Make no mistake about it. St. Mary's parishioners continue to resist the merger and subsequent closure of their church. Why? Because merger is closure and we as a parish have a right to exist and to worship in peace.

Let us be clear: If our "convener" thinks that he is going to merge St. Mary's without significant inconvenience, he is mistaken. We are not like the frog in lukewarm water that is slowly boiled by turning up the heat just a little each time. We are not that stupid.

It has been argued that in order to somehow "prove" that we are all good little Catholics, we must "cooperate" by worshiping at the other churches in our "merger group." Well many St. Mary's parishioners do in fact  worship elsewhere from time to time or even regularly: St. Martin's or St. Anthony's in Hammonton, Mater Ecclesiae in Berlin, Sacred Heart or St. Isidore in Vineland, or even Mater Dei Nursing Home to name just a few. We recognize that the Catholic Church is, by definition, universal.

However, the agenda of the convener (and those pressuring him) is to get St. Mary's to merge with other churches and to eventually close. Therefore worshiping at these locations potentially undermines the cause of St. Mary's autonomy and right to existence. This would be nothing less than false unity: a unity at the expense of Truth and Justice, a unity at the expense of the continuation of the Faith, a unity at the expense of the existence of a parish, and a unity that tramples on the God-given right of the Catholic people to worship in a church they built and maintained without incident for over 80 years. This is not unity at all, but instead the unnecessary destruction of unity and of a true community of Faith.

For that reason, if necessary, it would be better to attend any services at any other Catholic church than those in our "merger group" or even to worship privately in the home on days that are not holy days of obligation. Furthermore, if we at St. Mary's have no desire to merge with these other churches, (and as we understand the sentiment is mutual,) we should not be forced to.

We are one Catholic community throughout the world, but that does not mean we should consolidate into fewer and fewer Catholic churches. May God have mercy on those in our diocese responsible for the persecution of the Church. They will one day have to answer for their actions and for the loss of souls that results.

(As a side note, it was stated in St. Mary's bulletin this week that small children should not attend the Easter Vigil. The Easter Vigil Mass, long as it may be, is intended for everyone, even "restless little children." How dare anyone state that a member of the Body of Christ should not be welcome at mass. For shame! How anti-family and anti-life to imply that only certain people are worthy to attend mass. What about those with disabilities or those who have conditions requiring them to move or occasionally make an utterance? Lord have mercy! What are we coming to? The mass is for all people and it is not always necessary to be able to hear a pin drop.)

Wildwood Catholic HS will remain open thanks to the efforts of those who worked to save it. The diocesan spin is that a "priest team" is responsible for the plan approved by the bishop, but we all know that nothing could be further from the case. It was the laity who organized the resistance, worked on the plan, and saved the school. It is our hope that those who worked to save Wildwood Catholic will remember that theirs is not the only fight. Our congratulations and blessings to them.

Read Press of AC article HERE

Snip:

NORTH WILDWOOD -- Wildwood Catholic High School is not closing, Principal Richard Turco said Thursday.

On Jan. 5, Turco announced to the school's 194 students that the Diocese of Camden, headed by Bishop Joseph Galante, planned to close the high school.

The diocese cited falling enrollment -- the school can hold as many as 400 students -- and falling revenues -- growing debt of more than $685,000 and annual deficits that are expected to top $500,000 this year and almost $900,000 next year -- as the reasons behind the closure.

Turco said he received word from Father Michael Field, pastor of St. Ann's parish, Thursday afternoon, just after the school's students had gone home for the day, that Galante approved a plan developed by the community and parish to keep the school open.

"We need to contact everyone and tell them there is no end," Turco said.

Diocese spokesman Andrew Walton said the bishop accepted the decision of the parish priest team, made up of  Field, Father Joseph Wallace and Father Gustavo Agudelo, to keep the school open.

"Bishop is pleased that the plan has been developed and really heartened by the community's response," Walton said. [In other words, those in power in the diocese have bigger fish to fry, it's a public relations nightmare, and for whatever reason don't feel like fighting anymore.]

He said the parish priest team presented its plan last week, and "Bishop Galante has accepted the decision of the priest team and believes they have developed a viable plan that would allow the school to open for the coming year."

The school falls under the purview of the diocese, but is supported financially by tuition and parishioners from the recently merged Notre Dame de la Mer Parish, created by merging St. Ann's in Wildwood and Assumption Church in Wildwood Crest.

Tuition is $6,280 for a family's first child...

More good stuff from St. Thomas More, via the College of St. Thomas More:

More warns that, if a leader allows weariness to so grip "the mind that its strength is sapped and reason gives up the reins, if a [leader] is so overcome by heavy-hearted sleep that he neglects to do what the duty of his office requires ... -- like a cowardly ship's captain who is so disheartened by the furious din of a storm that he deserts the helm, hides away cowering in some cranny, and abandons the ship to the waves -- if a [leader] does this, I would certainly not hesitate to juxtapose and compare his sadness with the sadness that leads as [Paul] says, to hell.... (Sadness of Christ, Scepter Press, p. 47)

Bishop Galante & Co. must really not like Salem County. The closure rate there is simply unbelievable. When all is said and done there will be almost nothing left of the Catholic Church in the entire county. In this article, we read that Bishop Guilfoyle School in Carneys Point will close in June. Parents who want to send their kids to Catholic school will have to travel to Gloucester County, Cumberland County, or go over the bridge to Delaware, but as we all know, school and church closures are occurring all around us at an unprecedented rate, so enrolling a child in a Catholic school anywhere holds no guarantees. Parents who choose to enroll their child in a nearby regional Catholic school will have a lot of hard thinking to do as to how much "change" they are willing to put their children through. Let's face it, most of these kids are likely to end up in public school, not another Catholic school.

Lingering questions about Catholic school closures & Catholic education:

• What has the Diocese done to ensure proper financial management of these schools?
• What has the Diocese done to help support and assign good administrators to these schools? 
• What has the Diocese done to help provide quality, uncompromising, Catholic education and challenging curricula?
• What has the Diocese done to encourage the influx of teaching religious orders to the Diocese? Why has the Diocese turned away orders that have offered to come here?
• What has the Diocese done to help re-think making Catholic education truly affordable to parents? (Even in the past sixteen years or so, the tuition at my Catholic high school has roughly tripled.)
  
• How has the Diocese provided support to the new generation of Catholic home educators, those who have been either priced out of Catholic education and dissatisfied with the quality of some Catholic schools?
• Has the Diocese actually spoken to families and teachers at these schools or has it just decided to abandon them, sight unseen?
  

Read article by clicking HERE.

Snip:

By Phil Dunn, pdunn@sjnewsco.com

CARNEYS POINT TWP. -- Bishop Guilfoyle Regional Catholic School here will close its doors at the end of this school year, bringing an end to Catholic school education in Salem County.

The imminent closure was announced to parents of students via an e-mail from the Georgetown Road school's principal.

The school, operated by the Diocese of Camden, joins a growing list of Catholic schools in South Jersey to be shuttered.

"Declining enrollment in our schools, rising deficits and heavy burdens on the sponsoring parishes," have been cited as reasons Bishop Guilfoyle will close, according to the letter parents received.

The letter says the population of the area the school serves has declined 30 percent over the past 50 years, a situation that "has contributed to a marked decline in enrollment from our peak of 373 students in 2001-2002 to just 111 this year."

The school teaches students from pre-kindergarden through eighth grade.

Diane Sparks, a resident of Pennsville, has two girls enrolled at Bishop Guilfoyle. She has also been a marketing volunteer for the past five years at the school.

"We've talked to several families that came to the open house and they were interested in Bishop Guilfoyle," said Sparks. "Other families that had left last year were also considering coming back to enroll their children."

Catholic schools have long been favored by Catholic families and non-Catholics who believed the education their children would receive would be superior to public schools. But with the closing of the schools parents are now forced to return their children to the public school system or travel a longer distances for Catholic schooling.

