One week ago, this sad story of disorder and sinful accommodations broke in the local media. A local media accustomed to a divided Church in retreat and recession.
But when James Martin, SJ tweeted “Jesuit High School Allows Male Couple to Attend Dance. I would like to let a ray of light enter…” to his 23,000+ followers, he inadvertently set off a series of events that made this an international scandal, holding up McQuaid, the Diocese and the Church for disdain, ridicule and confusion. Fr. Martin’s tweet linked to a magazine that glamorizes homosexual behavior – so I will not link it here. Fr. Martin is a popular author who is an editor of America (a Jesuit Magazine) and a contributor to the Huffington Post. The Huffington Post picked up the thread quickly. It also was also noted by popular Catholic bloggers like the Deacon’s Bench and In Light of the Law. Not surprisingly, McQuaid’s Facebook page is continually scrubbed and allows only positive, pro-McQuaid and pro-gay behavior postings. (edit 4/5/13) Commentary on the McQuaid Facebook page has been removed from the timeline and relegated to a “Recent Posts by Others” box that allows the five most recent posts to be viewed independent of the timeline whose last posting is dated March 27th.
Cleansing Fire of course, led the local reportage here and here and hosted a lively commentary. The Catholic Courier – who to date has garnered just two comments also picked up the story. Of course, Fr. Salmon’s letter stands for itself and the school and is now entrenched in the annals of the internet, available 24/7 as a testament to a twisted Gospel and a particularly unique brand of relativism.
Articles in the Washington Times and the National Catholic Register (owned by EWTN) give this story a wide notice. Google searches for McQuaid Gay Prom reveal this – Monday 4/1 – 869 hits, Tuesday 4/2 – 3811 hits Wednesday 4/3 – 28,800 hits, Wednesday night 258,000 hits. This is as viral as it gets…
The preponderance of the comments and there are quite literally thousands of comments, demonstrate the depth of the scandal and confusion. The vast majority are anti-Catholic and anti-Jesuit; casting aspersions on both. On the same-sex attracted sites, commentators celebrate how someday same sex marriage will occur in the Church and of course resurrect the sad experiences of the priestly abuse of children, attributing it largely to homosexual priests grooming children. Uniquely, this letter managed to not only scandalize faithful Catholics, it also scandalized active homosexuals. Rarely does one find a scandal so deep and vast.
The McQuaid scandal fuels and gives comfort to anti-Catholic bigotry like this at George Washington University.
At the end of the day, this is not about a nouveau interpretation of Catholic teachings that twist the Gospel message of acceptance of persons into the acceptance sin. The tacit approval of homosexual dating is by its very premise dysfunctional. It is well understood that dating is by design and intent a heterosexual action that leads to courtship and marriage. This is a the universal experience of all in the vocation of marriage. For centuries – special friendships recognized publicly lead to dating. Courtship behaviors (dancing & dining, dressing to attract and please) lead inextricably to marriage and sexual intimacy – although today not necessarily in that order. A prom is decidedly an educational event where heterosexual persons learn how to date and court with dignity. It is rightly sponsored and supervised by the school as part of their educational mission.
By facilitating same sex dating behaviors the McQuaid family compounds the burdensome inclination of homosexuality. It is a heavy, treacherous cross that disproportionately leads to a premature death. Homosexual dating and courtship behaviors in the context of a prom become a near occasion of sin in every case. Such behaviors in the homosexual can only lead to sin; and from sin, despair. Then death. There is no “good” end to homosexual dating. This action by McQuiad officials – President, Board, Parents and Benefactors – make them culpable in sin of the children and the international scandal that is, at this writing growing unabated.
The board, parents and benefactor reactions (actually non-reactions) are typical of well heeled prestigious non-profits. They self-select tame and malleable persons who are incapable of confronting the normally unpleasant situations that arise with governance and oversight responsibilities. They find refuge, and indeed success, in systems that rewards (1) vanity toward appearances and image (2) an aversion to conflict elevating collegiality over truth and; (3) the acceptance of an advantageous lie now and then…
That is the Board, Parents, Benefactors and Alumni in a nutshell.
