"Vibrancy," as Bishop Galante defines it (a large number of paid professional lay ministers in each parish), apparently comes at a price that is simply too high to be sustained.  You may remember when Bishop Galante referred to St. John the Evangelist Church in Naples, Florida as a model for the parish vibrancy he seeks here in the Diocese of Camden.

Quoting from the Philadelphia Inquirer article, which is quoting Bishop Galante:

And all he [Bishop Galante's brother] talks about is how vibrant the local parish is: the people going to Mass, the wonderful preaching, concerts with sacred music and popular music.

The vitality and community his brother has found in Florida are what he hopes South Jersey Catholics will one day encounter in the 66 parishes that will remain.

Now, Naples is a very wealthy area.  Half of the American Fortune 500 CEOs live in Naples, FL.  And this is a huge parish, with 5,200 registered families as of last October (before a downward revision to 3,200 families by removing inactive parishioners).  And yet this vibrant parish, whose bulletin that reads like a magazine so impressed Bishop Galante, is finding this level of paid, professional lay ministry unsustainable.

St. John the Evangelist had a whopping $229,000 deficit for Quarter 1 of this past year (07/01/08 - 09/30/08).  Click here for link to bulletin with minutes for the Pastoral Council Quarterly Board Meeting.  Their March 8, 2009 bulletin showed a year-to-date income of more than $1,175,000 (in just over 9 months), but it also revealed that this was insufficient to support their paid staff: 

Consequently, four administrative support positions have been reduced into two.  We have also had to let go of one full time and two part time members of our maintenance staff.

We are sorry for those who lost their positions, especially in the difficult economy we are facing, but there is an important lesson in this.  Most of our new "mega-parishes" will be less than half the size of this church and our parishioners are certainly much less affluent, on the whole, than those from Naples, FL.  So, if St. John the Evangelist, with all its size and wealth, cannot afford the "vibrancy" desired by Bishop Galante, how can we, especially with all of the ill-will created by these mergers?

As a side note, we are glad to hear that the local bishop has requested St. John the Evangelist church install kneelers. ("[A]t St. John's we stand in joy rather than kneel in fear.")  We are also pleased to hear that they are no longer allowing VOTF to have their annual Mass at St. John the Evangelist.  Now, if they only move their tabernacle from its current location ("in the back of the church on the left side") to front and center and fix a few other problems related to their "understanding" of the Real Presence, they might be OK, despite their financial crisis!

Not to raise alarm bells or anything, but does anyone know where Bishop Galante actually is?  We have heard rumors that he may have been called to Rome or he may have taken a spontaneous vacation to Florida.  Some have also speculated that the "vacation" story may just be a cover and that he has been hospitalized or is very ill. 

At any rate, we don't know where he's been, so we're hoping one of our readers can provide some information.  If you know anything, please email us at info@savestmarys.net.

Over at savestmarys, we do not enjoy having to deal with news pieces like this one, but really they make our job easier. This article profiles St. Joseph's "Catholic" McMegaChurch in Richardson, Texas, a church the bishop would like to replicate here in South Jersey.

About 1,500 miles away, officials at the Diocese of Camden want to promote this type of vibrant parish. As part of a planned diocesan makeover...

Here it is in black and white, guys. This is what we're in store for. A "makeover." Yippee! We, too can look just like that cool Church of the Future down in Texas. Wait'll you see what's in store for us lucky Catholics. New buildings with new ideas and new priorities...

 Ironically, in an effort to assuage the fears of Mr. and Miss Average Catholic In the Pews, the Courier Post has done a really good job of confirming that our worst fears about what Bishop Galante and Friends have up their sleeves are true. The prospect that Bishop Galante would want to replicate mega"churches" with labyrinths and cappuccino bars here in South Jersey is a repulsive thought. Why in the world he believes that by instituting flaky, liberal "spirit-trends," souls will be saved is beyond me. Promoting the culture of the world at a supposedly Catholic church and reveling in what one can only imagine constitutes a frequent lack of reverence is simply appalling. Yet the pastor at St. Joe's, Msgr. Fischer,  says,

When people come here, there's a level of energy. It's like walking into a mall at Christmas.

