Priests | Blogger Priest

9 Posts on Milingo & a Married or Celibate Priesthood

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Father Joe

These are links to posts from about nine years ago on married priests, celibacy, vocations and the problem of dissent.

RESPONDING TO DR. MILAN KUCERA

KUCERA: Good Grief, such fanaticism from Roman Catholics, if I ever saw such. Open your eyes! There are several dozen thousand married Eastern Catholic priests in the world and in full unity with the Vatican working just fine.

FATHER JOE: Until recently Eastern rite priests in this hemisphere were supposed to be celibate. But this often broken rule was recently made defunct. I suspect as with Orthodoxy, celibacy will virtually disappear (except for monastics). How this will affect Western discipline, I cannot say. But I am not optimistic. The modern diaspora has brought about a mingling of Catholics from the various rites. Something like two million Latin rite Catholics in the U.S. are related by family ties to Eastern rite believers. It is increasingly asked, if they can have good married priests, then why must ours remain celibate? I would argue that celibacy reflects a closer kinship with the model of Christ and St. Paul. Even the Orthodox churches insist upon celibate bishops, acknowledging the higher value of this charism; Roman Catholicism wants to preserve this for all its priests. Celibacy is a discipline, that is true, but it is a discipline with crucial doctrinal implications.

KUCERA: More than that. Until 11th century Roman Catholic priests were often married. There are even six Popes that were married, successors of St. Peter!

FATHER JOE: It is true that the 11^th century saw a significant prohibition against married clergy. However, the Church attempted to make the celibacy rule absolute even in the early days of the faith. The problem was the same as now, priests refused to obey. Further, while faith and morals was protected, the popes were not impeccable when it came to their personal lifestyles. The Spanish Council of Elvira (295-302 AD) mandates celibacy in canon 23 upon the three degrees of holy orders. Prior to this, perfect continence was frequently practiced by married priests.

KUCERA: Hardly anything wrong with that, or you speak hypocrisy. The last married Pope (Clement IV) died in mid-13th century!

FATHER JOE: I live out my priesthood with a celibate love. I am in full juridical union with the Church. You cannot claim the same. Indeed, as a lay person you have cast your fortunes with an illicit UK bishop excommunicated by Christ’s Church. Pope Clement IV only took holy orders after his wife died. He was not a married Pope but one praised for his asceticism.

KUCERA: The founder-bishop of Church in Armenia was a married bishop and a venerated saint, Roman Catholic and Orthodox. He was a married bishop, as the New Testament says it should be.

FATHER JOE: Are you making reference to St. Gregory the Illuminator? If do then note that while he was married, he later separated from her to enter monastic life. This seems to reaffirm the value of celibacy.

KUCERA: How precisely is the Roman Catholic Church keeping the order and very specific instruction of St. Paul in 1 Timothy 3:2, huh? It is not. It actually decides time and again to go against the very express wish of St. Paul.

FATHER JOE: The early Church ordained married men by necessity given its quick expansion and the shortage of single candidates. Certain authorities suggest that these married men practiced perfect continence after ordination. This created a tension that was later eased by restricting candidates to single men who could freely embrace lives of celibate loving. It is a case where the Church discipline was modified. Like women keeping silent or covering their heads, the Church could even modify the stipulations recorded in Scripture.

KUCERA: If a man is a married Catholic and hears the call, who are the shepherds in Vatican to say this man shall not be ordained? Is it their priesthood or what? Are they the source of the sacrament?

FATHER JOE: A vocation must be affirmed by the Church. Who are the shepherds? They are the men appointed by Christ to govern the Church. They have every right to make this determination. Christ cooperates with his Church in dispensing his sacraments. Yes, the sacraments and that includes the priesthood, belong to the Church. St. Francis understood this and his communities only ordained as many priests as they needed. Otherwise, the men remained religious brothers. Priesthood is a gift, not an entitlement. No one can demand it. You reject this view because your own ecclesial community has been deemed illicit, having no juridical standing in the Catholic Church.

