An opportunity to ACT

Go to http://stjameskansas.blogspot.com/ and http://www.stjameskansas.org for more details.

A perspective on hurt, forgiveness, and the responsibility of a parent

I have waited for several days to post on this, as I wanted to enjoy the holiday break with my family and allow a little time to get my bearings on this issue in order to speak to it without using raw emotion as my only motivation.

There are two open letters recently published which speak on a very personal level to the issue of abuse of power within the Church hierarchy. The first, posted here provides the first person point of view of a father of children abused by Rev. Donald McGuire, SJ. The second, is a letter to the editor of the Chicago Sun Times published here. (scroll down to letter titled "Church needs to search soul")

The letter to the editor uses only 3 sentences to perfectly identify where the entire Church community is on the continuum between hurt and healed. My friends, this 2007 Thanksgiving was not celebrated in an era where systemic institutional corruption within the Church is a thing of the past. It thrives and continues to enable the kind of events that horrified us in the past.

I attended Mass at St. Rose in Perrysburg with fellow parishioners from United Parishes 2 years ago, and the pastor filling in for Fr. Leyland that day implored those of us wearing the yellow "Together We Can" buttons to look at this as a time for healing when talking about these events that are a blight on Church's record.

I am not a priest, and cannot speak as one. I am a father though, and can speak as one of those. Priests are not fathers (not paternally anyway) by design, and therefore can tell a father of a child who has been abused by a cleric that this is "a time for healing" without comprehending what he is instructing.

Such instruction is tantamount to the conductor of a wrecking train telling passengers and bystanders that this is "a time for healing" while the train is still wrecking; AND while there is another train coming down the tracks unaware of what is unfolding in front of it.

It would go a long way if the Church personally understood from experience that the moment a man becomes a father, or a woman becomes a mother, that they are tasked with 1 absolute responsibility for which failure is not an option:

1. Protect their child from any form of harm.

That means any or all of the following and plenty more:

• illness
• falls
• burns
• electric shock
• kidnap
• online predators
• cuts
• bruises
• rye's syndrome
• head lice
• traffic
• bullies
• graphic violence and sexuality in movies and television
• unhealthy food
• lead paint
• rashes
• pink eye
• aresenic in playground equipment
• contaminated drinking water
• contaminated air
• pollution in general
• lead paint again
• lead paint yet again
• and just when you thought there was no more lead paint, lead paint yet again
• toys with parts that can cause choking or stop breathing
• lead paint
• inadequate insurance for healthcare needs which may arise for any number of reasons including but not limited to exposure to lead paint
• drunk drivers
• distracted drivers
• flu
• allergies
• bee stings
• mean dogs
• I could go on but hopefully you get my drift by this point

The point is, a parent must always be one step ahead of whatever danger is out there. For this reason, all parents decide where there is potential risk, and where there is safety from that risk. When the danger embeds itself within the boundaries of safety and disguises itself as a protector, a parent is most vulnerable.

If a parent is ever concerned that they may have failed in their 1 task above, there is nothing like condescension and platitudes to make this situation worse than it already is. Can a celibate hierarchy understand this? If they could, would the ones who tell us it is "time to heal" be able to look us in the eye when they say it?

What needs to be done to protect parish communities

Click this link to find out more.

Note the portion of the article which demonstrates the inconsistency of the diocese which says:

"A diocese spokesman said the crew, which returned to Columbia Station empty-handed, had been hired to remove the windows and other sacred items, put them in crates, and place them in storage for future use.

The workers again showed up at St. Mary’s Tuesday morning with a van and a trailer, but the parish’s ex-members turned out in force and the workers left. Sally Oberski, a spokesman for the Toledo diocese, said the workers were there to clean up water in the basement. But several ex-parishioners said the crew had set up scaffolding around some windows and had taken the Stations of the Cross plaques off the wall."


Click this link to see a slide show of the events outlined in the article. Note the scaffolding placed by the windows which is no doubt, only there to help workers clean up the water in the basement.

Also,Click here to find out what the diocese considers fair play with the funds for parishes that they close.

A tip of the hat to Junction

Why oh why hasn't the diocese learned that they just aren't supposed to take what does not belong to them? A message to the diocese: If you do not want things like what took place in this article (click to read) to keep happening, than why don't you start conducting the church in a way that restores trust. Taking property just because you believe you have the right to (which you don't have the right to do in this case) just isn't going to win you any friends, much less the hearts and minds of those whom you depend upon for generosity.

St. Mary's: A Junction To The Past, A Junction For The Future

As I stood inside the sanctuary of St. Mary in Junction, Ohio; I looked in awe at the beauty of what I was taking in. As I looked through each of the stained glass windows, donated by families and other members of this historically rich parish community, I felt as though I stood in the middle of the crossroads between the past and the future. The sanctuary was empty, and has not been worshipped in since July. But it is still completely intact, and had it not been for the chill in the air or the small puddles of water in the basement, one might not be able to tell that this was a closed church. After all, why would it be? It is in immaculate condition, and the stained glass is world class. It isn't the biggest church I've ever seen, and it isn't the most decadent either. We can save those types of buildings with all of their splendor for the lavish and luxurious expenditures of the hierarchy with their fancy robes, flashy jewelry, and the rest of their royal architecture and attire. This place is a magnificent monument to the will of this Junction community to have a place to gather and worship God together. I stood in there wondering if it would be the last time I would ever see it; and thought about what a tragedy it would be if it was.

I remember when we at St. James were told during a similar moment in our recent history that if we were not willing to do all that it took to preserve what is ours for our children and the future of our community, than perhaps His Excellency made the right decision. Never. Never. Never. Nothing about pillaging St. Mary of her windows and stripping her of her parish identity is right either. Nothing. Now it is up to the good people of Junction to save her. It isn't fair. They didn't ask for this burden. We are here for you; and we will support you. Together as one community of God, we will not fail.

To find out more, click here

Conference DVD's are available

If you would like to order a DVD of the 2007 "Together We Can" conference, fill out the form at this link.

Priest of Integrity

Pastor is named a 'Priest of Integrity'

Stanbery honored for speaking out
By JOE VARDON BLADE STAFF WRITER

"The Rev. Stephen Stanbery has railed against sexual abuse, parish closings, and an alleged murder cover-up involving the Catholic Church.
His fighting of these and other injustices has apparently landed him both a national award and a stern reprimand by Toledo Bishop Leonard Blair..... "


So lets make sure we've got this straight. A problem doesn't exist as long as nobody talks about it. A problem is only a problem if someone talks about it. And in that case, the problem is only the person who is talking about it. Do I have that right?

Congratulations Father. The diocese does not yet realize that the framework of their criticism only serves to validate you, and discredit themselves. This award is well deserved and long overdue.

Click HERE to read the whole article.