Huh? Is that supposed to make us want to go to this church? Is he off his nut? I for one would like to know the last time that Msgr. Fischer was actually at a mall at Christmastime. These are places that most sane people avoid like the plague. Unless, of course, he is referring to the buzz that certain CEOs might get around Christmastime at the prospect of people willingly parting with their hard-earned money only to get some useless trinkets and doo-dads to fill stockings and gift bags.

Problematic article? Yeah. (But since no one wants a church like that, he did our work for us!)

Our problem with the article? Well first of all, the article fails in the journalistic integrity department generally because it is a puff piece. It is nothing but a piece of advertising for Bishop Galante and Company, and if I was Jim Walsh I'd be embarrassed by the fact that I'd compromised my professional standards. The article does not attempt to promote a balanced view of the megachurch, dissenting opinions, or even a hint of a critical stance toward the Bishop Galante and his plans. (Wonder what in the world the Courier Post, or should we call it "The Other Catholic Star Herald," could be getting in return for this kind of coverage?)

Of course, plenty of scholarship is available on the pluses and minuses of the megachurch at this point, but not a one was touched by Jim Walsh of the CP. Here are a couple of scholars Mr. Walsh could have contacted. Quote from 2005 ABC piece:

Mega-churches are booming all over the country, not just in the South.

Scott Thumma, a theologian at Hartford Seminary, compares the phenomenon to shopping at a place like Wal-Mart.

"Just as if you go to a Wal-Mart, you can get all of your lists done in one place, it's sort of one-stop shopping for spirituality as well," Thumma said.

Randall Balmer, a theology professor at Barnard College in New York says [of mega-congregations], "It is in many ways consumerism run amok."

In contrast, here's a perfect example of more Courier Post pandering:

One more difference between the regions [South Jersey and Dallas, Texas]: Galante, who often draws angry protests with his controversial plans for parish mergers in the Camden diocese, is recalled with fondness at St. Joseph.

"You tell that bishop we miss him here," barked head usher Chuck Maltese of Wylie, Texas, a retired New York City policeman.

How funny is that? First he says we're "angry" protesters. Now why in the world should we be angry? Guess we're too hormonal again. Oh well! Maybe we should have just handed over the keys and deeds to our churches cuz Bishop asked nice and said he'd give us a latte.  (I like hazelnut, no whipped cream. Although I can't afford those kinds of fancy drinks myself!) Honestly, if barking head usher Chuck Maltese would like Bishop Galante back in Texas, I just know we in the Diocese of Camden would be only too happy to oblige. Heck, we'd pay his one-way fare back and he can bring along Ms. Vollmer and Msgr. McGrath for company, too. On us! First class all the way. (No plastic utensils, and real dishes.)

It's rather odd that the CP would make the claim that Bishop Galante is widely loved and missed in Texas considering we at savestmarys have received more than a few unsolicited emails from disgruntled Texans claiming Galante mangled their diocese in more ways than one. Could you imagine the sordid tales we'd hear if we actually bothered picking up the phone to initiate contact ourselves? We simply haven't gotten around to that yet, but we'd certainly appreciate hearing the stories of the Catholics in Texas who are still picking up the pieces.

Depressing, ain't it?

Aside from the article itself, it's just plain depressing that too many "Catholic" churches are are deviating from the Truth in that they are so susceptible to superficial novelties, and that some pastors and bishops are leading their sheep astray. However Jim Walsh makes finding flaws in this "model church" way too easy, and judging from the comments on the Courier Post website, no one seems to think of this church as something in any way desirable, nor are they buying the ridiculous stats spewed by the Diocese.

In holding up this parish Bishop Galante's true intentions become very clear. It seems he wants to dismiss Catholicism as we've known it and institute something utterly different in its place. Something worldly, something that resembles what's going on in many trendy evangelical protestant churches. Something that embraces aspects of extreme liberalism and new age-iness. Something that dumbs down and dilutes our faith. Something that appeals to no real Catholic.

Keeping up with the culture

From a 2005 ABC News article dealing with the new consumerist megachurches, a parent is quoted:

"You know, the culture is giving our kids a lot of fast-paced media and all different things that are moving along," she said. "Why can't the church keep up and do the same thing for our kids and for us?"