KUCERA: Saints Peter and Paul provably and invincibly laid their hands upon married men, ordaining them not only into priesthood but also into episcopacy. Come on! A married man being ordained by the Old Catholic, Polish National Catholic or by an Orthodox bishop is just as much a “catholic” priest and within the One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church as any other one. He serves valid and licit sacraments to his flock; and under the circumstances of Dominus Iesus (Vatican, August 2000) also valid and licit sacraments to Roman and Eastern Catholics.

FATHER JOE: Dominus Iesus still claims a truth you apparently reject: [17] “Therefore, there exists a single Church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him.” You claim a lot from your academic pedigree but then you write things that make me wonder about your overall competency. We do not deny that the early Church ordained married men. But the preference remained a celibate priesthood, particularly in those churches closely aligned with the Holy See. The acceptance of married clergy from Eastern rites was a conciliatory move for the sake of Church unity, not a full affirmation or approval of relaxing the discipline. Old Catholic churches are in union with the Anglicans who have a counterfeit priesthood. Like you, they reject papal authority, and not just about infallibility. Like the Anglicans it has moved toward affirming homosexuality and ordaining women. Women cannot be validly ordained and so any sacred orders they had are now compromised and/or dubious. Catholics are now forbidden from approaching their ministers for sacraments, even in the most dire of situations. The Polish National churches are no longer in ecclesial communion with the Old Catholic churches (largely because of their modern liberality). Concessions for Catholics to receive the Eucharist in certain Orthodox churches would not include those faith communities with women priests.

KUCERA: Really, people, open your eyes and stop trying to usurp the sacraments, they are not yours. Every Christian desiring a sacrament and meeting terms for it should be served such sacrament. That is the universal principle of Ask, and You Shall Receive.

FATHER JOE: Nonsense! The sacraments are expressions of the Church’s identity as the great Sacrament or divine mystery. We encounter Christ through the sacraments in the Church. It is vital that those sacraments be valid. The communities you applaud have illicit and in some cases, invalid sacraments. We cannot have everything we want. The task of the believer is to bend his will to that of Christ and to want what God wants. This demands that we walk in the ways of truth. It is this truth that you wrongly compromise.

KUCERA: One day you will stand before your Father in Heaven and you will see your life run its course on his palm. You will painfully and regretfully note all the moments you refused to serve a sacrament that was not up to you to decide to refuse. Truly, have the cardinals in Vatican forgotten they are mere humble servants of Jesus and are cardinals only from His mercy alone, that they deny the call placed in hearts of many young married men by our Father in Heaven? As He has done for two thousand years?

FATHER JOE: Actually, the sacraments are through the instrumentality of the Church. The Lord instituted the priesthood which includes the order of bishop as its exemplar. However, the role of cardinal or elector is a man-made position for the good governance of the Church. The Church always had “episcopoi” or bishops; she did not always have cardinals. There is a universal call to salvation, not to priesthood. There is sufficient freedom in the choice either to get ordained a priest or to get married. God will give couples the grace to be helpmates. God will give the grace to priests to embrace a celibate love. The Church is working with God, not against him. The dissent is yours. You insist that married men must be allowed to be priests or else! You are willing to sever yourself from his true Church so that you can have your way. That is what I perceive as regrettable.

KUCERA: The Church is holy, the men who lead her quite often obviously far from it. I wish there is a huge and steady wave of transfer from Roman Catholic Church to Eastern Catholic Churches and as many ordinations into priesthood of married men in Eastern Rite as possible. I have this in my constant prayers. –Dr. Milan Kucera, ex-novice and married Roman Catholic layman in good standing.

FATHER JOE:

What you leave us with is a curse against the Church instituted by Christ. Concessions toward the Orthodox churches could not be granted to the others you espouse. And yet, even they have separated themselves from the See of Peter. You personally walked away from the religious life and got married. That is your business. But speaking out against Catholic unity is sinful. You will have to account to God for this.

Despite your online attestation, the Catholic Church does not recognize the peculiar David Bell as one of her bishops and his “church” is in schism. This means that his ordinations are also not recognized. Thus, his Roman Catholic Society of Pope Leo XIII and the Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasileira are schismatic communities that have no status whatsoever in the Catholic Church.