Father Salmon and the Board, Parents and Students he leads are free to genuflect to the winds of popular culture and I expect the McQuaid Board to wall up in silence. McQuiad is a juggernaut with hundreds of donors that give millions of dollars. Quite literally, they are richer than the local Church. It is a case of “my mother, drunk or sober” and the whole dysfunctional family will rise up in unison to defend her – all the while putting more gin in the kool aid to shut her up. McQuaid is the premier prep school and the hope, sentimentality and pride of most parents, benefactors and board members trumps any transient discomfort over something as abstract as the soul of a gay kid or two dating; after all a Jesuit Priest said this is a “ray of light”. For most it is about getting a big D-1 ride (over $111 million last year in scholarships) at a prestigious school, a nice table at the gala and a good foursome at the alumni golf outing. When it comes to grooming, McQuaid is second to none and they do it vertex to base. Everyone will simply pinch their nose and move on…
The Bishop (even if we had one) is largely powerless. He could close the chapel, disallow Jesuit service in the DoR, and he could rail against them in homilies and editorials. None of which means much and such acts are rarely undertaken. Corporate and cultural sin is always deeply entrenched. Many of the same McQuaid benefactors are also those who built the Cathedral and funded the under-funded priestly retirement fund. Money speaks a language that does not have words but is not devoid of meaning. Look at the 23 people who are million dollar plus donors and the 20 people who are $250,000 to $500,000 donors and one will quickly recognize that it is a who’s who of DoR philanthropy. There will be silence from Buffalo Road; of this you can be certain.
Yet the Church is not about philanthropy. No matter what, at some level the mission of McQuaid intersects with the mission of the Church. This mission is about redemption and holiness. At the end of the day there is only this for every one of us – Heaven or Hell, goodness or despair.
Matthew 19 clarifies everything:
Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! Such things must come, but woe to the one through whom they come!
Pray for the conversion of Fr. Salmon and the McQuaid community that he leads and controls.
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Well summarized, Daniel. And thank you for spelling this out and placing it at the top of CF where it may be seen. And you are absolutely correct to state that there is no good end to homosexual dating.
I can’t help but wonder – in a poorly catechized Church, does anyone still understand the concepts of sin and near occasions of sin?
Just to be persnickety – there are still negative comments at the McQuaid site that were not scrubbed – so that claim is not completely accurate.
As for this site leading the reporting – it had already been broadcast in the secular media before you did anything – and my tip after learnign of those reports was the first mention of it here at Cleansing Fire –
“Ron says:
March 27, 2013 at 9:02 PM
And now, McQuaid is going to allow a gay couple to attend the Junior Prom?! http://www.scribd.com/doc/132712875/McQuaid-Letter ”
I say this not to downplay what you’ve done since, but I’m a stickler for accuracy.
Oops – “after learning” – I hate typos.
There is always hope, with prayer, of course. But there are also things others can do in the meantime.
Any parent who lets his/her daughter date a McQuaid student or graduate is asking for trouble. Clearly they are poorly catechized and hence their ability to pass on the faith to any grandchildren will be greatly compromised. And they will have alumni baggage.
Needing applicants for job positions? Think carefully before considering McQuaid candidates. Unfortunately the virus of scandal infects entire organizations; students will have learned disobedience and rebellious behavior against the church ‘from the top’.
Be warned about other Jesuit writings and materials. I stopped reading America a very long time ago. Not all Jesuits are infected, but how does one know which are obedient and faithful? Wait and see if any Jesuits have the courage to criticize their brother priests.
Let’s not tar and feather everyone affiliated with McQuaid. I’m sure there are good students and good teachers there.
My wife made a good point last night. What would Bishop McQuaid think of all of this? Maybe besides stripping the name Catholic from the school, it should be considered whether they can keep the name McQuaid.
The GWU story was hard to read. It was almost unbelievable. It could pretty much be summed up like this, “students irate that Catholic chaplain is Catholic”. Speaking of stripping names, GWU should rescind that great name as well.
Thanks, Ben, for your observations about not tarring everyone at McQuaid. It is a good point, and I think if it were just two students who behaved badly in public, that would be absolutley reasonable.
But– consider that we are dealing with a situation in which the principal, a person who has had some years of impact on every single student coming through the school, is unrepentant, un-discerning and disobedient to church teaching, evan at the risk of scandal and leading astray the young. A principal without principles. A Salmon swimming upstream against Church Teaching, spawning occasions of sin.