"That is the most upsetting thing," said Sparks on Wednesday. "I don't want to bus my child 50 minutes away to a Catholic school in Gloucester County. It's just not reasonable."

This severe under-enrollment has resulted in a reduction of tuition income, thereby placing upward pressure on tuition rates, which, in turn, has made it difficult to increase enrollment, especially during difficult economic times.

This has resulted in rising deficits, which will be nearly $400,000 this year, the Diocese says.

Right now at Bishop Guilfoyle parents are paying tuition rates of $3,600 for the first child enrolled and $2,800 for the second child, said Sparks.

If parents choose to transfer their children to another Catholic school, the Diocese of Camden will be offering $1,000 vouchers to help reduce tuition costs at a new school.

"We are exploring the possibility of having the tuition reimbursement honored at area Catholic schools outside of the Camden Diocese as well," said Andrew Walton, spokesman for the Diocese.

Jennifer Jones, whose daughter is enrolled at Bishop Guilfoyle feels the Diocese did not look deep enough for a solution to declining enrollment.

"I'm devastated and I'm not sure they did everything they could to keep Catholic education in Salem County," said Jones who serves as executive director of the Salem County Chamber of Commerce. "It seems to me there are a number of smaller buildings in the county that could of been optioned to keep the school open."

Walton directed those parents who wish to voice their concern about the closing to the school administration.

"I think that if parents have a particular concern they should certainly surface those concerns to the leadership of the school," said Walton. "If the school administration and sponsoring parishes believe the bishop doesn't have the information he needs, they will forward it to the Diocese for review."

As for the school's staff, the letter parents received said the Diocese would help place as many teachers from Bishop Guilfoyle as possible in other Catholic schools and for those it can't, it would offer "an assistance package" during their transition to other employment.

The fate of the building itself is unclear.

Some parent were taken aback by the sudden decision to close the doors of the last Catholic school in Salem County.

"Most of the talk going on at board meetings was the consolidation of Bishop Guilfoyle and Guardian Angels (Catholic school) in Paulsboro," said Bishop Guilfoyle PTA President Tom Hassler. "So it caught me off guard."

Hassler said they were looking to consolidate the school under a new name and use the Bishop Guilfoyle location.

Those not wanted to travel to Gloucester or Cumberland County have been looking to schools in the Wilmington Diocese in neighboring Delaware.

"From what I heard, schools in New Castle and Wilmington will apparently welcome us with open arms," said Hassler. "They are willing to work with us to provide some type of transportation, too."

Hassler also believes the Wilmington Diocese has a more educational sound system in place.

"The Wilmington Diocese is pro education," said Hassler. "Wilmington gets the school up and running before they add a church."

Bishop Guilfoyle's closing is the second major blow to Catholic education in the county in the past decade. It's been about 10 years since the Diocese closed St. James High School (which was located in the building now used by Bishop Guilfoyle) and St. Mary Regional School in Salem and St. James Elementary School in Penns Grove.

 The students from the two elementary schools, along with another Catholic elementary school in Gloucester County, were transferred to Bishop Guilfoyle.

The news of the school's closing comes at the same time the Diocese of Camden is consolidating neighborhood parishes in Salem County. That action has left many Catholics unhappy.

The Diocese of Camden, Hassler said, has written off Salem County.

"They are going to lose a whole new generation of Catholics," said Hassler. "It's spiraling down more than it already was."

From the Editor:
We received this email back around Thanksgiving time and, though we had it ready to post, had neglected to post it! Quatholic Megachurches are coming to Peoria, IL against the will of Catholics there. The devil is hard at work. Evil is the only word for what is going on here, and the Diocese of Camden is not alone in its persecution. It is happening ACROSS THE COUNTRY. What will become of "Catholicism" in the United States?

Read this article about Diocese of Peoria

Dear Committee to Save St. Mary's Malaga,

I've read the very distressing story about the Archdiocese's destruction of your parish in New Jersey.  I sent this e-mail to you because of my fear that my home parish of St. Anthony of Padua [see photos below right, -ed.] in Streator, IL is about to be destroyed in an extremely misguided attempt at consolidation.  There are three functioning Catholic parishe in Streator: St. Mary, St. Anthony and St. Stephen.  All three were founded by European immigrant ethnic groups, and all three still had grade schools as late as 1999.  Today St. Anthony is the only church that has a grade school.

As early as 2005 I had heard rumors about a proposed consolidation of the three Catholic churches in Streator.  In September 2007 the parishioners of all three Catholic churches received a letter from the Diocese of Peoria in which the bishop told of his desire to close all three churches and build a new church.  In October 2007 the two head Streator priests, Msgrs. Ham and Prendergast,* conducted information sessions regarding the consolidation of the parishes.  (Since then it has been widely seen that Msgr. Prendergast is the main figure pushing for consolidation.)  After those information sessions, committees were formed to "study" the pros and cons of consolidation.  Whatever point those committees had is beyond me.

At the time of those sessions there were rumors that the planned church would be built on farmland east of Streator.  Shortly thereafter the local newspaper published a story about St. Patrick's Church in Ransom, a parish in a small town about 12 miles east of Streator.  The members of St. Patrick's were enraged to find out that their church was to be included in the proposed consolidation, considering that the church recently had completed a thorough renovation with the full knowledge of the bishop.  The fact that St. Pat's owns 40 acres of farmland quickly led the parishioners of that church to conclude that their church was being closed so that the Diocese could sell their farmland to buy land for the new consolidated church.  The next year saw the parishioners of St. Pat's fight a nasty battle to get out of the proposed consolidation.  During that time the parishioners of St. Pat's were told their church would reopen.  Two months after reopening (and after they had made up their Diocesan appeal money), Msgr. Prendergast informed the parishioners of St. Pat's that their church would close after all.  St. Pat's eventually was able to get completely out of the consolidation plan, but it is very unlikely the church ever will hold services again.

In mid-2008 the parishioners of the Streator churches learned that Msgr. Prendergast had purchased 40 acres of land east of Streator for what seemed to be the very inflated amount of $12,500 per acre.  Since that time rumors have abounded that the land Msgr. Prendergast purchased is above abandoned mine shafts and is unsuitable for the building of a new church.  Of course, Msgr. Prendergast has denied these rumors.    

In the year following the purchase of the land no more statements were made by the Diocese or Streator priests regarding the building of a new church.  That a new church ever will be built seems unlikely, as Streator is a fairly low-income town and the land the Diocese purchased for the church is regarded as unsuitable.  As time has gone by, there have been rumors that St. Stephen's Church will get an addition and become the consolidated church in town.

In June 2009 Msgr. Ham, the longtime popular priest of St. Anthony, retired.  Msgr. Prendergast took his role as pastor of St. Anthony's and, what he calls us now, the "Streator Catholic Community."  Since Msgr. Prendergast took control at St. Anthony, the parish has begun to fall apart.  Msgr. Prendergast seems almost to delight in being cruel to many parishioners.  The number of altar servers is declining.  Even adult servers report that he is a very difficult person with whom to work.  He so upset the retired choir director that the performance of Handel's Messiah (a St. Anthony tradition since 1998 or so) will be conducted at the Methodist church instead.  I've heard that he shows a particular animosity toward the choir in general.  Two weeks ago parishioners of St. Anthony learned that their popular 4:30 PM Mass on Saturday would be canceled, as would all confessions.  Msgr. Prendergast ordered these cancellations following the departure of a retired Slovak priest who helped at Masses as needed.  Since the departure of the Slovak priest to a parish about 35 miles from Streator, it widely has been alleged that he left Streator because of Msgr. Prendergast's treatment of him.

Meanwhile, St. Anthony's School is in free fall.  Although the Diocese claims to want to support Catholic education in Streator, St. Anthony's Church still covers about 90 percent of the expenses of the school.  Supporting the school is seriously draining the cash reserves of the parish.  I heard today that enrollment is declining even more next year.  It is difficult to see how school ever could survive without the support of the church.

