-shepherding his fellow priests
-leading his flock
-visiting those in prison
-hearing confessions of those in prison

Even adopting a person in prison…..that is going a bit far ….in his case as he wishes to remain silent. A bishop that is silent………to me this is rather unusual, to put it mildly.

In St. Louis, MO Patricia

Imagine the Church receiving evidence today that St. Paul’s cryptic “thorn in the flesh” was a sexual compulsion. Would there be talk of removing his image from our walls? Would a movement form to expunge his words from the Canon of Scripture? The story of sex abuse allegations against priests, some true and many obviously not, is indeed a stain on the image of the Catholic priesthood, but should the Body of Christ, the Church, allow Her critics to equate the efficacy of Her message with the character of Her messengers?

Does God call flawed and sinful men and women to be instruments of His grace? Clearly. Does God weigh each of our lives solely in the harsh light of our most egregious sins? Let’s hope not, despite the fact that in the Internet age we do this routinely to one another, and especially to our religious icons.

I read with horror the part of this post about a bishop ordering the remains of a priest to be exhumed and moved from a Catholic cemetery after he was posthumously accused. I thought this must be an isolated response by a U.S. bishop until I recently read the Boston Globe article (10/20/09) about the Bishop of Portland, Maine doing something very similar.

Fr. Joseph McGowan died in 1962 at the age of 72. The bishop read a letter to parishioners at one parish stating that Fr. McGowan was accused of abuse between 1936 and 1949. According to the Globe article the bishop “directed the removal of any memorials or tributes to [Father] McGowan, including a photo and a plaque at the church.” The bishop also directed the Knights of Columbus to remove the priest’s name from its charter. The person accusing Fr. McGowan in a demand for settlement claimed to be 15 years old at the time of the alleged abuse, and is now 78.

The knowledge of these abuse claims brings me to only one place: the truth that I, too, am a sinner who comes to Christ through the Church for redemption. With a modicum of honest self-assessment instead of a stone at the ready, it is a truth at which we would all arrive. For my part, I have no stones to throw at any accused priest. I have only sadness that the bishops who once supported them now heed calls to purge the Church of any trace of them.

No doubt, the Puritan founders of American Protestantism would approve of the purging of the priesthood that is now underway in Western culture, for it is far more Calvinist than Catholic. The fact is, we are not sinners in the hands of an angry God, and we Catholics should not allow our critics to play God by holding our faith in contempt because our leaders sometimes fail.

Praying for you daily Father

God bless from across the pond

love Jan

The Serenity prayer is so wise. Being of an impulsive and highly strung temperament myself I have slowly learned that not all impulses are of the Spirit. Many of the people connected with SNAP and VOTF have suffered abuse or know of friends or relatives who have suffered abuse and it is easy for them to get caught up in a vigilante mood and to forget that not every accusation is true and not all “Victims” are genuine.

I would like to see more use of the wonderful Sacrament of annointing with the oils used for the sick and dying in abuse cases.This Sacrament of healing would go a long way to bringing peace to their broken hearts.It does not take much imagination to realise how deeply wounding abuse would be to a vulnerable trusting sensitive soul.

Pastorally I feel Holy Mother Church should urge all victims of abuse to attend healing masses where they can go up to receive these strengthening healing oils.I am sure Father Gordon himself can realise how deeply wounding and humiliating it is not to be believed as some of the genuine cases of abuse were not believed. Real evil was at work in these cases just as real evil wants “good priests ” like Father Gordon to suffer.

But we know from our Faith that evil will not triumph in the end. Even from within the confines of a prison Father Gordon’s priesthood is radiating light .Our Beloved Mother will sustain him as he carries his cross.

God never promised Christians an easy time of it and here in this nation we HAVE had an easy time of it. The truth is that people find God most often in adversity, not complacency.

We are that very scary thing that Dickens wrote about in “The Christmas Carol”: ignorance. People with free speech and freedom of religion who have been expertly led along like lambs to the slaughter by the far more savvy special interest groups that largely populate the media, the judiciary and our government.

Money IS the root of all evil when it is the goal and aim to have money in order to influence and oppress others. It is very hard to say that any branch of government or ‘free’ press is not filled with corrupt individuals with this very goal.

Religion is now being ridiculed, by people too ignorant to realize that those who go manic buying pink wardrobes for themselves, their pets and their homes are just as faithful to a religion.