Consider that we have seen no statement even from a director of the school taking exception to what has happened, no contributor who questions how his/her money is being used, no boom lowered by those who can — Jesuit or diocesan leadership, no criticism by parents or students or teachers. No courage? Basically, a loose cannon is still swerving all over the deck, without regard to the victims. And the onlookers have the bad judgement not even to try to minimize the damage.
While it is true that we would not know what we were getting from any other school, nevertheless, we do know now about the misshapen environment at McQuaid. I think that justifies giving wide berth to this farce, and those tainted by it. Just an opinion.
I really would like to hear someone, anyone from the school take exception. Qui tacet consentire.
And life goes on. Our young people continue to be dumbed down and assimilate more and more of the culture of death. Too often, their parents are in cooperation with the Culture of death by their acceptance of contraception and homosexuality. And there are supposed Catholic parents.
The prognosis is poor. I do not see this trend changing for too many have apostasized. I can only think of God allowing a terrible castatrophic event to change human hearts, like what happened to the Israelites, through the prophet Jeremiah and the Babylonians. There is NADA that is changing or altering the course of this run-away train.
militia,
Sure it’d be nice to see folks with public voices take a stand in public. But not everyone has such a voice. You specifically mentioned students. It would be very wrong to assume that all students and parents who send their kids there are fine w/ this decision and aren’t faithful Catholics. We have no idea what kind of response the average faithful Catholic McQuaid family is taking, so we shouldn’t look down on those who bear the name.
Has anyone made mention of boycotting this dance or ball or whatever it is called? Have to admit if my kid was a student there, not permitting him to attend the dance would be my first step with further actions to follow.
Darn, even the Notre Dame alum spoke with their wallets and forced a change in the school. No such luck here.
The Spring 2013 NOTRE DAME Magazine just arrived today.
Of the 6 letters regarding ND’s recent decision to establish
an official GLBTQ university organization, 3 questioned
the soundness of that decision.
One admired the University’s new pastoral plan; another
advocated embracing the reality college students engage in
sexual activity and need supportive assistance in ensuring
this activity is safe, loving and responsible; a third written by
officers of the Gay and Lesbian Alumni/AE of ND and St. Mary’s
are excited to see what will unfold.
it is astounding to behold to what great degree secular culture
has successfully evangelized us rather than the Church’s message
transforming society and individual souls.
Michael Voris has an opinion worthwhile considering as we take
to heart his exhortation.
“Yes indeed, Russia has spread her errors throughout the world .. even into some of the highest reaches of the Church.
Faithful Catholics must now busy themselves with detecting these errors and avoiding them .. whether they come from the body politic, the people or the pulpit.
Get to frequent confession and Holy Communion. Study and train your mind hard and your heart unswervingly in the mind and heart of the Church for it is the mind and heart of Christ Himself.
We were not created for this life .. but for the life to come. Get busy preparing for it. GOD Love you,
I’m Michael Voris”
“Not surprisingly, McQuaid’s Facebook page is continually scrubbed and allows only positive, pro-McQuaid and pro-gay behavior postings. No need to trouble the kids and parents about the truth of homosexual behavior.”
I went back to the McQuaid Facebook page. Not only are there negative comments, but the lnks to this site and its criticisms are still there. Your statement above is flat out wrong. You need to correct it, and to stop repeating this false claim. Repeating a falsehood like this only serves to undermine the valid points you are making.
Michael Voris’ opinion worthwhile considering:
http://www.churchmilitant.tv/daily/?today=2013-04-04
Ben, I hope there are many strong reactions behind the scenes from those who have a vested interest. But we just don’t see it. We are rapidly passing into a time when we can’t afford not to take a stand; when we have to be hot or cold or be spewed out.
The below posts show your claim about no negative comments is not accurate. All are from the McQuaid Facebook page.
Kimmarie Scherzi
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/pat-archbold/outrage-ny-catholic-high-school-invites-gay-couple/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Outrage: NY Catholic High School Invites Gay Couple To Prom |Blogs | NCRegister.com
http://www.ncregister.com
The President of a Catholic High School in New York doesn’t want you to be confused. His urgent… .
