to resign as pastor of Glendale's St. James in March.
He said he believes the bishop is looking into the backgrounds of all liberal priests. "The diocese simply wants to get rid of us."
Umm. I wonder if when Roger's Reign of Error is over the good bishop of Phoenix might be sent out west to do some more sacerdotal ass kicking.
I have a dream.
posted by Quintero at 10:05 PM
5 Comments:
sacerdotal ass kicking. Great line. I am going to be using that.
Tony-
That's too funny! Thanks!
"further exacerbate a shortage of priests in the diocese,"
Actually no, it doesn't. What we have now in Phoenix is a significant improvement in the quality of care that parishioners are getting. They no longer risk their immortal souls by having to listen to the anti-Catholic pronouncements of these men from the pulpit, and now stand a much better statistical chance of getting a Catholic on the other side of the screen in the confessional. Big win I'd say.
Ave Maria!
I agree with Hilary. We just had an African bishop visit as we have one of his priests working in the diocese. I asked him to please send us another priest-a holy priest. And he said--yes, NUMBERS DO NOT COUNT, IT IS THE HOLINESS THAT MATTERS! Exactly!
My parish has a priest who goes to the gym over offering daily morning Mass and seems to hate confessions. The 80 year old priests are working hard as ever while the younger one lives in probably the most expensive apartment in town and likes to decorate the church. Lite on teh sacraments, heavy on the fabric. Vacations--he has had several this year--are also important. I left the parish. We need REAL priests who love the Lord and desire to serve His people.
Isn't Phoenix where the "life teen" thing started? I went to one of these Masses recently. I kept having to repeat afterwards "The Gloria is not a calypso song...The Gloria is not a calypso song" just to keep my sanity. Maybe he can get that cleaned up locally too and see if it has a domino effect.
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