Many parishioners believe Msgr. Prendergast is deliberately destroying St. Anthony's Parish so that attendance at both the church and school fall, giving the Diocese an excuse to close the parish for good.  Many believe Msgr. Prendergast has great personal animosity toward St. Anthony's Parish (Prendergast is actually a native of Streator).  Msgr. Prendergast also confirmed in a private meeting that the nearby hospital is interested in the land on which the school lies (and, I would imagine, the land where the church is, too).  I personally feel that Prendergast (and the Diocese, for that matter) are deliberately running St. Anthony's Parish to the ground so that the buildings can be demolished and the land sold to the local hospital.

At the same time, Msgr. Prendergast is moving all office operations for the Streator churches to the old convent at St. Stephen's.  The secretary of St. Anthony's recently learned that her job will be cut in June of next year, the same month, it is rumored, that St. Anthony's rectory will be demolished.  At the moment, Msgr. Prendergast has construction experts reviewing all the church buildings in Streator.  Although the reports will be finished by the end of this month, he has stated that he won't reveal them to the parishioners until after Christmas, because they could be "very upsetting" to many parishioners.  It seems nearly everyone at St. Anthony's (and the other churches too) believes that the reports will show St. Anthony's to be in the worst condition of all the churches.  Just this week I heard another rumor [Editor: this is not a rumor, by the way] that the Diocese plans on tearing down three church structures in Streator next year.  Considering that Msgr. Prendergast already has demolished most of the old buildings at the other churches, I fear that he plans on tearing down the rectory, church and convent at St. Anthony's.  A small group has met with Msgr. Prendergast, urging him to address the rumors in front of the congregation, but nothing has happened yet.      

This planned consolidation seems to be nothing more than a suppression of St. Anthony's Church.  During the information sessions in 2007 Msgr. Prendergast brought up the typical crap about ethnic parishes and declining numbers of priests and parishioners.  St. Anthony's, at least until Prendergast became pastor, had a good number of young people and high attendance at Masses.  What would you recommend that parishioners at St. Anthony do before the very likely event that the Diocese closes our church next year?

Sincerely,
(We have withheld his name.)

*Prendergrast is our McGrath or Odien. It's amazing just how people can become instruments of evil.

This was sent from an anonymous reader. We get lots of email since we are so prominent in the struggle to save our church.

Do not be misled: These mergers (closures) are not going well and people are not happy about them. Even at Diocesan sponsored events, we have heard widespread discontent, and this is among those who are sticking with "the program"...for now.

People are leaving their churches in droves, and in some case they are so disgusted they are leaving The Church. Why? They are appalled. They are disillusioned. Their Faith as been shaken, and who can blame them? If your answer is, "who cares?" let us enlighten you. You should care if for no other reason than that they are taking their wallets with them.

But money or no money, downsizing the Church does not strengthen the Church. Among Christ's words were not, "Go, therefore, and consolidate." No, he said this: Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Matthew 28:19

We ought to care of souls are being led astray! As this reader and so many others have expressed, what is happening is evil. If we are children of God by our Baptism and soldiers of Christ by our Confirmation, we cannot support that which is evil. We are called to resist it.

Email follows:

As of today, 1/13/10, St. John Vianney has ceased to exist as a Catholic parish. It feels as if there's been a death, it's heart rending and gut wrenching. I can hardly believe any of this has happened, the destruction of the Catholic Church in the Camden Diocese.

The wonderful ex-pastor of St. John Vianney will now be doing non-pastoral work, along with many other good priests from the diocese. If there's a priest shortage, why on earth have there been so many assignments to work other than pastoral work?

I cannot understand how people do not see this is evil work being done? Is this diocese blind? Is Rome blind? It seems there is a systematic destruction of the Catholic churches schools, orchestrated by the current leadership--the thing is, I cannot figure out why? It has to be more than power. It has to be more than believing their left-of-center ways are "best"? It is nothing but pure, unadulterated evil.
.....
...this bishop has no mercy and no compassion, and I think he'll do anything he can
to close every single remotely-traditional parish in this diocese.

Take a good, hard look. We at savestmarys are not saying we agree with all the sentiments expressed, only that this is the inevitable result of the message that is being sent by the Diocese. We are not surprised at people's disillusionment. Souls will be and are being lost.

See also: Keep Wildwood Catholic High School Alive Facebook Page and Save Wildwood Catholic High School Facebook Page

These comments are only from the last few hours from the Wildwood Catholic article. Bishop Galante, Average Joe and Jane Catholic are pissed, disgusted, fed up. Don't you care? People are leaving the church, and those who have already left are feeling justified in their decision. Don't you care? Souls are being lost. Your reputation is in the garbage bin? Don't you care? You will go down as the bishop who single-handedly destroyed the Diocese of Camden and drove people from the Church en masse. It is your job to care. Why don't you care?

Wakeup People the Catholic church has been dieing for the last few years, They have been closing churchs and catholic schools in the area for the last few years. Why would they leave WC open when they can force you to go to HOLY SPIRIT for a lot more money. I am surprised that WC was not closed years ago.

Donnachie: What was your posting about? Especially that last line? If you are a practicing Catholic you should know better than anyone how the institution manipulates the flock toward one end -- and only one end --and that is always money. The whole irony here is that the Catholic Church is the richest organized religion in the world and is now hitting on some tough times with the abuse scandal payouts but we have to believe its coffers are FAR from empty. Many of us know or have read about the Vatican's vast real estate holdings and silent partnerships around the world and the true "business" that the church really is. For hundreds of years, these male church leaders have always been dominant and controlling with little regard for the nuns (except to dictate how they should conduct themselves and their order) and other "second class citizens" (females and children)who serve in different capacities throughout the system.

From "Galante Has To Go"
With all the school and church closings in this diocese, a good businessman would realize that the next step is to consolidate the Diocese of Camden with another, larger diocese. Exactly what is the overhead of keeping Camden as a diocese? The bishop's expenses - living quarters, food, car & drivers, secretaries; the staff at Catholic Charities & Diocesan Housing; the Star Herald newspaper. Wow! We probably could have afforded to keep our schools open if the schools were given the money being used to maintain this top heavy organization.

What an absolute disgrace, the so-called Christian decision makers should be ashamed of themselves. From the start what happened yesterday at Wildwood Catholic High School was horrible. While you can understand the point of financial problems, which raises the question, how did these problems come about? What you did to these poor children and the families was anything but Christian. What it is is just another example of how mismanagement is destroying the catholic lifestyle. So to the local managing body or the Bishop, you could never imagine what it is like to get a phone call from your child, crying uncontrollably saying that they were just told that their high school is closing forever in 6 months. Knowing that after being there for three years of their life, knowing that they will not graduate from their school, the horrible feeling of not knowing where they will go, if they will be with their friends and how this is going to affect the rest of their lives. You made these decisions without any input, concern, questions from the families. I understand that decisions like this are difficult but you could have let the families know what was going on, what was being considered, to give these families and children an idea of what to expect. And what about the teachers and the school administration, these teachers were not told anything, the school administration was not told anything until yesterday about your misguided, ill-managed and totally insensitive decision. Let's talk about the financial point. These people put their heart and soul into this school. Working for less money then any other teacher would in the public sector. I do not blame the teaching and administrative staff of Wildwood Catholic for this disaster; I blame the Catholic Church administrators and the people who were responsible for the decision to close this school. Enrolment is down because tuition is too high. The powers to be would say tuition is high because enrollment is down. You should have "bit the bullet" for a while and lowered tuition to increase enrollment. Most importantly why could you not keep the students at wildwood catholic there until they graduate, or at least keep the junior class of this year there next year to graduate. Its not like the school building is going to be closed,,, you are boosting about how the grade school is moving in there and how wonderful its going to be,,,so keep these kids there and let them graduate over the next three years and then do away with the high school level. It is such a cruel, uncaring decision. Lets not give up! Facebook Keep Wildwood Catholic High School Alive

This is a direct result of problems that the Principal Barbara Byrne from Bishop McHugh School has caused. She personally drove the enrollment from 420 to 200 in 3 years. Bishop Galante refused to take action and left her there. The priests of the sending parish's did nothing also. Galante has systematically destroyed the morale of Cape May and had done gamage to the Church that will take generations to repair.