Like · · Share · 2 hours ago
Daniel Kane
Can hardly believe how “sanitized” the site is…http://www.ncregister.com/blog/pat-archbold/outrage-ny-catholic-high-school-invites-gay-couple/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Like · · Yesterday at 7:39am
Matthew Peter William Dinan
I was disappointed to find out that the President of McQuaid Jesuit was a modernist. I thought we were over the “dissident Jesuit” phenomenon.
Like · · Tuesday at 6:49pm near Steubenville, OH
4 people like this.
Ray Clarewerth
McQuaid has become a disgrace after Fr. Salmon’s flagrant disregard for Church teaching on human sexuality.
Like · · Tuesday at 6:46pm
4 people like this..
Ray Clarewerth What’s also disgraceful is that McQuaid has chosen only to allow comments that support their decision.
Tuesday at 6:47pm · Like · 6
Kimmarie Scherzi
http://cleansingfire.org/2013/03/fr-edward-f-salmon-sj-allows-gay-couple-to-attend-mcquaid-prom/
Cleansing Fire – Fr. Edward F. Salmon, SJ Allows Gay Couple to Attend McQuaid Prom
cleansingfire.org
It’s all over the local news. Here’s McQuaid president, Fr. Edward F. Salmon, letter announcing that this Rochester Catholic high school will allow gay couples to attend the junior prom..
Like · · Share · March 29 at 9:44pm
Kevin Dolan likes this..
Donald Zanoff You need to take a deep breath and try to figure out why this bothers you so much. It is not normal.
March 30 at 11:49am · Like..
Patricia March Not normal? It is very normal to be offended when a priest tries to institutionalize disordereed personality (disordered is the church’s word.) Those who support him have much to answer for.
Tuesday at 7:00pm · Like
Kimmarie Scherzi
http://cleansingfire.org/2013/03/fr-edward-f-salmon-sj-allows-gay-couple-to-attend-mcquaid-prom/
Cleansing Fire – Fr. Edward F. Salmon, SJ Allows Gay Couple to Attend McQuaid Prom
cleansingfire.org
It’s all over the local news. Here’s McQuaid president, Fr. Edward F. Salmon, letter announcing that this Rochester Catholic high school will allow gay couples to attend the junior prom..
Like · · Share · March 29 at 1:52am
2 people like this.
My comment is awaiting moderation?? I hope it’s because I posted a couple in a short span, and not because I’ve irked someone!
Hope.
We will not give into despair.
The Lord Jesus has overcome the world.
Our faith in Him, Christ thr Lord, overcomes
the world.
George Weigel writes about Pope Francis,
his humility rooted in submission to the
will of God, the Lord, the Church and Her
evangelistic mission.
Ah, our spirits are again encouraged and
hope is rekindled.
Enjoy Weigel:
http://www.eppc.org/publication/the-humble-pope/
All comments containing 2 or more links, even those made by Cleansing Fire staff, are held for moderation. This is an anti-spam measure. We approve these ASAP.
Thanks for the explanation. A sensible policy!
Dominik,
Re: Notre Dame….the bishop of South Bend gave his approval to the University’s plan to slowly roll out a ministry program for gay and lesbian students. So, I do not think this is going to be the “love fest” that everyone thinks it will. Also, Notre Dame’s grad school (not to business and law school so much) at track many foreign grad students, and that is where I saw a lot of SSA while in campus. Often these students are not Catholic, so I know that ND feels the need to still minister to them. Sadly, though not often reported, there has been a fair amount of suicides among grad students for varying reasons. This is troubling to everyone at the University.
Helps to have once been in student life. Get more of the pulse of what is going on.
@Sassy
Does the Bishop let them go to dances? 🙂
Here’s one hopeful thought: perhaps this latest episode of Rochester Catholicism will help the Apostolic Nuncio, Cardinal Oullet, the Congregation of Bishops, and the Holy Father in their selection of the next Bishop of Rochester. Perhaps it will also hasten the process.
Thanks, Sassy, for sharing some of your student life experience
at Our Lady’s University.
The South Bend Bishop’s approval of ND’s
GLBTQ organization and ministry notwithstanding
I stil say “it is astounding to behold to what great degree secular culture
has successfully evangelized us rather than the Church’s message
transforming society and individual souls.”
The best of the best Catholic professionals,
clergy and lay, strongly discourage use of
“gay” or “lesbian” identity categories for
people suffering with same-sex attraction.