There's an easy answer for that one, actually. As Christians we are to be in the world but not of it. It is not the responsibility of the Church to keep pace with modern American culture. It is the responsibility of the Church to preach and teach the Good News of Jesus Christ, whether or not that conforms to our "lifestyle." How many times did Our Lord tell us that He and His Kingdom were not of this world (John 18:36)? Further in St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (2:12-14):

Now we have received not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit that is of God; that we may know the things that are given us from God. Which things also we speak, not in the learned words of human wisdom; but in the doctrine of the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God; for it is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand, because it is spiritually examined.

How many times must we be exhorted not to conform ourselves to the things of this world, for it is passing, but God is eternal?

And be not conformed to this world; but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)

Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him. (1John 2:15)

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that includes lattes and biscotti.

A few interesting things about the church


Cremation: Like the parishes in Florida (churches St. John the Evangelist and St. Agnes), St. Joe's seems to advocate the non-traditional practice of cremation, to the point of having something called a "Columbarium Wall" where ashes may be interred in little niches. It's pretty darn ugly. The Columbarium Wall surrounds the labyrinth. (For those of you who aren't aware, cremation is hugely popular among liberal eco-types because it takes up less space.)


Music: The choir has a CD with the predictable David Haas and Marty Hogan emotional tripe, as well as a "Zulu" song. Yay! How multi-cultural of them. At least now all the Zulus in their parish will feel welcome.

Eastern Stuff: You'll be happy to know they also have "Thai Chi Chih" available.

Questionable Curricula: Interestingly, the catechetical materials they've chosen to use over there have been given a "yellow" or caution rating by catholicculture.org, who "recommend[s] that you avoid Why Catholic." Quote:

Philip Blosser provides a perfect summary when he worries that the program is "designed by revisionists whose devious aim is to use their small group approach to refract ecclesial focus, to undermine magisterial authority, to democratize the Catholic message, to continue the AmChurch decentralization of Catholic Church in America, to continue the process of protestantizing and revising the Church and detaching her from the only moorings she has in her own traditions. . . ."

A Response from non-practicing Catholics

Here's where our coverage of this story will take a turn for the odd. Tonight after work I popped over to my younger sister's house to borrow a couple of Disney videos for my kids, to kiss my new baby niece, and to chat for a few minutes. About an hour later, as I was turning to leave, I just happened to mention this piece in the Courier Post about "a mega[Catholic] Church that the bishop seems to want to replicate here in South Jersey, which has a cappuccino bar."

Now keep in mind that my sister, who is 28, and her husband, who is 32, were both raised Catholic. But, not uncommonly, they are both completely non-practicing. My older niece, who has just begun first grade, has never even been baptized. Other than to attend the baptisms of my own children and the occasional funeral, to the best of my knowledge, she hasn't darkened the doorway of a church in at least five years. She has her own reasons, I know, but we don't talk much about them. The point is, we couldn't be more polar opposite on the religion issue, unless maybe she was a rabid atheist or something.

Without so much as the blink of an eye, the two of them--my sister and brother-in-law--went off. They found the prospect of what a church like this could be, could look like, could morph into, etc. absurd and funny. What struck me most about what follows is that the very audience Galante and Company is trying to entice--the lapsed Catholics, the young families,  professionals, etc.--are the very people who see right through all the crap. People like my sister and her husband, who don't like BS. If there was a possibility of ever being religious, they'd prefer their religion to not be mixed up in materialism. So I thought I'd share some of this [admittedly irreverent at times] rapid-fire back-and-forth between my sister and her husband with you, just to give you an idea of how truly ineffectual all this "nonsense" is. Honestly, I was laughing really hard. They definitely "got it," and with zero prompting by me.

Bishop Galante, be advised: If you should choose to keep up this unholy battle to close the shrine parish of St. Mary's Malaga, you will have a tremendous uphill battle ahead of you. We will fight you all the way to Rome if that's what it takes. The pressure will not cease, it will only increase. We will use canon law and civil law to protect what is holy and True.

Warning: Plainspoken Julie below. Feel free to add you two cents about this evening!