2 points here of comment. Who on earth would bus their kids to Holy Spirit/ It is easily a 45 minute to one hour ride to Absecon. The school pools from all Cape May County and if you live south of Court House the ride is easily as stated.Second the students of Wildwood Ctholic will be in for a real culture shock if they attend public school now. The culture is night and day plain and simple!!!

Welcome to the new world of the "Economics of the Christian Religious Faith". Unfortunately this, once again, shows how religion in America has less about morals,values, and faith and more a business. The bureaucracy of religion has put America's faith and values directly in its crosshairs. Is it a wonder why we have a crisis in America concerning morals, values, and faith? However, this does nothing for the youth and families of these youth of Wildwood Cathlic High School. Keep the faith even if the Camden Diocese took a non-Christian approach in announcing their decision. Merry post Christmas!Yep, run down to Wildwood, tell the school youth of the decision without their parents present, and then run right back out of town without facing the parents after school or in a nightly meeting. What Christian values and morals did this teach these youth? This community? Maybe the Camden Diocese needs to take a look at their own faith and values. Agaim, keep the faith to the students, faculty, staff, and community of Wildwood Catholic! Even if the Diocese mo longer does.

"If you want your children to lost the faith, send them to Catholic School". Fulton Sheen said this 30 years or so ago and how true it has come. The Anarchy after Vatican II- all the changes we Traditionalists feel have gone way too far- well I would not ever send my children to a Catholic School. The Catholic Schools are not Catholic anymore. We would rather homeschool our children and bring them up Catholic than send them to Catholic school and have them lose their faith. The Diocese needs to wake up, the Church needs to wake up. Liberalizing is not drawing people to the Church, it is only driving true Catholics away.

I just wanted to say how sad this is for Cape May County. Many family members and friends were proud to call this school their school. But this is no surprise given the way this bishop has continually treated area students and their families. Perhaps if he had cleaned house at Bishop Mc Hugh 5 years ago those 80 families and the subsequent 125 kids wouldn't have chosen public school over their precious Catholic school. And if he hadn't lied to the families at St. Raymond's they wouldn't have gone onto to public school. And the same goes for Star of the Sea parents this year. My family has moved out of the area-to the Southern Bible Belt in fact. The few Catholic schools are thriving and there's an enrollment wait list and tuition for elementary is nearly same as Wildwood Catholic. Proudly, we are in planning stages to build a Catholic High School here. So many Catholics are fed up with the North East and the lies and have moved. People stand in the aisles for Sunday mass. Nobody should be surprised that familes and especially children come behind the almighty dollar and concealer.

As a Catholic, I detect an insurmountable public relations problem for the entire institution that started early on when this -- the most rapidly growing religion and today still the one claiming the largest membership of any other -- employed the practice of constantly "poor-mouthing" and the "do as I say not as I do" mentality. This fund-raising strategy imploded when the abuse scandals finally came to light. Denial has always been among the leadership's most reliable tools; however, with the testimony of real live pedophilia victims over the last two decades, there's no recourse but to pay --- in millions of dollars and image. These bishops are a bunch of businessmen (Galante only pretends to care when he sits in at the parish pow-wows attended by very distraught and long-time, old-school parishioners who actually think their protests will make any difference) and not very good ones at that. But I'll betcha their retirement packages are secure -- strong and solid as the gilded walls of the Vatican.

What a total contradiction. Earlier, The Press reported that the rumors of the school closing were unsubstantiated... Who wants to bus their kids from Wildwood to Holy Spirit and who is going to pay for that transportation?

after school or in a nightly meeting. What Christian values and morals did this teach these youth? This community? Maybe the

Read Press of AC Article Here or scroll down

You may read the entire article here, but we will be quoting from sections of this interesting essay, The American Church, Is it Here?, in anticipation of our look at Pope Saint Pius X's 1906 encyclical against the modernists entitled, Pascendi Dominici Gregis. The aforementioned article (and perhaps the encyclical, too!) may be perceived by some as radical, but the author's points are well made and ring startlingly familiar. It looks as if the original article was written in 1983.

Within his essay, author Michael Davies summarizes a 1981 article in the Homiletic and Pastoral Review. This article was written by an anonymous priest and discusses "the plight of the papist priest;" that is, the priest who is obedient to the pope and the magisterium (holy teaching authority) of the Church. Sadly, twenty-eight years later, you may find yourself recognizing many of these conditions as unfortunately present here in the American Catholic church. (However, it should be noted that under Pope Benedict XVI there is greater hope.)

1) Many American dioceses are ruled by bishops who are either Modernists or who submit to Modernist control of their diocese;

2) Modernists have a "lock-tight" control of the diocesan bureaucracy;

3) Priests who are loyal to the Pope have been reduced to a minority of one-eighth of the diocesan clergy;

4) These priests are isolated, ridiculed and have no hope of advancement;

5) Most seminaries are totally Modernist, and the students who are ordained from them are totally-programmed Modernists;

6) Modernist influence is particularly dominant in the fields of liturgy, catechetics, and the diocesan press;

7) The situation is certain to worsen;

8) Many American dioceses are already totally alienated from the Holy See;

9) Given the present process of consultation prior to episcopal appointments, there is no prospect of orthodox priests being promoted to the episcopate.

Further, the author Davies quotes states the following:

About half the clergy comprise the swing area: a vast mushy no-man's land where the priests will flip-flop wherever and whenever convenience dictates. At present this means conforming to the radical Modernist leadership. For some of these men, a nostalgia for Rome surfaces now and then, but is quickly submerged. Theirs is the tired refrain: "But this is what the bishop wants, and we took a vow of obedience to our bishop."

Therefore what we really have is disobedience to tradition, disobedience to clear Catholic Church teaching, and in its place a false obedience to sadly misled bishops who in turn mislead the faithful with the cooperation of their priests.

In our particular case, we have the lowering in status of our churches to "just buildings," as easily dispensable as old candy wrappers. In their stead, we face the prospect of what we already see in existence throughout our own and other dioceses: new, modern[ist] structures that are antiseptic, cold, round or semi-circular so as to promote the elevation of "community" above all things.* Said structures are typically lacking in ornamentation worthy of God, but replete with CatholicChurchSupply.com type furnishings. Such generic "auditorium"-like sanctuaries are often without statues and side altars, absent truly beautiful teaching art, yet manage to find space for the addition of un-catholic devices such as audio visual equipment and plenty of room beside the altar for rock bands and grand pianos. Worst of all is the removal Our Lord and Savior in the tabernacle to a side altar, separate chapel, or God knows where.

We know from historical precedent that the first thing "reformers" do is to destroy church architecture and furnishings. They destroy art and statuary, they desecrate holy things, they even torch buildings. All this and more has been done, and always in the name of progress, of Reformation. They know, perhaps intuitively, that the easiest way to change people's religion and how they worship is to change where they worship.

Yes, these structures are more recognizably non-denominational protestant in character than Catholic. And when we change church architecture so dramatically, we change the focus of the mass and the focus of our prayer, not to mention Catholic tradition and identity generally. When we change the focus of the mass, we succeed in changing the mass and, consequently, our very Faith.

We thought it would be a good time to remind people of the History section of the Save St. Mary's website. This history was written by a historian (an actual professional historian, now retired) and long time St. Mary's parishioner who now lives outside NJ.

It is interesting to note that we now live in a day and age where bigger is considered inherently better. One of the purposes of the destruction of our parishes and merger with others is that larger churches are considered by some to be superior. Why? Not sure. Our culture favors this model for most things these days, though, from stores to houses to cars. Churches are certainly not exempt. Part of it is human ego, we suppose. We can leave that to the sociologists.