Nuncio D’Aniello wrote the following to Cardinal Damasceno on October 8, 2012:

“The Pope Leo XIII community is schismatic and as such cannot receive official recognition from the Catholic Church. Furthermore, bishops ordained in that community cannot carry out a ministry in the Catholic Church as it does not recognize these ordinations. All organizations or associations linked to that society should be treated as one would treat any non-Catholic institution. Having committed the crime of creating a schism, those “ordained” by him will in turn be committing the same crime, incurring a latae sententiae excommunication.”

Filed under: Celibacy, Marriage, Priests | Leave a comment »

Bishop Markus Büchel

Posted on May 30, 2015 by Father Joe

Pope Emeritus Benedict affirmed that Pope John Paul II’s teaching against women priests was both authoritative and infallible. But Bishop Markus Büchel is calling for profound reforms in the Catholic Church. The bishop of the diocese of St. Gallen expressed public support for the ordination of women priests. He said, “We have to look for steps leading to it.” “I would imagine that the women’s diaconate could be just such a step.” He recently attended a secret conference with Cardinal Marx on how to push their so-called reforms regarding the family. The dissenters must feel that a new spring has returned for them.

Schweizer Bischof für Frauen als Priesterinnen

Filed under: Priestesses, Priests, Women Priests | 1 Comment »

Letter to the Editor: The Gender of Priests

Posted on November 16, 2014 by Father Joe

Msgr. William Awalt would often become frustrated with articles in The Washington Post. When they refused to print his letters to the editor he would seek to have them printed in The Catholic Standard.

June 5, 1994

Since The Washington Post doesn’t generally print rebuttals to their articles that show egg on their face, our only resort is our own paper.

On Sunday (Outlook, June 5, C-1) a Gary Wills, whom they say is Catholic – he may be, a logician he is not, tries to take exception to Pope John Paul’s letter to the priesthood, calling for men only to be priests. Taking only one sentence from the whole letter as being the reason why John Paul is wrong he tries to establish a principle that doesn’t apply to John Paul’s teaching. Wills says since all the twelve apostles were Jewish, only Jews should be ordained priests. Gary, the Pope is talking about genders IN PERSONA CHRISTI, not nationalities. By Wills’ “logic,” since only Jews were the chosen people that would leave Greeks, Indonesians, Chinese, as non-qualifiers. Wills is mixing apples and oranges.

The insulting cartoon in The Post accompanying Wills’ letter doesn’t save the irrationality of the article.

Rev. Msgr. William J. Awalt
Pastor, St. Ann’s Parish
Washington, DC

Filed under: Awalt Papers, Priestesses, Priests | Leave a comment »

Letter to the Editor: Celibacy is Misunderstood & a Handy Scapegoat

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Father Joe

Letter to the Editor
The Catholic Standard, October 25, 1990

It’s interesting to note that whenever there is a lament about the lack of vocations to the priesthood or when a priest falls from grace (there but for the grace of God…) the cause is attributed to celibacy. The subtle meaning given to celibacy is that it is a negative promise not to do something.

On the contrary, celibacy is a gift, God’s invitation to give oneself as much as possible to God and His work by sacrificing some joys of married life to which God invites others.

But if celibacy is the solution to the problems, a recent study and book by Lloyd Rediger, who is an experienced Presbyterian minister and counselor for 19years, should give pause to the one with the quick solution to the problem.

Focusing on Protestant clergy who are married, he notes that 75 percent of them function “well”; 10 percent of the clergy are guilty of misconduct; 15 percent are on the verge – this, for various reasons: lack of discipline, theology in disarray and the milieu of society in which they have to work.

It is also estimated that between 10 percent and 12 percent of the caring professions, medicine, social work, psychology, etc., are guilty of sexual misconduct.

Deplorably, anywhere from 50 percent to 54 percent of marriages today end in divorce despite all our efforts, and 84 percent of second-time-around marriages are failures. I know of one seminary head who is dealing with 60 priests who thought that attempted marriage was the answer for them but now wish to return to the priestly ministry.
Please pray for vocations and for those who are asked to make the sacrifice it takes to answer the Lord’s call.