Tonight, Bishop Joseph Galante visited our little church. It was packed to overflowing and people picketed out in the street. It was an impressive turnout, to say the least. Interestingly, Bishop Galante brought a whole cavalcade of people along with him, including Roberta Small and "Sister" Marilyn vollmer, commonly known around the diocesan offices and beyond as "the other bishop." (He brought her along with him from Texas when he came to NJ.) You'd never know she was a "religious." He also brought along Fr. Carmen Carlone, pastor of St. Joe's in Hammonton.

As an aside, I joined St. Joe's awhile ago even though I never, ever attend (except once a year for the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and that's about all I can stand). I joined hoping that I might be able to request "as a parishioner," that they offer Eucharistic adoration there. While I'm no longer a member there (and was in name only--the "liturgies" there were that appalling), when I attended the "welcome to the parish" event "Father" Carmen sported a salmon pink tank top, capris, and leather thong sandals. He's a real character. I have never seen him in a collar, actually, until tonight. He must've had that suit specially dusted off and pressed for the occasion. He looked good. But I digress.

The bishop and Msgr. Joyce, the slick moderator with the shiny shoes, gave us "one hour and ten minutes," with 2 minutes per person, to say our piece. Lots of incredible things were said, I couldn't even hope to repeat them all here. There was so much courage and conviction in the room, and lots of applause for points well-made. If the bishop got nothing else from our meeting, he must know this: that we are not, I repeat NOT going to give up until we obtain victory not just for St. Mary's, but for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament who must be so outraged and offended by the actions of this bishop.

Friends of St. Mary's, let the Blessed Sacrament be at the very center of our struggle. So many tonight spoke to the bishop about their love of the Blessed Sacrament. Several children spoke about their experiences at Eucharistic adoration, and one girl who looked to be about ten said that she'd gone to adoration at 3AM this past night for the sake of our church, and walked off in tears. One little boy of about eight told the bishop he wanted to be a priest at St. Mary's! One man, who does not drive, takes the bus all the way from Margate to attend St.Mary's and to go to adoration there. How inspiring. And he wasn't the only one. Person after person stood up and said how far they go to get to St. Mary's and how they pass this church and that one because what St. Mary's has is truly special. And yet to the bishop, the level of commitment and love for the Lord that exists at St. Mary's is simply not "vibrant" enough.

I myself witnessed to the bishop of the heresy preached on the website of the parish of St. John the Evangelist, the millionaire South Florida church he holds up as the model he believes South Jersey churches should become. At St. John the Evangelist, they believe that the bread and wine remain after the consecration as the Lutherans do and as the Council of Trent condemned. That's called consubstantiation. It's heresy. He just sat there smugly and shook his head at me. But I spoke the truth, and he knows it. The truth cannot and must not be hidden!

One wonderful woman spoke with such conviction about the fact that clearly, this whole thing must be about money, and that we must withhold our money from the diocese if they won't listen to us. They're our churches, we've paid for them, and they want to take them away from us anyway. I completely agree with her--I will not give a dime until St. Mary's is safe.

The bishop admitted that the "community church" model of megachurch that attracts many people--you know, that lukewarm, happy clappy, superficial religion--should be what we model our future churches on. Boy does he have it all wrong. He thinks Catholics are going over to the evangelicals because they want to be entertained. He's wrong. They are seeking out truth and not hypocrisy. I question whether they find it there in those sorts of churches, of course, but I understand what they're looking for. Bishop Galante expressed that he thinks "young people" want a paid youth minister and all sorts of services and "ministries"--all the "ministry" money can buy. He's wrong. The bishop couldn't be more wrong. Youth want the Truth, pure and simple. They want to be real Catholics, not sugar-coated, watered-down ones. And if they can't be that or do not know how to be that, they're going to leave. More of the same old crap that they've been feeding us over the past 40 years isn't going to make the situation better, it's going to make it worse. Non-practicing Catholics (including a sibling of mine) are completely disgusted by this whole situation. Closing the churches that are their last remaining physical connections to the Catholic faith will only distance them further.

When Bishop Galante had the opportunity to speak at the end (and some of the points he made I've mentioned above), he was extremely unconvincing. It was really just the same stuff he's been saying for months, so no surprises there. However, he may have been surprised by our allergic reaction to his remarks and the continual interjections from the peanut gallery (myself included, I was very hot under the collar). His rationale is completely nonsensical and we all saw through it tonight. It was wonderful that he impressed, convinced, or persuaded no one. We were truly united as a community, a thing Galante supposedly seeks to encourage--by tearing down our churches and building up artificial communities. He came in knowing he had his own plans and that he would not truly listen to us. The whole thing was for show, really, just to pretend he actually cares, just like the "speak up sessions." None of us fell for it.