In any case, historical perspective can lend a hand here. People tend to assume that once upon a time, there was a golden age of...fill in the blank. In the case of St. Mary's, there's the functioning assumption that once upon a time, St. Mary's was much larger. Well, that just isn't the case. Not really. St. Mary's has always been a tiny church and, when it became an actual parish, it became a tiny parish. I'll quote the history:

Completed in 1922, the new brick church could accommodate 150 worshipers.

If the people who built St. Mary's had needed a larger church, they would have built a larger church. And no, we cannot explain away its size by supposing there was more than one mass because there wasn't. Not until the 1950s was a second Sunday mass considered. The Saturday evening anticipated mass came even later.

Interestingly, the Bishop of Trenton (previous to the establishment of the Camden Diocese), Bishop Walsh,

voiced high praise for Monsignor James Bulfin, pastor of Sacred Heart...who directed the building of the church, and for the people of Malaga whose monetary sacrifices made it possible.

That was back at the opening mass in 1922, at which the bishop presided. Compare this to today's situation. We are now in a geographically smaller diocese with better transportation and an improved financial status. We have more parishioners today and more priests per capita, but our current bishop sees no need for St. Mary's or, for that matter, half the churches in the Diocese of Camden. Oh how far we have fallen in evangelical zeal!

St. Mary's didn't even have its own pastor or rectory until four decades later. So sharing a priest with another parish is nothing new to St. Mary's. In fact, it has been the case for about half its history, since it was a mission of Sacred Heart (Vineland) and then St. Rose of Lima (Newfield).

As for money, St. Mary's has always "lived" very frugally. Its less than affluent members sacrificed greatly to build the church and shortly thereafter experienced the Great Depression, the stress of which may have contributed to the death of its [shared] pastor, Fr. Jackson.

By the 1940s, St. Mary's had only about 100 families (compared to today's 250), although being farming families they were likely larger then the families most have today. Once the war and rationing were over, Fr. Naab (above), the pastor of St. Rose of Lima and St. Mary's, was able to obtain a car and visited every single family of St. Mary's. How many priests would do this today, even with better cars, better roads, lower gas mileage, and in a tiny parish?

It was also under Fr. Naab that our tiny parish commissioned its beautiful stained glass windows (right). Not shortsighted and despite the size of the parish, Fr. Naab knew how important a "church building," as so many refer to them today, is to a community. From the history:

Fr. Naab insisted on first-rate materials and workmanship. "The color in this glass will never fade," he said on numerous occasions.

In the 1950s a second mass was added and the church was enlarged. Yes, St. Mary's was once even smaller than it is today! In addition to enlarging the church, the organ and choir area were moved upstairs and a loft constructed. This added room for additional pews in the back.

In 1957 the land for the rectory was purchased, and finally in 1961 a third Sunday mass was added. (Saturday evening masses were unheard of previous to Vatican II.) This is also the year that St. Mary's became an independent parish (see photo top right). For almost a year, Fr. Zimmer, St. Mary's first pastor of its own, lived in the sacristy. And no, there was no bathroom in there just as there is no bathroom now. In spring 1962, the rectory was completed.

The religious education of its children was a primary and founding purpose of St. Mary's, but even in the 1980s, the all-time high of the CCD program peaked at only about 100 children. This year, even with the bishop's threat of closure hanging over our head and no nun volunteers as in the past (see photo above), we have around 60 students.

Our point? St. Mary's has never been big. It's always been small. We've shared priests and even had one live in the sacristy. Though our church has undergone many changes over the years, physically and otherwise, we must not fall into the trap of believing that because we are small today, we are somehow on a downward spiral. Nothing could be further from the truth.

What St. Mary's has that strengthens it is its small size! More people are always a welcome blessing, but a small parish enables us to know each other, and we like that. While some people may find larger parishes more to their liking, there ought to always be the option available to those who like a small church family. We're pretty uncomplicated at our church; we don't want anything big or fancy. We keep it simple at St. Mary's, and we think it's a blessing.

Churches and priests like the one in this article are at odds with an increasingly liberal church. This is the crux of their problem and, in many ways, the crux of ours, too. However they have expressed their disagreement in the following way:

For 17 years, the parish has refused to allow the local Episcopal bishop to come for a pastoral visit or confirmation, and then stopped paying its annual financial assessment to the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania.

So now, as they are poised to enter the Catholic Church, something the pastor prayed for daily, they may be faced with losing their property. Since they have not paid their assessments, the Episcopal church is suing them. Ya just have to admire this man's backbone. The church is in Philly, by the way, so not far from us. Read NY Times article here.

Somehow we must've missed these. We receive a lot of email from very upset Catholics. They are from back in the summertime. We have withheld the names of the senders.

Notice the continued lies. Notice the clear financial motives. We've said it before and we'll say it again: Bishop Galante, you cannot serve both God and mammon (Luke 16:13). Furthermore, transparency means truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32). How sad it is that anyone who believes their bishop and his cronies nowadays is a sucker. What a crime, what a travesty! Oh how many souls are leaving the Faith now over this alone! Bishop Galante, we want to believe you and to have faith in the leadership of our church, so for God's sake, tell the truth! Do what is right!

(1) We are all so taken back with what Galante is doing to our churches.  We have heard that a group from the Camden Diocese is going to Rome to stop this nut from destroying our churches.  Is this true?  If so, when will it happen?  Everyday we hear of priest leaving our churches.  Now we hear that Fr. Patsy of Sacred Heart Parish has received permission from Bishop DiMarzio to serve in the Brooklyn Diocese.  When are we going to be able to stop this mass exit of priest.  This is exactly what Galante wants.  Is there any hope for us and what can the Vatican do?

(2) I am guessing you have probably heard about the closure of our school by Bishop Galante.  We plan on fighting it to the fullest extent and would love to join your efforts in sharing any information we come across.  One of our fellow parents, [name withheld], just started yesterday in building a web site.  The web address is http://www.savestaroftheseaschoolcapemay.org/   Our school is slated to be "merged" with St. Ann's in Wildwood, just 2 yrs after the "merger" of St. Raymond's and Our Lady Star of the Sea School.  I don't know if your dealings have involved Nick Regina but he ranks right along with Bishop Galante in his cold/callous behavior.  We hope to attend mass at St. Mary's next weekend and get to meet some of you who are involved in this fight against the Bishop.  Your website is incredible- very informative!!!  Thanks so much, good luck to you all and God bless!

(3) I am a parent at Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Cape May.  Three weeks ago we were told that our school is to merge with St. Ann's school in Wildwood.  We were given no notice of this and all of the us parents did not even know this was in the works.  At a terrible meeting with Nick Regina, only 48 hours after we were all sent letters regarding the merger, he told us that this was being discussed since Oct. 08.  Our Monsignor got up and told us that he and the Principal felt it was better not to involve the parents in this decision.  What made this even worst was that only 2 years ago Bishop Galante merged the school that my children were at called St. Raymonds in the Villas with Star of the Sea in Cape May.  My husband and I believed the Monsignor and the Bishop when they advised us to attend the new school.  But now after 2 years we thought the merger had been successful.  The PTA...[had successful fundarisers].  We also not only met our assessment to the church, but exceeded by $6,000 this year.  We all were told that the Bishop would not look at this area for another 5 years.  But now we are being told that we are merging with St. Anns even though our enrollment numbers are higher and we have not drop as much in enrollment of the last 7 years as St. Anns has. We gave our all information to Nick Regina from the Diocese when he met with us and he just replied that he was not aware of those numbers.  We told him that the enrollment numbers were taken from the Star Herald Newspaper that the Bishop puts out.  He just replied, "Next Question."  After that meeting we have been reaching out to anyone that would listen.  We have been writing letters, we have had a Senator and two Assemblymen write to the Bishop for us.  Cape May City Council along with 2 other adjoining towns have passed a Resolution to stop the closing of our school and asking for the Bishop to meet with the town council.  We have been on Channel 40 news, have had stories written for us in the Atlantic City Press, and 3 local papers in town and have signed petitions.  We need your help.  Please give us any advice who we can turn to next.  Our school is right in the middle of town and land in Cape May worth millions.  The Diocese stated that they are not even sure if the building will be used for CCD classes as it is now.  Please, Please help us.  Our children and parents are devastated.  I feel like I cannot even sit through mass.  All I keep thinking about is how the men of my faith have hurt children over and over again.  Today the Monsignor was talking about his 50th class reunion from Catholic School and how wonderful it was and all I kept thinking about was that my children will never be able to celebrate that with St. Raymond's school and now Star of the Sea School thanks to this Bishop.