The difference is that Christianity is the only faith that left us a manual that actually manages to answer the question of why we’re here. Others who fabricate their own religions love the parts of Christianity that we all admire, love, charity, forgiveness, but they choose to eschew the more unpalatable aspects of selflessness, forgiveness and prayer of those we dislike and being accountable for our sins. Sins is a term that they have done their best to eradicate since most of these newfangled religions welcome much that is termed sinful…very inconvenient.

Father, I know that your being buried there and your choice of grace, despite an honest admission of fear and anger, is affecting many people who would not otherwise be termed worth salvaging. I know that there will be more that will be affected. I also cannot fail to recognize how similar is your fate to those of saints who suffered the hypocrisy and the mob mentality centuries past.

As you know, we as Catholics are explicitly directed not to try and guess the end times, that is none of our business. God said that we must be beacons and as things grow more dismal and dark, it is true faith and that strange peace that comes through Christ, that will ironically impress and even bring to God those who now hang on to false sanctimony and inhumane illogic.

I do not know how things will fall but I will not be surprised if there is a great deal more persecution.

Meanwhile we are called to quietly cite justice, yet still pray for these who persecute, citing Jesus’ comment, “Forgive them Father, they know not what they do.”

I am no pacifist and I do intend to contribute in a just fight, but I also recognize that my faith calls me to, like you, tread a path that is so very much NOT the path most taken. It will not be easy for us, but since we are actually trying to bring God closer to these very ‘Sauls’ who so casually throw us to the metaphorical lions, it will be our grace, our charityand our truly divine peace that must color all we do.

I didn’t get trained in a seminary and I vetoed the idea of being a nun when I was 21, so the road ahead will not be taken with as much admirable patience as yours has been.

God bless you, Father. You are remembered, prayed for and watched over by us and by God. Praying for that day when you are freed.

I have spoken at length with a fair number of priests regarding issues that touch upon my own life and experience as a convicted felon. What I have found is that they hold the judgments of secular/temporal courts in high regard. I find this an oddity among Catholics, and it betrays their appreciation of the Church’s historical struggle against state authority. What would Pope Gregory VII say, for instance, of the Church’s raw presumption in favor of a civil/criminal court processes and judgments?

Is there something in Church law that requires ecclesiastical authorities to roll over and play dead in the face of a civil/criminal judgment? I was under the impression that Christ is the great and high judge of the universe. And, as His agent on earth, the Church is the last arbiter of true justice, not the state. Popes throughout the ages have consistently, tenaciously, doggedly proclaimed this to be true. Pope Leo XIII gave it particular attention during his pontificate.

So why is it, all of the sudden, the Church finds that it has talked and cringed itself into acknowledging and abiding by civil court processes and judgments without any consideration given to either their veracity or legitimacy? Does the American system of justice deserve so high a level of deference? Is this policy historically sound? Or might it not be the most dangerous precedence the Church could possibly set at a time when the processes of justice in the United States are of dubious international respect and largely continue to operate only because of the exceptional trust with which the American people blindly affirm them?

When I read the last part of that paragraph, Fr., my heart just dropped out of my chest… one wonders what would have become of us if Jesus had bowed “under pressure”- and He would certainly know about pressure…

The hypocrisy in this nation and this world overwhelms me sometimes… it makes me want to hide in my room. But I mustn’t… I must get out there and let everyone I know know about you and other priests suffering…

As always, you are in my prayers… and thank you for yours.

I agree with Julie and Mary; none of this is surprising. The secular media and Hollywood have no trouble voicing their opinions, all of which are mostly based on falsehoods. Perhaps it is time more of us in the Catholic Church began speaking up and out on the truth of the matter.

True in the end, Truth wins, but that does not help you or the Church right now. My first thought when I read those first headlines on Mr Polanski, was things would be different if he were a Catholic priest.

Continued prayers for you.

Truth was once betrayed for 30 pieces of silver and the same force that led Judas to take that action continues to work in the hearts and minds of souls today.

Yet Truth triumphed and His followers continue to this day and His Truth will last forever. We will not fail or betray Him as long as we do not rely on our own strength or lack thereof but instead turn to him in gratitude for the Divine Mercy He is so eager to bestow on us.No prison, no eathly power can deprive us of His Love.

God Bless you Father