In a nutshell, Bishop Galante is still claiming there will be a priest shortage, that Catholics are not attending mass, that churches need to be open seven days a week, "vibrant" liturgies need to happen everywhere (whatever the hell that means--I guess holy, Catholic liturgies are less important), that we need to have peppier music, and that outreach is centrally important. Of course, all of us sitting in the pews, in answer to every point he made about how the churches need to change, said, "we ARE doing that." St. Mary's is open all the time. It is "vibrant" liturgically, it does do outreach (but in a personal rather than a "slick" sort of way), and does have authentic, Catholic music.

The bishop also stood up and shamefully lied about several things, such as the financial motivation. He said that the assets of a parish, once merged, remain within the new entity. He failed to mentioned all the money grabbing that would occur after the "merge" (closure) and his power to control said assets. He failed to address several questions posed by the parishioners, including one very important one posed by Leah Vassallo, which was, basically, "What could St. Mary's do to demonstrate its 'vibrancy' to you, Bishop? Do you even think it's possible for a small church community of about 250 families, such as ours, to be vibrant?" After the bishop finished speaking (after having been interrupted numerous times by the faithful in the pews), Leah demanded he answer her question, and he completely ignored her. But in a way, I think he did answer her question. He talked about nothing but numbers and "big" churches, paid ministries, and bringing in masses of people. (Of course, when you close all these churches the megachurches will have to be large and bustling--they'll be the only places left to go! May God spare us that abomination!) While he conceded that even large churches could fail to be vibrant, the definite implication was that this was an exception. Big=vibrant to the bishop.

Bishop Galante was also confronted about his use of the name "Wawa" to refer to our little churches. Wonderfully, the speaker, our cameraman and a self-identified "Catholic in name only" and "doubting Thomas," said that Wawa was so successful because "there's one on every corner" and you can easily find them! Also, you always know you can get good food there and good service. Haha! What a wonderful point. Perhaps we should claim the term "Wawa church." As in, "My church is a Wawa church! You can find St. Mary's always open on the corner of 40 & 47!"

Finally I ought to mention that Bishop Galante stated that he could have come to this diocese and had an easy last few years before retirement, to which all of us applauded and said, "Why don't you?!" He was not happy with this remark and several times over admonished us to act as Christians. Last time I checked, it's our job as Christians to stand up and tell the truth. "Nicey-nice" ain't synonymous with Christian. But again, I digress. Anyway, the bishop said his "conscience wouldn't allow him" to keep things as they are, the "status quo" as he calls it.

As the days go on, Friends of St. Mary's, I am increasingly convicted. I know that we are doing the right thing, that God is on our side, and that we are doing His will. And the more unsavory information I learn of the bishop and his past, the more I realize that something unholy is afoot. We must continue to pray for the bishop, for nothing is impossible with God, and for the priests of our diocese. And let us keep working to save A Light in the Diocese: St. Mary's!

(PS: My four-year-old son Theo would like to add, "St. Mary's is a special church." He typed that himself.)





Friends of St. Mary's Malaga: Please email me, call me, comment here, or send letters detailing your experiences of this evening and opinion of the bishop's scheme. Feel free to comment below.

Naples, Florida: Golf Capital of the World and Home of Bill and Mary Anne Galante's Ultra-Liberal St. John the Evangelist Church

"More holes per capita than any other community." (From Wikipedia entry on Napes, FL)

I'm referring here to golf links, of course. Naples, Florida is everything you think, and more. Half of the American Fortune 500 CEOs live in Napes, FL. Yes, little ol' Malaga, NJ: You, too, can be as authentic, spiritual, and non-materialistic as Naples, FL. Yay! Guess who lives part of the year in Napes, FL? Bishop Galante's brother and sister-in-law.

Quoting from the Philadelphia Inquirer article, which is quoting Bishop Galante:

And all he [Bishop Galante's brother] talks about is how vibrant the local parish is: the people going to Mass, the wonderful preaching, concerts with sacred music and popular music.