Msgr. William J. Awalt
Pastor, St. Ann’s Parish
Washington

Filed under: Awalt Papers, Celibacy, Priests | Leave a comment »

No More Lay Preachers in Rochester

Posted on July 21, 2014 by Father Joe

The march toward great orthodoxy and unity in the Church continues. After some 40 years of violating Church law, the diocese of Rochester will no longer allow the laity to usurp priests and deacons in preaching homilies at Mass. The thanks goes out to Bishop Salvatore Matano for insisting that canon and liturgical law be followed. He stated, “It is not a policy shift as regards to the universal law of the church. I am trying to help the faithful understand what is the universal law of the Church and how important it is that in the celebration of Mass, we do what the Church asks of us.”

I well remember Bishop Matthew Clark who started the deviation. He was regularly invited to give talks by the progressive or liberal staff at CUA when I was a student many years ago. He even gave us a retreat where he speculated about women priests and about how a priestly calling might be a temporary vocation and that God might later call some men to other things. I was young but shocked by the statement.

In any case, it looks like the compass in Rochester is returning to the proper settings of the universal Church. Now comes the hard work, not just of correcting abuses, but reforming hearts and minds. People will be hurt and disappointed, especially the women who made up the majority of the lay homilists. But where one door closes, others are opened. Hopefully these women will not feel discarded or alienated. Inclusion and empowerment was never dependent upon the clericalization of the laity. I have confidence that the bishop will find a way to involve these women, with their theology degrees and gifts, in the building up of the Church. God forbid that they should walk away from the Church that has always been their home.

Filed under: Bishops, Catholic, Homily, Liturgy, Magisterium, Mass, News, Preaching, Priests, Religion, Sacraments | Leave a comment »

Women Bishops – The Lights Go Out for Anglicanism

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Father Joe

The General Synod of the Church of England voted on Monday to consecrate priestesses as women bishops. Well, there’s the nail to the coffin for the home of Anglicanism. Ecumenism with them will be restricted to soup kitchens, sharing contributions from C.S, Lewis, and appreciation for perfecting the English language. The bridges have been burned to most else. Since women cannot be ordained in truth, this makes arguments about their Masses and the Eucharist mute. Fake priests can only give you a counterfeit Holy Communion. When it came to morality, our ships passed in the night a long time ago. They disregard both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, wrongly approving homosexuality and dismissing the indissolubility of marriage. Abortion is reduced to a personal choice, far from the Catholic stance that sees it as an assault upon the heart of the Gospel of Life. Their last convention in the States could only agree about how terrible landmines were, as if that is a big issue in suburbia. This is what happens when morality collapses and an “everything goes” mentality takes over. Public opinion and modernity is given preference over divine revelation. Instead of obedience to God, the human becomes the measure of all things— and people are fickle and frequently wrong. The Orthodox churches are lamenting that years of work toward a common faith and even levels of recognition have been thrown upon the garbage heap. Anglicanism, except as a small group received by the Holy See, is destined not to be counted as a branch of the apostolic and “catholic” family of churches. The “reapproachment” with them since Vatican II is now a dismal failure because the Anglicanism of even half a century ago no longer exists. It has been replaced by a mutated structure that will continue to devolve and crumble. Australian Anglicans are arguing that priests might be optional and that the laity can offer the Mass. Fragmented, one segment fights with another, and there is no contemporary pretense of a world Anglican order. Certain traditionalists among them refused the offer of Pope Benedict XVI, hoping to rebuild with a union of conservative African bishops. But how long will it be until modernity will invade that new structure? Ironically, some of them attack the Anglicans who accepted the special offer from the Pope in becoming Catholics. They still buy the prejudices against Rome which were initially an element of their split. Catholicism has its dissenters; but they will have no official weight in the practice of our sacraments and doctrines. The accidentals may change, as with language, but the deposit of faith is safe and sound. As for the Anglicans, could they even agree as to what this deposit consists?

