Question:
I guess I am only "hoping" in that they will find the courage to "Collectively" reform. One thing that also hinders their reformation is that those that do attend services in the RCC do have a large congregation with loads of activities for the family and singles. I fear many will swallow the papal line just to be a part of the "family". Please folks reading this, I am not hatefull of the RCC. I am only hoping for their eventual "Anglicaniszation". But then now a days we have to wonder what that even means. Considering the fundie-libby conflicts and the switch of power from Canterbury to Nigeria. Brian J Dawson
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Priscilla, My answer to them is, "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You". Oh yes I was an altar boy in my teens. In my preteens I was in the choir. I NEVER feared my rector. I always had the highest respect for him. I realize many RC folks can say the same. But their church not only had more pedophiles but they COVERED IT UP. That is why they must now pay the price. Priscilla, to my knowlege there is no denomination in the USA that is more LIBERAL in terms of contraception and divorce than the membership of the RCC. Gallop polls show they even surpass us in the ECUSA. Yet their denomination is ruled by a small clique and almost impossible to change. There is only one way — LOSS OF MONEY. Why cannot they have an American Reformantion if they don’t want to join the ECUSA? No instead the angry ones will suck in their guts or else turn atheist. I have seen this countless times in my extended family. BTW as you know I was baptised a RC but my parents converted. Perphaps the ECUSA and Anglican Communion can establish a "ROMAN RITE" within the Anglican Church so these folks can find a home. We at my church have had RC’s snooping about, checking things out, and at a welcoming gathering at our Rector’s home (he has them every few weeks for new people interested) the one over riding fear of most catholics from Rome is the anxiety one will explode if they receive Eucharist from anyone by a Roman priest. I don’t think the Rite has anything to do with it, in fact, our BCP has the language they love, and our Rites have enough old world in it they feel more at home. If there is going to be an American Reformation it will come after this Pope dies, and a lot will have to do with who is elected. Historically the United States is having the same issues England had with Rome. Will Rome get the connection…..I doubt it. When the English church broke its ties there was the eventual growth of Anglicanism. If the United States RCC reforms or breaks from Rome they have a bit more to loose as the Episcopal Church is already here as the alternative, and this takes us right back to the validity of the Eucharist. something their DNA won’t quite accept. The next few years will be interesting indeed.
Response:
The Archdiocese of Chicago has been going through this trauma for years now, having closed dozens of churches and schools. The schools are especially hard to take. The reasons are much as you say. Thanks to the late, great Cardinal Bernardin, our sex-abuse scandal was attacked head-on about a decade ago, with much less damage than Boston is suffering, even though it is a much larger diocese. Fewer people going to church, higher tuitions to pay lay teachers (due to the shortage of religious teachers), neighborhoods changing ethnicity, etc. A friend of mine who is organist for a big RC church in San Francisco, which has largely escaped the sex scandals (of all places) says it is even worse there. Mostly the neighborhoods are filling up with Asians who are mostly not Catholic. The RC is getting some small boost from the defectors from our church over the Convention fumfarole, but by and large, they seem to be suffering for not changing with the times.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Would my fellow and sister Episcopalians please give a good thought today for Roman Catholics in the Archdiocese of Boston who are learning their parishes will be closed by the Archdiocese? Today is the day when about 80 parishes are hearing the bad news. An old friend of mine, Father Austin Fleming, is pastor of Our Lady, Help of Christians parish in West Concord. He’s been growing the parish so that it is now full of life and a magnet for RCs in neighboring communities. He learned this morning that Our Lady is to be closed. It’s insane, cruel, and stupid. I think the key might be that both he and Our Lady have been active in Voice of the Faithful. I know it’s off-topic, but there are a lot of people in Boston who are in pain today and in need of consolation. Please take just a moment to pray for them. Quite the contrary, this is very on-topic. We are Christians, after all, and this news affects the body of Christ. Why are the parishes being shuttered? Declining membership (more RCs don’t go to church any more, and the old faithful are dying off), declining vocations (since they won’t test the call of married men or women of any flavor; there are something like 130 priests over 70 still serving), finances (legal payouts, also fallout of declining membership). The authorities claim this has nothing to do with the sexual abuse scandal and the enormous settlement the Archdiocese just had to pay. Priscilla
Response:
Priscilla, My answer to them is, "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You". Oh yes I was an altar boy in my teens. In my preteens I was in the choir. I NEVER feared my rector. I always had the highest respect for him. I realize many RC folks can say the same. But their church not only had more pedophiles but they COVERED IT UP. That is why they must now pay the price. Priscilla, to my knowlege there is no denomination in the USA that is more LIBERAL in terms of contraception and divorce than the membership of the RCC. Gallop polls show they even surpass us in the ECUSA. Yet their denomination is ruled by a small clique and almost impossible to change. There is only one way — LOSS OF MONEY. Why cannot they have an American Reformantion if they don’t want to join the ECUSA? No instead the angry ones will suck in their guts or else turn atheist. I have seen this countless times in my extended family. BTW as you know I was baptised a RC but my parents converted. Perphaps the ECUSA and Anglican Communion can establish a "ROMAN RITE" within the Anglican Church so these folks can find a home. Brian J Dawson