Why GLBTQ instead of COURAGE?
I am saddened to hear of the suicides.
While those souls might have been mentally
ill, is there the possibility they rejected the
gracious gift of hope and succumbed to
final despair?
“Eternal rest grant them, O Lord, and let
perpetual light shine upon them. May
these ND suicide victims and the souls
of all the faithful departed by the mercy of God
rest in peace.”
One thing that Fr.Salmon has not considered is that his decision could encourage young McQuaid students to engage in heterosexual promiscuous behavior so that they will not be identified as “gay” to their peers. God help us!
“It is astounding to behold to what great degree secular culture has successfully evangelized us rather than the Church’s message transforming society and individual souls.”
DAZ, kudos to you. I don’t think you could have more sharply, succinctly or accurately summed up in one sentence exactly what is wrong with our local Church.
When (I would be willing to wager) the majority of our Church’s leaders – priests, deacons, pastoral administrators, associates, ministers, etc. would, if pressed, self-identify as liberal democrats, fully embracing the culture of death in all its many facets, it is clear that secular humanism has vastly infiltrated our local Church. It is foolhearty to expect that our local Church will evangelize the secular culture when it is clear that the secular culture evangelized us first, when a great many of our Church’s ordained and non-ordained ministers EMBRACE and fully subscribe to that secular culture.
Let us pray for a courageous bishop to be sent to us to begin the process of re-evangelizing the Church at Rochester.
Page 67 of Weigel’s EVANGELICAL CATHOLICISM:
” there are some, perhaps many, Catholics who remain
within the legal boundaries of the Church as defined by
the Code of Canon Law, but who are not Catholics in any
meaningful sense. This phenomenon of the baptized
Catholic pagan is a serious one: a breakdown of interior
communion and internal discipline in the Church impedes
the Church’s evangelical mission, for it suggests that the
Church is not serious about the truths it proposes, or the
consequences of living (or not living) by those truths.”
Time that each of us take to heart Saint Paul’s
exhortation to the Corinthians:
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith;
prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves,
how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”
(2 Cor 13:5)
No more Playing Church. It is time to BE Church!
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
“Baptized Catholic pagans!” Weigel pulls no punches – he calls them as he sees them.
I had heard that in this terrible time, according to Bishop Sheen, it was the role of the laity to influence the clergy to do their job and to uphold the faith. Sadly, I do not see this happening. There are too many Fr. Salmons and institutions like McQuaid ect, that are catering to the homosexual movement and fostering dissent. It seems that, especially in the DOR, the faithful laity gets “blown off” by an arrogant clergy and that the laity has little influence.
“Arrogant clergy”. It seems to fit. I think you have hit upon it.
Big E,
Heck no! Please…we are taught by Holy Cross Priests, not Jesuits (and there no small amount of animosity between students taught by the different orders). Trust me, at least among the undergrads, ND presents as a very testosterone campus. If they ever allowed that, the alum would boycott $$$ to them like they did with Obama. Happily, the alum are fairly orthodox and ND pays a lot of attention to their alum.
Dominik, I know that some of those students were also from different countries, so there was a cultural barrier as well. I, too, was confused as to why this group was chosen, but I know they are used often as a resource (other students I know utilized their services). Don’t get me wrong, I think courage is great, but I wonder if they aren’t always the answer to other issues involving SSA.
I don’t know if you knew this, but right before the time I was a student, the University changed their position of kicking out women who got pregnant while they were students because too many of them were having abortions. When the school realized that, they came up with a program to allow the women to get their degree while working around their pregnancy. Personally, I was shocked when a couple of girls I knew found out they were pregnant, but the University went head over heels to make sure they made wise choices.
So many words spent defending a beloved institution… Notre Dame… even to the point of allowing that it’s new homosexual club is maybe only catering to the needs of foreign and graduate and maybe nonCatholic students. HELLO, you ND lovers!! Do you love less those who do not have the Truth or is it rather our mission to tell them about the Truth?! Including the hard facts of the truth. Deadly sin is okay at your beloved campus because such a club may “serve” a non-mainstream student group?! Oh my goodness, where does one even begin to dissect such lack of understanding of the Church’s mission FROM THE LORD!! This acceptance of deviant deadly living is a part of how “ND still feels the need to still minister to them” and Sassy understands that?!! Understands the Faith so little that Sassy accepts such?! Ministering the way to hell is okay if you’re grad student, maybe foreign and nonCatholic? Looks like your alma mater really gave you a solid foundation in the truths of the Catholic faith.