Thank you for your time.

Just a brief update for all of you. CCD is now underway. In the event there are any unregistered children out there, please register as soon as possible. Should you have any difficulty in contacting the "office staff," please feel free to call Julie at 609-561-4992 and I will make sure you get registered. (I'm now the Religious Education "liaison" or whatever you want to call me.) In case you are unaware, CCD at St. Mary's is far different from any other parish I've observed. It's very small, personal, and not standard "classroom," as my own was, if for no other reason than the fact that we have no actual "classrooms!" It begins with the rosary in the church. Rosaries will be provided for children without their own. After the rosary the children split up to their various classes and often it ends with a hymn singing in the church led by our music director and/or choir members. St. Mary's CCD doesn't just aim to teach the Faith, but to implant a love of it.

On Sunday night we had a Parish Council Meeting, which was very well attended. Happily we are moving forward in increased organization of the parish. Very soon we will be holding a vote to elect three officeholders: president, vice president, and secretary. Nominations are welcome. Rather than nominate and vote on members at the Parish Council Meeting, we preferred to instead have the entire parish take part in this process. (After all, real "processes" have no veils of secrecy.)

In addition, we have established various committees to aid in the running of the parish. Some of the committees are familiar, others will seem new. We have the finance council, the religious education committee (RCIA, CCD, Adult RE), the spiritual life committee ("liturgical ministries" such as altar boys, Legion of Mary, Eucharistic Adoration, Knights of Columbus, etc.), the social events committee, the maintenance committee, and the "ad hoc" or "special events" committee. (The "ad hoc" committee is not a permanent committee. It will take various forms as the need arises. For example, the feast committee and the Christmas Bazaar committee are "ad hoc committees" because it is not needed all year round.)

Of course we always have the music ministry and choirs, which are always looking for members, so if you are interested in music please contact Mr. Jim Wilson, music director. In addition, one of our parish members will be tackling the food pantry, which will be a committee unto itself. If you would like to help in any way please contact the church. We also have the evangelization committee,

In addition, the need for a sacristan was expressed. However, as a small parish we certainly cannot afford to have this be a paid position. We hope to train some of the older altar servers to take on some of the duties of a sacristan. We also hope that perhaps some adults from the parish will volunteer. We anticipate creating a monthly schedule in which different individuals would be "sacristan" on certain days. The sacristan's responsibilities would include making sure the sanctuary lamp remains lit, the candles are in ample supply, and other church and liturgical needs are met. It goes without saying that this is an extraordinarily important responsibility.

Officially under the heading of the spiritual life committee, the altar boys will be trained very soon. This will, of course, be an ongoing thing. Those wishing to serve as altar boys should have already received their First Holy Communion. Remember that altar servers do not have to be children. Traditionally adult males have served in this position.

If you are interested in joining any of these committees, please contact the church.

In closing, various members of St. Mary's reiterated our intention to resist the unnecessary merging and closing of our parish. In this we are of one mind, moved by the Holy Spirit. We believe what we read in the Bible, pertaining to obedience to GOD above all things. In opposing error there is no wiggle room.

But the Pharisees hearing that he had silenced the Sadducees, came together: And one of them, a doctor of the law, asking him, tempting him: Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets. Matthew 22:34-40. See also Deuteronomy 6:5

In the [newest] Catechism we read:

Since they express man's fundamental duties towards God and towards his neighbor, the Ten Commandments reveal, in their primordial content, grave obligations. They are fundamentally immutable, and they oblige always and everywhere. No one can dispense from them. The Ten Commandments are engraved by God in the human heart.

There can be no doubt that it is God's will that St. Mary's remain open. All parishes--and Catholic faithful, for that matter--have integrity and rights. These rights are currently being violated not only in our own diocese, but all over the country in the form of forced parish closings. In our case, we have been incredibly privileged in that Our Lady has sent us a miracle in the Rosary Garden, one which many have witnessed. We take this as a message for our parish, that Our Lady is with us. For those who prefer strictly secular verbiage, we are indeed hopeful that our ever increasing "vibrancy" will, as always, shine through!

This Press of Atlantic City article says that

Parishes in Middle Township, Upper Township and Woodbine will not be merged, the Camden Diocese told its parishioners this week.

Bishop Joseph A. Galante informed members of St. Casimir's Roman Catholic Church in Woodbine and the Church of the Resurrection in Marmora that they would remain separate with their own priests. St. Elizabeth in Middle Township will continue to be served by St. Casimir.

But Galante encouraged the churches to work together and share resources.

Click above link to read the whole article. Coastal Broadcasting News also mentions the story.

Here is a transcription of an interview with Fr. Daniel Mary, MCarm, Superior of the new and traditional Monks of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel in Wyoming. I transcribed this from a portion of the EWTN show, "Life on the Rock."

Watch video on this excellent website: Traditional Vocations Blog. Just the other night they were on "EWTN Live" with Fr. Mitch Pacwa. Listen or download that interview here.

***

Email Question: There has been a worldwide shortage of priests. Is there an even greater shortage of contemplatives and religious? Have you seen an increase in vocations in recent time? -John in NC.

Fr. Daniel Mary, Answer: Well I would say we're not experiencing a shortage in vocations. We actually have to be very selective who we take. Um, so I think it's, we get the vocations we deserve. You know if a community is not living its charism, then, yeah we wonder why communities or dioceses don't get the vocations. And I would say it's because young people aren't going to be inspired by a mediocre, worldly way of life. They want what's authentic. And I think when we give the youth something that's authentic, then you can't stop them. They're going to knock the door down.

Response from host, Fr. Mark Mary: You've had 600 applications, right?

Fr. Daniel Mary and Brother Simon Mary: Yeah, well not applications, 600 inquiries. I'd say we get about 5 phone calls a week and letters.

Fr. Mark Mary Response: The monastery you hope to build will hold like 30 monks, right?

Fr. Daniel Mary: Yes.

***

Article on the monks

The monks' website

"Our people were scattered around the country like refugees, " he says. "I thought, 'The church is a way to bring them home."
-Fr. Tony Ricard

So true! There are so many scattered sheep. Our churches are ways to bring them back to home to God and to the Faith. Closing them up just closes that familiar door, the only way they know back to return to Him.

Although following Katrina this parish was slated to be closed, the parish pitched in, with their pastor at the helm. They believed in themselves, their faith, their parish, and, well, you read the story. It'll bring tears to your eyes.

Click here to read article

Determined priest provides place for parishioners after Hurricane Katrina

by Sheila Stroup, The Times-Picayune

Sunday August 30, 2009, 5:00 AM

It was September 2005, and New Orleans was a ghost town. The 8th Ward neighborhood that surrounded Our Lady Star of the Sea lay in ruins. His rectory had taken in 6 feet of water from the levee failures that followed Hurricane Katrina.

But the ebullient priest never doubted that the red-brick church on St. Roch Avenue would reopen.

"There was something in my heart that told me, 'People are coming back to Our Lady Star of the Sea no matter what, ' " Ricard, 45, says. "So I never asked, 'What do we do if they don't come back?' I asked, 'What do we have to do to bring everyone back?' "

During 77 days of living in exile with his family near Leesville, his faith grew stronger.

"My parishioners were people who had always lived in New Orleans, and I knew they wanted to come home as much as I did, " he says.