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Would my fellow and sister Episcopalians please give a good thought today for Roman Catholics in the Archdiocese of Boston who are learning their parishes will be closed by the Archdiocese? Today is the day when about 80 parishes are hearing the bad news. An old friend of mine, Father Austin Fleming, is pastor of Our Lady, Help of Christians parish in West Concord. He’s been growing the parish so that it is now full of life and a magnet for RCs in neighboring communities. He learned this morning that Our Lady is to be closed. It’s insane, cruel, and stupid. I think the key might be that both he and Our Lady have been active in Voice of the Faithful. I know it’s off-topic, but there are a lot of people in Boston who are in pain today and in need of consolation. Please take just a moment to pray for them. Thank you. Priscilla
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Priscilla, My answer to them is, "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You". Oh yes I was an altar boy in my teens. In my preteens I was in the choir. I NEVER feared my rector. I always had the highest respect for him. I realize many RC folks can say the same. But their church not only had more pedophiles but they COVERED IT UP. That is why they must now pay the price. Priscilla, to my knowlege there is no denomination in the USA that is more LIBERAL in terms of contraception and divorce than the membership of the RCC. Gallop polls show they even surpass us in the ECUSA. Yet their denomination is ruled by a small clique and almost impossible to change. There is only one way — LOSS OF MONEY. Why cannot they have an American Reformantion if they don’t want to join the ECUSA? No instead the angry ones will suck in their guts or else turn atheist. I have seen this countless times in my extended family. BTW as you know I was baptised a RC but my parents converted. Perphaps the ECUSA and Anglican Communion can establish a "ROMAN RITE" within the Anglican Church so these folks can find a home.
We at my church have had RC’s snooping about, checking things out, and at a welcoming gathering at our Rector’s home (he has them every few weeks for new people interested) the one over riding fear of most catholics from Rome is the anxiety one will explode if they receive Eucharist from anyone by a Roman priest. I don’t think the Rite has anything to do with it, in fact, our BCP has the language they love, and our Rites have enough old world in it they feel more at home. If there is going to be an American Reformation it will come after this Pope dies, and a lot will have to do with who is elected. Historically the United States is having the same issues England had with Rome. Will Rome get the connection…..I doubt it. When the English church broke its ties there was the eventual growth of Anglicanism. If the United States RCC reforms or breaks from Rome they have a bit more to loose as the Episcopal Church is already here as the alternative, and this takes us right back to the validity of the Eucharist. something their DNA won’t quite accept. The next few years will be interesting indeed.
Response:
I don’t feel sorry for those who for so long have "managed" the Roman Catholic Church so poorly, but I, too, share in grief for those faithful Catholic Christians who are being distressed and hurt by the church closures in Boston. I hope all faithful Anglicans will give them prayer support and pray also that the RCC move to make itself more fully functional and relevant in the United States as we are today, just as the RCC has done in many other nations and cultures throughout its history. May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all faithful Catholics and with all faithful Anglicans.
Amen. John Baptised at St. Luke’s Church (RC), Belmont, Mass.–not on the closure list, though a neighbouring parish is.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Would my fellow and sister Episcopalians please give a good thought today for Roman Catholics in the Archdiocese of Boston who are learning their parishes will be closed by the Archdiocese? Today is the day when about 80 parishes are hearing the bad news. An old friend of mine, Father Austin Fleming, is pastor of Our Lady, Help of Christians parish in West Concord. He’s been growing the parish so that it is now full of life and a magnet for RCs in neighboring communities. He learned this morning that Our Lady is to be closed. It’s insane, cruel, and stupid. I think the key might be that both he and Our Lady have been active in Voice of the Faithful. I know it’s off-topic, but there are a lot of people in Boston who are in pain today and in need of consolation. Please take just a moment to pray for them. Thank you. Priscilla
Done. I don’t feel sorry for the RCC, but I will gladly pray for the people who will have no place to go, a home, and a community of faith.
Response:
I don’t feel sorry for those who for so long have "managed" the Roman Catholic Church so poorly, but I, too, share in grief for those faithful Catholic Christians who are being distressed and hurt by the church closures in Boston. I hope all faithful Anglicans will give them prayer support and pray also that the RCC move to make itself more fully functional and relevant in the United States as we are today, just as the RCC has done in many other nations and cultures throughout its history. May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all faithful Catholics and with all faithful Anglicans. Stanley F. Nelson Dallas.