The Anglicans feel that immutable doctrine can be changed by ballot. Here is the vote approving women bishops:

House of Bishops: 37 to 2 with 1 abstention
House of Clergy: 162 to 25 with 4 abstentions
House of Laity: 52 to 45 with 5 abstentions

This move goes against the teachings and pattern passed down from Jesus. There was no woman among the twelve apostles. Jesus did not worry about stereotypes. But this one, he did not break. It was God’s will. Anglicans no longer care. I guess they would say that Jesus was wrong. Of course, this change was anticipated. A long time in the mix, the first ingredient was added back in 1994 when they began ordaining women as priestesses (women priests). Error breeds error. The United States made a woman its chief Episcopalian bishop some years ago, Katharine Jefferts Schori. Before her they elected their first gay bishop. Australian, New Zealand, and Canada also have women bishops. The show continues but it no longer matters. They can wear their pointy hats and play-act all they want— these women are neither true priests nor bishops. Both Orthodoxy and Catholicism are in agreement here. There is no third tier to the Church. Without a valid hierarchy, there can be no true priests. If there is no priesthood, then there can be no Eucharist (sacrifice of propitiation and real presence). If there is no Eucharist, the ecclesial community is not really a CHURCH. End of Story

Filed under: Apologetics, Apostles, Bishops, Catholic, Church, Ecumenism, Eucharist, Evangelization, Faith, Holy Communion, Homosexuality, Jesus, Liturgy, Magisterium, Morality, News, Priestesses, Priests, Pro-Life, Prophets, Reflection, Religion, Religious, Sacraments, Sexuality, Social Justice, Tradition, Women Priests | Leave a comment »

Another Fake Priestess Becomes a Fake Bishop

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Father Joe

The National Catholic Reporter never gets things right because its basic agenda is to get things wrong, in other words, dissent. Such is again the case this week with the news headline, “Roman Catholic Womenpriests ordains first bishop from Indiana.” It is silliness because these women have stopped being Catholic and are excommunicates from the Church. They are now their own religion or sect but not Catholic and definitely not Roman. Rome has spoken. Women cannot be ordained. Priestesses are not priests in the New Covenant of Christ.

The article chronicles the life of Nancy Meyer, from a Catholic Franciscan sister to a renegade priest wannabe in 2010. This past Sunday she took her charade to the next level, pretending to be a bishop. She speaks of her call, but it came from other expelled discontents— not from the true Church. This is a free country and she certainly has the right to minister in her faith community; however, it is grossly wrong to identify it with Roman Catholicism. They argue the validity of their orders because of the involvement of a number of male bishops. However, I suspect this is a fiction in that they refuse to identify this so-called pedigree. But it would not matter anyway. “You can’t make apple juice with oranges.” The Church does not have the authority or power to ordain women. The priest is an icon for Christ, the groom to his bride, the Church. There is no sacramental lesbianism, bride relating to the bride. The maleness of Christ is a constitutive element of his identity and his priesthood. The pagans had priestesses, but Catholicism has priests (a male noun). The simulation of sacraments is a crime in the Church and all those involved with the attempted ordination of women are excommunicated. They are no longer members of the Church. I shudder to imagine what this does to grace and the issue of salvation.

Note that the event could only squeeze 150 attendees from all of ten countries. That is pretty sad. The event was held at Calvary United Methodist Church in Brownsburg. Would that not make them more Methodist than Catholic? But I guess they only rented the worship space, it is a whole lot prettier than Fr. Brown’s barn or the local bowling alley. The infamous Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger was among the seven pseudo-bishops present to do the deed. It is interesting that wannabe bishop Christy admits that most Catholic women disparage women who want to be priests. I suppose that is because most women have some sense. She laments that they are not supported in their calls, but this begs the issue of authenticating a calling. Christ calls us through the mechanism of his Church. There is no religious vocation that sidesteps this pattern.

They do provide a close-up view of the development of a cult. A tiny offshoot from Catholicism, they view themselves as the Church and regard worldwide Roman Catholicism as in the wrong. They have established their own clergy. The feminist paradigm is the measure of everything they believe and even affects how they dress. They have no qualms about re-writing the liturgy to reflect their views. Many of them view holy orders as more a power grab than as an opportunity for humble service. They want to be classified as Catholic and yet they would redefine its meaning beyond recognition. While it sounds pejorative, many of the adherents of the Womenpriests movement come across as somewhat unhinged.

These girls are all dress up and show but there is nothing real about what they are doing. They are counterfeit priests. It is really quite tragic and I feel sorry for them. They have made of themselves a laughing stock and embarrassment to Catholic women everywhere.