The native New Orleanian -- "Father Tony" to his parishioners, the young men he mentors and members of the New Orleans Saints, for whom he serves as Catholic chaplain -- reasoned that if he opened the church, his flock would return to the city.

"Our people were scattered around the country like refugees, " he says. "I thought, 'The church is a way to bring them home.' "

The 75-year-old building, raised several feet above the ground, sustained relatively minor damage from Katrina: The air conditioning and heating units were ruined, and the wooden floor needed refinishing, but otherwise, the lovingly refurbished church was in good shape.

He and his parishioners had brought it back from the brink of death once already. He knew they could do it again.

"What we had going for us was faith and an awful lot of love, " he says.

. . . . . . .

When he became pastor in July 2001, the church at 1835 St. Roch Ave. was crumbling. Active members numbered 120, and there were rumors that the archdiocese was going to close the church.

But instead of performing the last rites, the young priest challenged the people to breathe life back into Our Lady Star of the Sea.

He told them, "I will bring my gifts to the table, but you need to bring your gifts, too."

His lively homilies made them believe in themselves and their church and convinced them to be generous during the offertory. The congregation grew week by week as word spread about the dynamic new pastor, and in eight months the working-class worshipers donated $50,000 to restore the church's interior.

"They were determined to save their parish, " he says.

At that time, a pastel mural behind the altar showed Mary surrounded by a host of fair-skinned angels.

"But all those angels had moved to Metairie, " Ricard jokes.

New Orleans artist Vernon Dobard convinced the new pastor that behind that wall were other angels trying to get out. As part of the renovation, the New Orleans artist created "The Dance of Holy Innocence, " a vibrant floor-to-ceiling mural that shows Mary surrounded by gorgeous angels in flowing gowns, representing the various cultures that have worshiped at Our Lady Star of the Sea.

"It was so beautiful, " Ricard says, "people cried when they saw it."

. . . . . . .

In the dark days that followed the hurricane, Ricard had another reason to reopen Our Lady Star of the Sea. His second parish, St. Philip the Apostle in the 9th Ward, had been under 10 feet of water for weeks and couldn't be salvaged. He wanted members of St. Philip's to have a place to call home.

"It was really a kind of natural migration, " he says.

He had been appointed pastor of that church a few months after becoming pastor at Our Lady Star of the Sea, and for five years he had the difficult job of dividing himself between the two church communities.

"It was like having two families, " he says. "It also meant I had two sets of old ladies who thought they knew everything about running a church."

At the same time, his reputation as a national speaker was growing, and he was traveling nearly every month.

"It was tough going back and forth, " he says. "It was a challenge for the parishioners and for me."

Katrina left far greater challenges in its wake, but Ricard was undaunted. On Christmas, less than four months after the storm, he celebrated Mass with more than 400 parishioners.

"I called it the 'we-opening' of our church, " he says.

In February 2006, after he learned that Our Lady Star of the Sea was not on the reopening list released by the Archdiocese of New Orleans, he asked for the chance to prove his church could survive.

He explained to the congregation what that meant: They would have to pay their bills. They would have to pay their monthly assessment to the archdiocese. They would have to come up with the money for repairs to the church.

"I told them, 'We have to do this all on our own, ' " he says.

They opened their hearts and their pocketbooks, and when Ricard traveled around the country speaking he would ask the congregations to take up a second collection for his church instead of paying him.

At the gospel Mass on Dec. 16, 2007, when he read the letter from Archbishop Alfred Hughes announcing the official reopening of Our Lady Star of the Sea, 525 people stood up and cheered.

"Today, we rejoice that like that reed swaying in the wind, we have not been broken by the disaster of Katrina, " their pastor told them. "We have not faltered. We have not failed."

(Click on the link above to read the rest of the article. Thank you to our friends at "The Insuppressible" St. Henry's Parish New Orleans for recommending it to us.)

CCD Registration will be underway this weekend before and after all masses! Also, look out for registration information in the upcoming bulletin

This year proves to be an excellent one for the CCD program! Remember that St. Mary's is one of the only parishes in the Diocese with CCD still on Sunday. Speaking with parents on a regular basis who attend churches elsewhere in the Diocese, I know how most parents feel about CCD on weeknights. (Most don't like it since it creates complications with work schedules, school, homework, and afterschool activities.) So what we have at St. Mary's--timing alone--is something very valuable. Children are able to learn about the Lord in a special way on the Sabbath Day, without the pressure and running around that happens during the week, and with Mass. More than that, St. Mary's CCD begins with Rosary prayers in the church, all together. I know of no other CCD program that does that anywhere else in the Diocese. It is a blessing to be able to do that. It is our small size--so often a strength rather than a liability--that enables our CCD community to pray together. Finally, St. Mary's uses the Faith and Life book series, which is solidly Catholic. So you never have to worry about St. Mary's using some flaky text or program.

If you would like any further information on CCD you may speak with Fran or Mike. Or, feel free to email us: info@savestmarys.net or contact the rectory. If you are interested in volunteering in some capacity or donating towards the CCD expenses (in addition to fingerprinting expenses teachers will incur, they also would like to take field trips to shrines this year), you may email us or call the rectory as well. Any help is greatly appreciated.

God bless you!

Click here for video

Our favorite of what we heard Bishop Martino say:

For some time now there has not been a clear consensus among the clergy and people of the Diocese of Scranton regarding my pastoral initiatives or my way of governance. This development has caused me great sorrow, resulting in bouts of insomnia and at times a crippling physical fatigue.

In other words, there has been large scale disapproval of his church and school closure plans. There has been so much outcry, apparently, that the stress has gotten to him. And while the stress is visible in Bishop Martino's physical presentation, it doesn't appear the entire situation is being revealed here.

Later on in the video, in response to a question posed by a journalist, he makes sure to comment about how he "did the right thing" and that his "conscience is clear." What struck us as odd about the "my conscience is clear" comment is that if your conscience is clear, would you feel the need to say it? It was clear from his body language that he is not at all certain that his conscience is clear. His demeanor was very awkward, jittery, nervous, and he appears very obviously insincere throughout the video (in contrast to Cardinal Rigali, who's able to pull off sincerity pretty well, in our opinion).

Bishop Martino also mentioned that he doesn't know many retired bishops who sit around looking out the window all day, but they are often called on to do any number of things, often under other bishops. Clearly he expects to be at work behind the scenes somewhere, perhaps causing similar damage but without having to be the public face of it.

Overall it was our estimation that Bishop Martino came off as a career-minded politician nervous because of some sort of scandal and glad to be finally off the hook. Whether he actually has something to hide beyond what is currently in the public view remains to be seen, but he conceded that in the eyes of many his tenure might be seen as a "failure" due to his lack of "success," but that he tried his best to make the diocese "lean." In reference to his massive "lean" and mean church closure program, the bishop smirked in a wholly inappropriate way. Closing churches is nothing to smirk about. It is not funny, nor is it cute to make the analogy that the Diocese of Scranton needed to go on a diet. These sorts of comments are typically reserved for CEOs in corporate America. Frankly, had it not been for his dark suit with roman collar and his requesite and incidental religious references, you woudn't know he was a bishop at all. (See also his photo in streetclothes. Hey, at least he's not in shorts and a polo shirt.)

In any case, Bishop Martino's stepping down due to insomnia? Ummm, we just don't buy it. With greater excuses than that I could've dropped the kids off at the orphanage any number of times and retired from being a mother. Martino's nowhere near retirement age and admits to being in good health overall. Bishop Galante, on the other hand, actually has legitimate health issues (aside from insomnia), so a resignation from the Bishop of the Camden Diocese due to health difficulties would not be unreasonable. So what's really going on with Bishop Martino? One wonders what was said in his meeting with the Holy Pontiff.

Whatever the real cause of Bishop Martino's stepping down, it's too bad for the people of the Diocese of Scranton that the damage is already done. We have word from contacts in the Diocese of Scranton that Martino's left the place a shambles.

Please be sure and see Scranton's two websites on the issue: The Catholic Watchdog and also Leave No Catholic Student Behind. The former has particularly good coverage of the Scranton church closings. 