Response:
Why are the parishes being shuttered? Declining membership (more RCs don’t go to church any more, and the old faithful are dying off), declining vocations (since they won’t test the call of married men or women of any flavor; there are something like 130 priests over 70 still serving), finances (legal payouts, also fallout of declining membership).
My prayers are with them. Certainly those are some of the forces at work here. In many cities, there are just too many RC churches. When RC immigrants came to this country, each ethnic group would often build its own church/parish. In some places there were two or more RC churches at the same intersection. They didn’t hate each other, but they had their own traditions and devotions. All of this does not change the fact that it is VERY TRAUMATIC for parishioners as well as the diocese to have to make these decisions. Believe me, a lot of tears are shed over the closing of a parish. I remember when the chancellor of the Diocese of Worcester MA decided after some anguish that they had to close a certain parish. It was a bitter scene, with parishioners locking themselves in the church for a time, before it was resolved. You get really attached to your parish and community. After it closed, they went to the chuch across the street. Kinda funny. But kinda not funny. I remember now it was St. Joseph’s and at first I thought it was the one my wife and I had attended and played and sang at Mass. I was REALLY disturbed, then I found out it was a different St. Joseph’s. As for attendance/membership, when we parted (on friendly terms) with the RCC we left a parish of 8,000 for an Episcopal church of about 50. Both the RCC and the ECUSA are gaining and losing members (often to each other) over sexuality issues. In Wisconsin, we do have our share of the need to reduce the number of RC parishes, but tend to structure it as mergers, e.g., St. James and St. John merge to become "Sons of Zebedee" (a real life example). RC vocations to the priesthood are not down, just the ability to respond to them. If, first, you cut the population roughly in half by excluding women. Then you cut it again by insisting that the male priests remain unmarried. The pool becomes smaller. My $0.02 worth … well, maybe $0.04 worth 
— Jim "It is very, very dangerous to treat any human, lowest of the low even, with contempt and arrogant whatever. The Lord takes this kind of treatment very, very personal."
Response:
Would my fellow and sister Episcopalians please give a good thought today for Roman Catholics in the Archdiocese of Boston who are learning their parishes will be closed by the Archdiocese? Today is the day when about 80 parishes are hearing the bad news. An old friend of mine, Father Austin Fleming, is pastor of Our Lady, Help of Christians parish in West Concord. He’s been growing the parish so that it is now full of life and a magnet for RCs in neighboring communities. He learned this morning that Our Lady is to be closed. It’s insane, cruel, and stupid. I think the key might be that both he and Our Lady have been active in Voice of the Faithful. I know it’s off-topic, but there are a lot of people in Boston who are in pain today and in need of consolation. Please take just a moment to pray for them. Thank you. Priscilla
Response:
Would my fellow and sister Episcopalians please give a good thought today for Roman Catholics in the Archdiocese of Boston who are learning their parishes will be closed by the Archdiocese? Today is the day when about 80 parishes are hearing the bad news. An old friend of mine, Father Austin Fleming, is pastor of Our Lady, Help of Christians parish in West Concord. He’s been growing the parish so that it is now full of life and a magnet for RCs in neighboring communities. He learned this morning that Our Lady is to be closed. It’s insane, cruel, and stupid. I think the key might be that both he and Our Lady have been active in Voice of the Faithful. I know it’s off-topic, but there are a lot of people in Boston who are in pain today and in need of consolation. Please take just a moment to pray for them.
Quite the contrary, this is very on-topic. We are Christians, after all, and this news affects the body of Christ. Why are the parishes being shuttered? Jo – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Thank you. Priscilla
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Would my fellow and sister Episcopalians please give a good thought today for Roman Catholics in the Archdiocese of Boston who are learning their parishes will be closed by the Archdiocese? Today is the day when about 80 parishes are hearing the bad news. An old friend of mine, Father Austin Fleming, is pastor of Our Lady, Help of Christians parish in West Concord. He’s been growing the parish so that it is now full of life and a magnet for RCs in neighboring communities. He learned this morning that Our Lady is to be closed. It’s insane, cruel, and stupid. I think the key might be that both he and Our Lady have been active in Voice of the Faithful. I know it’s off-topic, but there are a lot of people in Boston who are in pain today and in need of consolation. Please take just a moment to pray for them. Quite the contrary, this is very on-topic. We are Christians, after all, and this news affects the body of Christ. Why are the parishes being shuttered?
Declining membership (more RCs don’t go to church any more, and the old faithful are dying off), declining vocations (since they won’t test the call of married men or women of any flavor; there are something like 130 priests over 70 still serving), finances (legal payouts, also fallout of declining membership). The authorities claim this has nothing to do with the sexual abuse scandal and the enormous settlement the Archdiocese just had to pay. Priscilla
If you like this post and would like to receive updates from this blog, please subscribe our feed.