Filed under: Bishops, Catholic, Church, Priestesses, Priests, Sacraments, Women Priests | 1 Comment »

Recently Murdered Priests

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Father Joe

In remembrance of a good priest who was tortured and murdered a few months ago in Eureka.

FATHER ERIC FREED MEMORIAL PAGE

Man suspected of killing priest was in police custody before slaying

Another Catholic and Jesuit martyr…

Dutch priest dubbed ‘Syrian of Syrians’ is assassinated at his monastery in Homs

It must be hunting season for priests… rest in peace.

Former Napa priest killed in Nicaragua

Filed under: Catholic, News, Priests | Leave a comment »

The Sad Case of the Fatima Priest

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Father Joe

QUESTION:

What is wrong with Fr. Nicholas Gruner and The Fatima Crusader magazine? He seems to be very holy, intelligent, and sincere–not anything like the “nut” people make him out to be. His main message seems to be that the consecration of Russia requested at Fatima was never performed properly and that humanity could be headed for a chastisement.

RESPONSE:

Compliance with a request to consecrate Russia and/or the world remains with the judgment of the Holy See. Such has been done and it can be repeated. However, it does not rest with Fr. Gruner or with you and me. We can certainly dedicate ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but such also demands fidelity in our state of life, as well as respect to the Church and the Pope. Fr. Gruner proposes to direct what is best for the world and the Church while he cannot even get his own house in order. The Soviet Union fell and many nations knew freedom. But faith is not magic. Sin still exists in Russia (just ask the Ukraine), around the world and here in the U.S. where our religious liberty is threatened by the current administration and a culture of death. Any utopian view or interpretation of Fatima and its fruits are arguably not in sync with Catholic or Christian eschatology.

Fr. Gruner has not had proper priestly faculties for much of his priesthood. He argues that we must prove otherwise but that is not how the process works. He must present signed faculties from his bishop to the diocesan officials of any local church he visits. He cannot do this because he is not in good standing. Thus, he is not welcome by true Catholic authorities anywhere in the United States. His censure was reaffirmed by the Congregation for the Clergy. Priests are not the same as the laity. We are not our own men. We belong to the Church and our bishops. The problem with the priest is simply this… he disobeyed and continues to disobey his legitimate bishop. He says “public” Mass even though he is forbidden to do so. He cannot even “lawfully” hear Confessions. He is closer today to the schismatic SSPX than the Roman Catholic Church.

[No other bishop can extend him faculties or give him permission to minister while he is suspended. No other bishop could even adopt him unless he were formally released by his home bishop. He has never been released.]

I am told that when the late Sr. Lucia took issue with him, he accused her of lying. Similarly he has directly attacked the popes and questioned the honesty of the Vatican. How is any of this meritorious? Sorry, I can well appreciate that his manner is very disarming. While critics accuse him of being a self-serving scam artist, he seems quite pious and sincere. But it remains true that he brings in plenty of money from donations and has no one, not even a Catholic bishop, to oversee him.

As a diocesan priest, he can only function as an extension of his bishop. But what happens when a priest will allow no one to tell him what to do? Disobedient priests are by definition, bad priests. This is a rule that I take seriously to protect my own priesthood. Many of the renegade clergy know the code-words to get people on their side. Particularly troubling is that to justify himself and his standing, Fr. Gruner wrote a book that distorts the truth of his situation and conflicts with Catholic ecclesiology. I would simply ask him, who and where is your bishop? Have you obeyed him? His defense fails before it begins. Catholicism is a mediated religion. We do not follow God directly but through his appointed authority. He cannot claim fidelity to Jesus and Mary while ignoring the summons of his bishop or by defaming the Holy See as deceptive or satanic.

Fr. Gruner’s claims not only lack substantiation; nothing that he has done can be justified. It is said that he has become increasingly traditional (at least externally) because, as has been observed, he seeks kindred bedfellows and follows the money trail. And yet, certain traditionalists mock him as a false priest because he was ordained within the reformed ordination ritual after Vatican II, which they reject.

Does he have any legitimate convictions? Might he be more delusional than fraudulent? I cannot say. But he should not be supported. Catholics should urge him to be humble and to submit as a priest to the lawful authority to which HE PROMISED OBEDIENCE. A priest that breaks his promise of obedience to his bishop is as bad as a priest who breeches celibacy. Again, do not be fooled. His name and organization does not appear in the official directory of institutions and clergy in the U.S or Canada. He does not work for the Catholic Church in any capacity whatsoever. He is independent. In that sense, he has fabricated his own church.