Today I was in Eucharistic Adoration with my two kids. No, it was not the most meditative or peaceful time I've ever had in church, and frankly I was grateful that there wasn't anyone else there during my hour as there usually are, since they might have been disturbed by the kids. In any case, I picked up a brochure someone had dropped off on the table near the door. The brochure is entitled, "Terri Schiavo's Final Hours: An Eyewitness Account," by the well known Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests For Life.

I found his account of the ordeal intriguing and disturbing to say the least. Let me share with you a few quotes from the pamphlet:

After I said these things [namely that Michael Schiavo, his attorney Mr. Felos, and Judge Greer were murderers], Mr. Felos and others in sympathy with him began attacking me in the press and before the cameras. Some news outlets began making a story out of their attacks and said I was "fanning the flames" of enmity and hatred.

Hmmm, I thought. Something about this sounds very familiar to me. Someone speaks out with God's honest truth and he is made out as, well, the worst possible thing he could be today: Not Nice! The implication, of course, is that Fr. Pavone is just another wacky fundy Fundamentalist who wishes to impose his inflexible moral rules on others, disrespecting Terri's supposed right to die, thus making him a hateful person. (Basically anyone with moral or religious backbone these days is pegged a "fundamentalist," hate-filled, or just a big meanie.) Fr. Pavone continues:

Actually, there's a simple reason why they are so angry with me. They had hoped that they could present Terri's death as a merciful and gentle act. My words took the veil of euphemism away, calling this a killing, and giving eyewitness testimony to the fact that it was anything but gentle. Mr. Felos is a euthanasia advocate, and like all such advocates, he needs to manipulate the language, to sell death in an attractive package...

Wow, this sounds even more familiar. How many times in the course of human history have politicians and others had to pretty up something so overtly evil, so immoral? Something they know to be just plain wrong? "Gathering God's Gifts," anyone? Are our churches being "euthenized?"

One of the attacks they made was that a "spiritual person" like a priest should be speaking words of compassion and understanding, instead of venom.

Ahhh, the old "be Christian" routine. The "you hypocrite who claims to be a Christian but doesn't act like one" head trip. As if "being Christian" is equivalent with being a spineless nicy nice, simply a person with very good manners. What a load of horse manure.

But compassion demands truth. A priest is also a prophet, and if he cannot cry out against evil, then he cannot bring about reconciliation. If there is going to be any healing...it must start with repentance on the part of those who murdered Terri and now try to cover it up with flowery language.

Part of the Christian life, as taught best to us by the Church's many martyrs for the Faith, is the necessity of calling a spade a spade and defending the Truth. What a shame so many fall prey to evil dressed up as good, wolves in sheep's clothing, and church closure programs portrayed as promotion rather than a demotion of the Faith.

Another aspect of the Terri Schiavo tragedy is that many people misunderstand its cause and therefore its solution. They think the problem was that Terri did not leave any written instructions... Terri's case is not about the withdrawal of life-saving medical treatment, but rather about the killing of a healthy person whose life some regarded as worthless. Terri was not dying, was not on life support, and did not have any terminal illness. Because some thought she would not want to live with her disability, they insisted on introducing the cause of death, namely, dehydration.

At this point the parallels being drawn were simply unbelievable. The Diocese of Camden's Administration has presented a list of supposed problems within the Diocese (although they have presented contradictory statements numerous times)--its symptoms of terminal illness--and expected the veracity of these supposed problems to go unchallenged, the Administration's chosen responses received without question. Even if we the Christian faithful were to accept their diagnoses, then must we accept their solution? Not necessarily. But misunderstanding supposed causes of our problems in the Diocese is half the problem.

In so many cases, churches threatened with closure (death) are not dying, not on life support, and without "terminal illnesses." But their causes of death were about to be handily introduced from on high. Our "Speak Up Sessions," our "living wills" so to speak, were the venues at which so many allegedly clamored to have their churches merged and closed. As Fr. Pavone says, "what good is a living will supposed to accomplish, aside from saying, 'Please don't argue about killing me, just kill me?'"

If we had enough priests to go around when we began (and we did), the bishop would make sure that we had an inadequate number by the time he was through, creating the priest shortage "terminal illness" he so desired. He and McGrath were careful to disallow various orders of priests from offering their services within the Diocese, and, we have been told by inside sources, actively discouraged vocations to the diocesan priesthood through emotional intimidation and screening processes, neither of which are unique to our Diocese. (For more on such screening processes we recommend you read Michael Rose's excellently researched book, Goodbye Good Men.)

In any case, what we're talking about is the killing of healthy churches whose life some in positions of power regard as worthless. They insist on introducing the cause of death. Fr. Pavone continues:

What we run the risk of losing is the right to receive the most basic humane care--like food and water--in the event we have a disability.

Human beings, of course, have a right to life! And according to Canon Law, parishes also have a right to existence as juridic persons. The good ol' Baltimore Catechism (#132) states that "when these buildings we call churches are blessed or consecrated, they become holy." And the Church Herself said in the Council of Trent that all parish churches should be consecrated and they "may never be transferred to common or profane uses." Why then are all of our churches, our juridic persons, suddenly disposable?

It occurred to me that what is currently happening throughout the United States is this. Certain bishops have decided that our churches--which have rights as juridic persons under Canon Law and Church law generally--and by extension we the Catholic faithful who have built and maintained and worshiped in these churches, no longer deserve the dignity God Himself accords us. We no longer have the right to receive the most basic spiritual care--like the Bread of Life and the Blood of Christ--in our own churches. (It is unlikely any great accident that many of the targeted churches are among the most architecturally traditional). Similarly our consecrated parishes are no longer deserving of the most basic dignity by virtue of their holy usage as having the "Gospel preached in them, the Sacraments administered in them, and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered in them" (Baltimore Catechism #132).

In a model where human beings are considered bodies without souls, our churches are considered mere brick-and-mortar buildings lacking the animating Spirit of God. Therefore they are being dispensed with as if they had no meaning or importance whatsoever, as if they were "just buildings" (a phrase the Diocesan Administration has used time and again). In our current materialist culture, this sentiment is no great surprise. Fr. Pavone continues:

But we have a basic obligation to preserve our own life. A person who leaves clear instructions that they don't want to be fed is breaking the moral law by requesting suicide.

Every word Fr. Pavone speaks in this pamphlet is so very true, I thought. Certainly every person is deserving of his God given right to both physical and spiritual sustenance. In turn, we have an obligation to preserve and promote the Faith, which is our very Life. This one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Faith is the very essence of our churches and our parish communities, and these churches and communities are being attacked without cause. We must stand for Truth at all costs and never allow ourselves to be deprived of our own basic dignity. To stand idly by and watch our communities, our dignity, our spiritual welfare, our very FAITH be torn to shreds would be to deny it, and therefore to commit spiritual suicide. This is the culture of death.*

So by the time I was done reading this pamphlet, I wondered, is even the Church not immune from the culture of death? It seemed to me that the same heterodox and secular model Fr. Pavone spoke of, the culture of death which is so prevalent in our culture today, is now being applied to our churches and in a general sense, to the Faith as we know it. This time, the model has infested the highest levels of our Diocese.


* The "culture of death" is a phrase coined by the late Pope John Paul II and is described in his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae

They're just getting the site up and running, it looks like. They also have an e-newsletter that you can receive. Though their church was suppressed (closed) without cause, they continue to meet on Sundays on the church steps and have regular rosary services Wednesdays. They are a community to reckon with! We must support our brothers and sisters in Christ in this horrendous struggle, the onslaught that is now occurring from within the Church. It is certainly not the first time in the Catholic Church's history that the devil has tried to attack the Bride of Christ so directly.

The people of New Orleans have lost enough. They do not deserve to lose their churches, too. May God have mercy on the soul of the former bishop of New Orleans. He will have a lot to answer to.

Check out the Save St. Henry's website by clickiing here!