If I sound harsh, well the end of such an embrace of the secular culture IS harsh! DEATH. Too many schooled in Catholic institutions do not know THE Truth, but only THEIR truth, their feelings about such, and it is at CF that we should have a community that knows the Truth and embraces it even when it is hard, like when personal loves must be treated by a corporal work of mercy… you should be admonishing the sins of ND, not excusing them with bogus reasoning. Dead is dead. Mortal sin is the road to hell for the leaders and the followers. The Just Judge will sort it all out, but it’s our job to strive, to STRIVE, for holiness, not excuse its opposite. Sweet-sounding motives do not cut it…. giving sinful cravings an organized community base is NOT a help toward holiness. No Catholic campus should have such “clubs”.
Every day this earth more and more resembles the Twilight Zone. Unrecognizable to a child of the 50s. Sad sad sad. We have our work cut out for us, maybe a more difficult work even than those who blazed the trail for The Lord. They loved, yes, but they did not, could not, excuse sin BECAUSE they loved. We must do no less. Sin is a beating on The Lord, a punch, a slap, a violence to Him, and we must fight every minute of our lives against it. +JMJ
I wonder what Cardinal Dolan would say about this??? That should be up for discussion, since he is the Metropolitan Archbishop of this province.
Forgive me Scotty but in light of what the Cardinal didn’t do as regards to fighting Same Sex marriage in New York State, and as far as giving Holy Communion to Vice President Biden, an extremely pro-choice Democrat who also is in favor of Gay Marriage, and for not cleaning up the scandal of the very pro homosexual Catholic Church in his own Archdiocese in Manhattan, and for apologizing to gays for the “mean” treatment given to them by the Catholic Church concerning Gay marriage, I don’t think he will do anything.
JLo, I am of the opinion that you have misunderstood the ND Alumni comments on this CF thread.
No one here is defending sin at ND.
If the South Bend Bishop approved the GLBTG ministry plan as reported, I think it is a serious mistake. Words like ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ usually convey the wrong signals. Perhaps, the Bishop and the University have been influenced by the secular culture by adopting that particular title for the group. Perhaps not.
But, if in fact, the University Officials and those facilitating this organization and its pastoral ministry emphasize chastity, adherence to Christ in Word and Sacrament, growing in holiness of life and avoiding sexual activity while bearing the cross of same-sex attraction, it is Catholic. Silence on Catholic sexual morality, however, will indicate this pastoral plan and ministry to be as bad as most of them are.
Was Sassy defending sin at ND? Of course not. JLo, Sassy is aware of recent on campus phenomenon and reported/explained them as experienced and understood. I did not read Sassy’s comments in any other light.
There was NO ACCEPTANCE of sin nor the ‘gay/lesbian/bi-sexual/transgender/ life style’ in what any ND Alumni stated in this CF thread.
If the University and or its GLBTQ organization and ministry promotes PRIDE and ‘justice for this persecuted minority’ or is silent about Church teachings on sexual morality, then we will know it has gone the way of secular culture through the wide gate onto the broad road which leads to destruction.
For those of us who love Our Lady’s University, we know it is incumbent upon her stewards to focus on what is true and lead all in their care through the narrow gate onto the hard way that leads to life.
Dominik, thank you for defending me, but I think this is another ND hater who will never see the good that ND does. However, when you become a student or alumni and have formed your opinion by being fully exposed to Notre Dame, I will start to listen. Otherwise, I consider you a hater, which is par for course for many around here. God bless.
JLo, don’t EVER accuse me of not knowing what the Church teaches in SSA. If you don’t think I am worried about ND, you are wrong. And don’t ever think I do not know how to minister to other people. You are reading way too much into my post. You don’t even know me, my family or half of what we tried to do to shut down Fortunate Families in Rochester.
So, please listen. Take your lack of charity and your sour puss and to something active and productive at her than pick apart posts of people you don’t know on issues you don’t understand.
It’s Divine Mercy Sunday….can people ever remain charitable on this website?