The appeal letters that he sends out include the signatures of other renegade clergy. I was surprised some years ago to discover that the names included that of an old retired priest who purportedly went senile and another priest who was long dead. I have not checked the current names. Again, he wants to give himself a false credibility.

While I would urge against material support, I would recommend that everyone should pray for Father Gruner and that he will know repentance and humbly accept the guidance of his bishop under holy obedience. I suspect that this is what would most please our Lord and the Blessed Mother. Let us never forget that the devil likes to fool us, making the darkness look like light. Pray for him and all priests.

1976 – Bishop Pasquale Venezia ordained Fr. Gruner. He refused to serve the diocese of Avellino and left for Canada without permission.
1978 – Bishop Venezia sent Gruner a letter saying that he could remain in Canada if a local bishop incardinated him. None did and no applications were made.
Bishop Gerardo Pierro ordered him to return to his diocese. Fr. Gruner did not answer his letter.
Cardinal Innocenti, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, wrote to him and ordered him to return to Italy and his bishop. Fr. Gruner refused.
1989 – Bishop Gerardo Pierro again sent Gruner a letter ordering him to return or find another bishop in 30 days.
1990 – Fr. Gruner went to Avellino and met with Bishop Pierro to give him time to seek incardination. This was granted but two years later he still had not started the process or found a receptive bishop.
1992 – Cardinal Sanchez and Archbishop Sepe stated in L’Osservatore Romano that Fr. Gruner and his Apostolate had not been approved by the competent ecclesiastical authorities (October 14, 1992).
1994 – The new bishop of Avellino issued a decree declaring Fr. Gruner a vagus priest. Such priests have no faculties and cannot publicly offer the sacraments.

INFORMATIVE LINKS:

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=3441

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=4086

http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/fr_gruner_old.htm

http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/fr_gruner.htm

http://www.staycatholic.com/fr__nicholas_gruner.htm

Filed under: Catholic, Church, Evangelization, Magisterium, Mary, Priests, Religion | 4 Comments »

Can a Priest Deny Sacraments to a Gay Man in the Hospital?

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Father Joe

The news was on fire this morning about a DC priest who purportedly refused to give Last Rights to a gay heart-attack patient at the Washington Hospital Center.

Oh boy, here we go again! This man condemns the priest but we only have his side of the story.

I suspect there is a lot more to the story than what we are hearing. A priest was requested and Father Brian Coelho came to the bedside of the patient, Ronald Plishka. The priest followed the ritual by offering the Sacrament of Penance prior to the Anointing of the Sick and Holy Communion. If a patient is unconscious, the priest will often presume contrition and a desire for the sacraments, giving absolution even without auricular confession. In this case, the patient was alert and responsive. The patient seemed to want to make small talk and remarked about how as a homosexual person he was so happy that the Pope was accepting of gay people. But he next asked if this admission bothered the priest, almost as if he were baiting him. The priest said it did not but offered to pray with him. Nothing more was said about Extreme Unction and Viaticum. While left unsaid in the article, this intimates that this dialogue took place as part of a Confession.

Because the disagreement probably happened during Confession, the priest is silenced by the seal and cannot share his side of the story. Indeed, he would face automatic excommunication if he says anything… something I hope that Church authorities appreciate. Even they cannot question the priest.

Instead of a civil conversation, the patient rejects the offer of prayer and tells the priest “to get the [deleted] out of here!” That in itself probably demonstrates an improper disposition for God’s mercy. Then the doctors came in to calm him down.

We should pray for all the parties involved.

Filed under: Anointing of the Sick, Anti-Catholicism, Archdiocese, Catholic, Church, Commandments, Confession, Conscience, Faith, Forgiveness, Hell, Holy Communion, Homosexuality, Morality, News, Politics, Pope Francis, Prayer, Priests, Prophets, Religion, Religious Liberty, Repentance, Sacraments, Salvation, Sexuality, Sin, Social Justice | 4 Comments »