The vitality and community his brother has found in Florida are what he hopes South Jersey Catholics will one day encounter in the 66 parishes that will remain.

The local church his brother and sister-in-law attend, which is the model for what Bishop Galante hopes South Jersey churches will become, looks like this:

Charming, personal, quaint, and inviting, huh? And the pastor, Fr. Glackin (who in is photo doesn't even bother to wear a collar), for Mother's Day/Pentecost Sunday, quoted Erma Bombeck. Cute. Here's a link to that:
Fr. Glackin's Mother's Day Inspiration

You May Laugh, But It's A Little Scary
There are a couple of sort of humorous things on the church's site. On the RCIA website, they claim that confession is "not for the guilty." Of course, it's pretty ridiculous. It of course begs the question, if you're not guilty, then why confess? But I digress. Onto stranger things. You'll notice below (image taken from their website) that they have an image of a skinny, topless, somewhat androgynous-looking woman about to be touched by an outstretched hand. I presume this to be the primordial symbol of conversion. Kinda reminds me of an alien abduction or something, it's sort of unnerving.

 

Compared with the hefty material I will take on below, mentioning anything so minor as the music at St. John the Evangelist seems petty. Nevertheless, since the bishop wants some "vital music" injected into the South Jersey Catholic liturgical scene (read: begone traditional Catholic hymnody). I thought it would be good to include a photo of the music director of St. John the Evangelist parish. Check out his website, if you'd like to listen to some of the "vibrant music" Bishop Galante would have us integrate into our "liturgies." Paul Todd's site Mr. Todd has opened for the Pointer Sisters, Joan Rivers, the Gatlin Brothers, and others. All that and he works on a TeleTubbies-like cartoon for kids.

 

Puts us to shame over at St. May's, what with the teeny little choir loft and simple a cappella singing. The bigger the better, after all.

Pastor Promotes Group that Undermines Church Teaching
On a much more serious note, Father Glackin, pastor of St. John's, is a ringleader of the radical group, "Voice of the Faithful," Link here, which Catholic Culture assigns a "danger warning" for fidelity. Archbishop John Myers of Newark, NJ says that

VOTF...has used the current crisis in the Church as a springboard for presenting an agenda that is anti-Church and, ultimately, anti-Catholic.

(See Naples Daily News, September 19, 2003. Link here.) Glackin keeps trying to bring in speakers from Voice of the Faithful to St. John the Evangelist parish and the bishop of the Diocese of Venice keeps denying him. Instead VOTF brings speakers like the notorious Fr. Curran to a local Greek Orthodox Church. See article here. Voice of the Faithful's real goal, among many, is fairly obvious: it wants to change the character and structure of the church by "promot[ing] turning the Church into a democracy." Furthermore their conferences "feature prominent speakers who are known to support homosexuality, abortion, contraception, female priests and other dissident principles." The gist of their philosophy is to build up the laity and create an atmosphere of equality and interchangeability among the roles of the sexes and even the clergy and laity. (catholicculture.org)

Voice of the Faithful "is tied to dissident, radical, anti-Vatican groups, such as Call to Action and We Are Church, which strongly reject Catholic moral principles," according to the well regarded and orthodox catholicculture.org. Fr. Glackin, pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Naples, is lauded by VOTF on its website: Accollades from VOTF for Fr. Glackin. VOTF holds their monthly meetings at the Parish Life Center, so the pastor's connection with this dissident group is hardly hidden. (The meeting location is listed on the VOTF southewest Florida website.)

Parish Promotes Irreverence & Misunderstanding of the Real Presence
St.John the Evangelist Parish, which the bishop holds up as the model for Catholic churches, is a bastion of anti-Catholic and non-Catholic (well, essentially Protestant) thought. On the church website, to put it charitably, there is a very definite mixed message relayed with regard to the Real Presence, among other things. For example, kneeling during the consecration is roundly condemned as something born of fear. They claim that the early Church stood during the consecration, but provide no evidence for this assumption. From the church's RCIA program Q&A about the Eucharist (for entire article click here):

Why do people at St. Johns stand for the consecration, where at some other Catholic churches, people kneel? In the early church, people stood for the consecration as a sign of respect and joyful celebration. As the centuries progressed, people began to kneel, as a sign of sorrow and repentance, and focused so much on the Divinity of Christ that his humanity was almost forgotten. Kneeling was a sign of fear before a king. This practice still continues in some catholic churches today. But with Vatican II, the church recovered the early church's focus on joyful celebration. So, at St. John's we stand in joy rather than kneel in fear.

