The emergence of Catholic fundamentalism

NEARLY A decade and a half ago, this condemnation of fundamentalism was issued: "The fundamentalist approach is dangerous, for it is attractive to people who look to the Bible for ready answers to the problems of life . . . instead of telling them that the Bible does not necessarily contain an immediate answer to each and every problem. . . . Fundamentalism actually invites people to a kind of intellectual suicide. It injects into life a false certitude, for it unwittingly confuses the divine substance of the biblical message with what are in fact its human limitations." This robust denunciation came from the Vatican, in a 1993 document entitled "The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church."

But things are changing. Click here for more

blog roundup

Frank has an interesting piece on the
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability

And another about a
South Carolina judge ordering an inquiry into an abuse case


And last but certainly not least, there is this piece
which features Peter Borre whom we know from the
Council of Parishes
in Massachusetts.

Throwing bombs at those who throw bombs because they throw bombs....

Informational? Entertaining? Infotainment? Interesting? Maybe all of those things, or maybe none of those things...............

I must admit that the usual predictability of cable news shouting matches is not present in
this clip. (h/t to Frank and Tom for finding it!)

There was definitely a different dynamic taking place in this dicussion that distinguished it from what I've come to expect from these types of programs. One thing about my experience watching this that remains unchanged, however; is the feeling that after watching it, that there is nothing of any conclusive substance to take away from it. But there is nothing like a good knock down drag out to keep those ratings up.............and if there were any conclusion, we just might (YIKES!) stop watching.

Another perspective......

Occasionally communication comes in our direction that advocates for the closing of churches, or at least for the bishop’s authority to do so. I understand this position…many of us did when we made the difficult decision to oppose the closing of St. James.

On the post about the
5 Stages Of Liberation,
this comment was posted in response to my statement that the community has demonstrated the will to have church.


Anonymous said...
Churches are actually built by the will of the local bishop, and not of the community. In the history page for St James, you will find that there was a petition sent to Bishop Gilmour for a church in Kansas. Had the bishop denied this request, St James would not have been built. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that the bishop should be able to close parishes without any trouble. After all the bishop is the owner/operator of every parish.

Barring the fact that the petition did not write itself, the logic demonstrated here is sound. Unfortunately, it advocates for bad policy. Either you want the Church to be successful or you don’t. If you have parishes that are successful, than closing them diminishes the overall success of the Church. If a driver does not realize that he is directing his vehicle toward a cliff without showing signs of slowing down, than who is the better friend? The one who says that it is his right to do so, or the one who yells “STOP, YOU’RE HEADING TOWARD A CLIFF!”

Our Lady of Vilnius blog

Go poke your head in over
here for a good read when you get a moment. The posts are current on the latest news regarding the parish and the timeline on the right side sums up their story very well.

Roaming Catholics Gather For Vigil

Bundled up in warm jackets and blankets, members of closed churches gathered outside St. James Catholic Church in Kansas on a frigid Tuesday night for a candle light prayer vigil. The vigil commemorated the one-year anniversary of the church’s closing and was conducted to share experiences and show support for those belonging to closed churches throughout the Diocese of Toledo. Photo by Doug Cameron
....................
Former St. James parishioners are still waiting to hear from Seneca County Common Pleas Court if a judge is willing to hear their case.

"I think it is safe to say we would much rather be going to church than going to court, but we feel it is important that lay people have some good representation on how some of these decisions are made. This isn't just about our own parish, but about how all the parishes are treated," Johnson stated.


Click here to read full story

Rural Parish Holds Prayer Vigil

KANSAS, Ohio - About 60 former members and friends of St. James Catholic Church, which was closed by Bishop Leonard Blair in July, 2005, held a candlelight prayer vigil last night outside the church, marking the one-year anniversary of the day the Toledo diocese halted their 24-hour prayer vigil.


Click here to read the full article

Advertiser Tribune Front Page:

Parishioners Ponder

Updates

Frank has a follow up on
the latest exploits of Cardinal Egan
at Voice From The Desert.

Thank You!

A special note of thanks to everyone who braved the cold tonight to participate in our candle light prayer vigil. Our parish community is alive and well, and the support that you all have shown has been instrumental.

Priest who speaks up for his parish announces that...........................he's retiring?

Priest who criticized bishop over parish shift is retiring (Toledo Blade)

Toledo Blade Announcement

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070303/NEWS10/70303010

Evening prayer service to be held at closed church

A candlelight prayer service is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday outside the former St. James Catholic Church in Kansas, Ohio.The event will mark the one-year anniversary of the day when parishioners were forced to end their prayer vigil inside the church, which was closed by Toledo Catholic Diocese as part of a major realignment of parishes in 2005. About 75 members had participated in an around-the-clock prayer vigil in the church for 10 months in hopes that Bishop Leonard Blair would change his mind and allow the church to reopen. But the diocese locked the doors in March, 2006, citing insurance concerns.

It still tickles me when I read that the way to address an insurance concern is to hire someone to go scare the living daylights out of an elderly woman, and lock the insured property so that nobody has the ability to care for it and protect it from decay.

His Last Days featured in Tiffin Advertiser Tribune article

'His Last Days' celebrates a new beginning:
http://www.advertiser-tribune.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=6915

For more information on 'His Last Days,' go to http://www.stjameskansas.org

Click on the picture below to view clip from 'Rise Again,' a feature song of 'His Last Days' being performed at St. Boniface(now All Saints Parish), New Riegel in 2005.

A church community is locked out

This coverage is from the vigil held at St. James one year ago. St. James will be holding a candle light vigil on Tuesday, March 6th at 7 pm to commemorate the lockout that took place one year ago.

Vigil at Our Lady of Vilnius Church, NYC 2/26/07

These folks are in our prayers.

The 5 Stages of Liberation

Some of us may be familiar with the 5 Stages of Grief as written by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

Those stages may apply to a loss that has truly happened. What about loss that only exists in the mind? When a bishop closes a church, someone attempting to be sympathetic may offer that parishioners are going through the 5 stages of grief and will one day reach stage 5, acceptance; and the sooner they can do that, the better they will be for it.

If one believes that a decree of suppression makes their church, for all intents and purposes, "dead," than they may experience the 5 stages of grief.

But if a church is built by the will of a community, than only the death of that will to exist can mean the death of a church. If you woke up one morning and someone told you that you died last night, yet there you stand, speaking and breathing; would you grieve for yourself; or continue living? What if people continued to tell you that they have seen your death certificate and therefore, you are to cease and desist with your habit of walking and speaking as if you were alive? Are you being disrespectful to the doctors and legal process which have declared you dead by not behaving as a dead person should?

And so it goes with church. The community has demonstrated the will to fulfill the word of God in their community, and has been blessed through the presence of the Holy Spirit with the means to do so. And the church lives on.

In a post on the Voice From the Desert blog, a VOTF member makes a very genuine and excellent attempt to define what the laity of a Church in crisis may experience as it responds, or fails to respond to the crisis. Rather than focus on the grief that a loss can present, it focuses on what an individual may go through as they choose to take action, or accept the critical conditions as an unchangeable reality.

Sounds all too familiar

As this video shows, the conduct by the Toledo Diocese 1 year ago at St. James is not an isolated incident. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFhTocOOae4

Watching this brings back a lot of memories.

Welcome to the St. James Blog!

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting. Using this blog should make news items and updates easier to post quickly; and will also allow for parishioners to provide comments. In a short while, I'll probably be deleting the yahoo group as it has become somewhat cumbersome to maintain with e-mail address changes and what not. This format will work better for making announcements about what is going on with St. James.

Enjoy!