Dominik, feel free to e-mail me again. I lost your e-mail and a lot of other info when my gadget was destroyed in a car accident I had.
JLo, I think it would be in your best interest to do some research before you read. Posts like yours give CF a bad name. And anyone around here who has seen me for a while knows that I despise Fortunate Families and all those support it, including close family members (who we no longer talk to because of their anti-Catholic beliefs). I have written more letters and called more times to the DOR and FF than I care to recall, only to run into dead ends. And I don’t live in your diocese.
Personally, I think you owe me an apology for the outrageous assumptions you made about me. You didn’t even ask me to clarify what I was writing.
Your post reminds me once again why I should have stayed away from FF. I can clearly see that my insight is not warranted.
It appears I did misunderstand Sassy… I thought Sassy was defending/excusing another SSA club on another Catholic campus. But please don’t you, Sassy, feel the attack was personal… it was a broadside at what I saw as a sentimental defense of a wrong. As to hating ND, complete nonsense in that. I’m just very tired of very bad practice and teaching of the Faith in so many places. No I don’t know you and wouldn’t go after you personally if I did! Issue is the target. Truly, I am sorry (and obviously libel before God) for your hurt and your anger as potent as was mine. I do hope your injury heals quickly. Peace. And indeed, God bless. +JMJ
Richard – I think you’re right that +Dolan would do anything regarding McQuaid.
Does anyone here know how a school such as Aquinas or Mercy would handle things like this? Have they ever had to deal with the situation in the past or in the present? It would, I think, be helpful if the Principals of Catholic schools could have a common policy and take advantage of the moment to “teach”, for once.
And, have we heard anything from the temporary Bishop, a.k.a. the Apostolic Administrator? Or is he too busy “administrating”?
y2kscotty et al re: our AA, Bp. Cunningham,
I don’t know of any reason “we” would have heard anything about McQuaid from Bp. Cunningham. But I know that unlike Bp. Clark, he acknowledges letters promptly, has shown his strength by banning general absolution in the DoR, demanded under obedience 7 hours of hearing confessions on the Tuesday of Holy Week (which is now being widely praised but without giving him credit), that there have been fewer reports of lay preaching since he became AA, and that his directive to the DoR during convocation this week permits Communion Services by “duly designated Pastoral Administrators” which implies a lot more than a member of the liturgy committee “winging it” as I’ve experienced in the past. Also, I have not seen McBrien’s column in the Courier since Bp. Cunningham took over. Intentional or coincidental? There are also things which have disappeared from the DoR website; I’ll leave that to you to discover.
Bp. Cunningham has been very supportive of fighting the HHS mandate and the expansion of abortion, visibly in his own bulletins and from the pulpit even while being boycotted outside his Cathedral doors last summer. I don’t know the man personally, so I can’t vouch for it, but his style seems to be low key, behind the scenes, and that is why we don’t know what he has done, even after it is done. Did you notice that last year’s DoR Directory had Bishop Clark on the front cover with his fancy watch flashing prominently and needlessly, and also inside the directory, but this year’s directory has a Crucifix on the cover? I’d rather have a humble, faithful bishop than a glad-handing, limelight-seeking progressive bishop any day. Bp. Cunningham doesn’t seem to be a grandstander, but rather a paternal shepherd, so there may be much that just quietly happens.
If we think he has done something right, it would seem that a letter to him, saying so, might be the way to go, and/or a letter asking him to look into the McQuaid situation. Just a thought.
JLo, thank you for the apology. No, I would never excuse any school, especially, one I give money to, for supporting a homosexual group. Back when I was a student, I knew Courage was present there, because I knew two SSA students. I only learned that they were years later. I will say that there was a lot of teasing that went on of gay grad students, who mostly “came out” during some of the breaks when not all students went home (like Thanksgiving and Christmas). When I was there, it was not a supportive campus in the least. That was a large reason I did I not invite my BIL’s partner to my wedding there. The more important reason was the scandal it would cause.
I plan on following up with Student Affairs to find out some more details of this group in order to judge whether I can, in good conscience, continue to donate to ND. Personally, I abhor this trend, but I feel so powerless. I wish I knew where to turn but I don’t, so I just continue to pray and try to raise my kid correctly (and not expose him to messages that will wrongly influence him).