A little further down, the question is posed, "Who can take communion?" Here is a piece of the answer St. John the Evangelist RCIA provides potential converts:

(The church teaches that it needs to be baptized Catholics...but Christ doesn't check our ID's) Sometimes at weddings and funerals, non-Catholics may be invited to receive communion.

In other words, they come right out and say that the Church teaches one thing, but they teach another. This church actively and unabashedly flouts the teachings of the Catholic faith not only through direct affiliation with groups that undermine the faith, but also by egregiously offending Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist by allowing non-Catholic Christians to partake. They belittle those who would revere His holy presence by kneeling in adoration. It would make sense to cease kneeling if the Real Presence is not understood properly...

Most alarming of all, it is clear by reading the entry on the Eucharist that at St. John's there is a complete misunderstanding of transubstantiation. They say, "The wine is still wine, and the bread is still bread, but somehow it is also more than just bread and wine." Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that was essentially heresy. I quote the Catholic Encyclopedia here (and I'd really encourage you to read the entire entry on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist here):

That the consequence of Transubstantiation, as a conversion of the total substance, is the transition of the entire substance of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, is the express doctrine of the Church (Council of Trent, Sess. XIII, can. ii). Thus were condemned as contrary to faith the antiquated view of Durandus, that only the substantial form (forma substantialis) of the bread underwent conversion, while the primary matter (materia prima) remained, and, especially, Luther's doctrine of Consubstantiation, i.e. the coexistence of the substance of the bread with the true Body of Christ.

As I understand it, the Body and Blood of Our Lord maintain only the appearance of bread and wine. Again from the Catholic Encyclopedia (from this piece on consecration):

It is called transubstantiation, for in the Sacrament of the Eucharist the substance of breadand wine do not remain, but the entire substance of bread is changed into the body of Christ, and the entire substance of wine is changed into His blood, the species or outward semblance of bread and wine alone remaining.

I could go on, since there is an abundance of erronious information so readily available, but I won't. Truly frightening is the prospect that lays before us: that Bishop Galante seeks to model his new-and-improved Catholic McMegachurches after St. John the Evangelist parish, a church that so clearly propogates irreverence and error. Is this what we want the South Jersey Catholic churches to be? I don't. I want to worship God as He is, not as I wish Him to be.

A Model Church for Us Unsophisticated South Jersey Hicks
So anyhow, yes folks, this church of St. John the Evangelist is the model for what Bishop Galante sees as a "vibrant" church. I don't pretend to know what you might think of pastors who promote organizations that undermine the Faith, pop-culture references mixed into your religiosity, Yanni-esque music directors, large and impersonal McChurches, too-cool-for-you RCIA programs, hip self-improvement "confession," and "communities" that boast some of the richest people in the world. And "more holes per capita than any other community" to boot! But I for one prefer that old time religion, the faith of our fathers, "the least of these," and all that stuff. I don't want a big, fancy, modern church with larger than life "contemporary" music. I want a church that reminds me of who I am in the grand scheme of things, not a church that puts me in the center. I want a church that's real, on a human scale, leads me to God, and doesn't remind me of a country club.

The majority of the churches the bishop wants to close are authentic houses of worship with the Real Presence front and center, kneelers, and histories that predate Vatican II. They are traditional. They are characteristically Catholic, replete with the sacramentals that empower us to fight the Enemy. They are the powerhouses of prayer. And yet, according to the Inquirer article, "the scope of the closing appears to be the largest ever for any of the nation's 195 Roman Catholic dioceses." And many of the churches that stand to be closed are ones very much like St. Mary's. Should we make way for a bigger, better sort of church? A one-stop-shop like the evangelical protestants have? Will we accept compromised theology and liturgy? Or are we finally going to acknowledge that what people really want is Truth...simple and straightforward Truth, and that it's Jesus in the Holy Eucharist who offers it?

By the way, in case you want to read it, click for the Inquirer Article here