Big things often have small beginnings.
Burn of the Day
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Maybe I wasn’t too far out on the limb when I suggested that the Bishop was more anti-Christ like, than Christ like.
49. Beautiful flow of graces.
Again. Treading upon God’s work, by damming up a river of grace, is not listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Lift these restrictions.
Unity, at the cost of Church closures, dwindling Mass attendance and attrition levels with nil replacements!
Oh…yaeh. We’re united now. A corpse brought about by unity.
49.
The lesson I draw from this is: don’t move to an “orthodox” or “conservative” diocese, or enroll in its seminary, for that reason, because that status could change the moment the current bishop dies or retires.
My prayer is that the faithful keep up the pressure and bad publicity on this puny, hateful man, or better, hireling. It is possible to embarrass someone like this so thoroughly that he backs off. Maybe someone should hire a private investigator to see what might be hidden in his past: usually those who hate beauty and goodness are addicted to something ugly and bad. Just a thought.
Note the verbs changed: HAVE 49 seminarians vs ORDAINED 2.
So I checked the Archdiocese of Chicago’s website. Two seminaries (Mundelein and St John Vianney) and classifications I’m unfamiliar with.
That said looks like Chgo has 29 seminarians. Still not grand for a diocese so large but feel the need to compare apples to apples.
https://vocations.archchicago.org/chicago-seminarians/meet-the-seminarians
I think they ordained about 15 priests a year in Cdl. George’s time. Lincoln Nebraska during Bp. Bruskewitz time was ordaining about four priests a year. Arlington, Va. during the 1990s was ordaining about eight priests a year.
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Around about 2003 I crossed paths with a priest of the Diocese of Syracuse out walking his Irish setter and asked his take as to why the ratio of seminarians to nominal Catholic laymen varied so from diocese to diocese and quoted him some figures. He’d never heard such a thing and was manifestly indifferent. His obituary in 2016 (presumably written by one of the people he listed as survivors) reported that he’d wanted married priests and women’s ordination. During Bp. Moynihan’s reign, Syracuse ordained about one priest every 18 months. Bp. Moynihan and his auxillary had a particular hostility to altar rails and communion on the tongue.
You know one thing the aforementioned pastor did not like? Votive candles. “Fire hazard. Puts smudges on the walls”.
I agree that it is vital to honest conversation to compare apples to apples. Data from the diocesan websites:
43 seminarians for Diocese of Charlotte
565,000 Catholics
33 seminarians for Diocese of Chicago
1,900,000 Catholics
So, proportionately, a HUGE difference.
“So, proportionately, a HUGE difference.”
Exactly … So, no reason for Mr. Thompson to play word games.
I do so hate it when our side resorts to their tactics.
The lesson I draw from this is: don’t move to an “orthodox” or “conservative” diocese, or enroll in its seminary, for that reason, because that status could change the moment the current bishop dies or retires.
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Instead, you should move to the most rancid place in the country so you won’t be disappointed.