This was originally posted January 31, 2009. We thought it was worth republishing.

Catholic theology and Church teaching are not accidental. Holy Mother Church teaches unchanging, eternal Truths. Moreover, these Truths are all connected and interconnected. Like all systems, each Truth depends upon the other; they are the structures that support the building. We do not, after all, have an atomistic system wherein one truth may stand up as a pillar without the others. Generally speaking, it is not possible, nor is it logical, to accept one teaching of the Catholic Church and dispense with the others, as if one was unrelated to the next. Once we begin to do this, the structure loses its supports and comes tumbling down.

Take, for example, our church buildings and chapels. They are designed for the worship of Christ, the King of the Universe. They are supposed to give us a glimpse of heaven. They are to surround us with examples of how we should live (depictions of the lives of Christ and the saints), who we are and were designed to be (holy sons and daughters of Our Lord), and the physical and spiritual means of getting there.


As Catholics, we believe that Christ is truly and physically present in the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar and that his Eucharistic Presence resides in the Tabernacle. If the King of the Universe resides in the Tabernacle, it only makes sense that that Tabernacle be located in a prominent place, front and center.


If the King of the Universe in the Tabernacle is located front and center in our churches, it only makes sense that we reverently face Him. If the King of the Universe is located in the Tabernacle, front and center, and we are all facing His Majesty, it only makes sense that we be able to kneel before Him in humility and out of love and devotion to Him.


If we truly believe that Jesus Christ, King and Redeemer of our fallen race has come to be with us sacramentally in the Holy Eucharist and that He resides in our Catholic churches, then our souls and minds ought to be elevated, our whole selves reminded of Him while we are in church, whether mass is going on or not. Throughout most of human history, people have not been literate, and even today we need reminders of what it means to live the Christian life. God allows us to use our senses to know Him. To glorify God and for the help of our souls, we are given works of art in the form of paintings, stained glass windows, statues, and other things within our churches.


Consider this. When you have a guest coming to your house, you clean up. You make ready. You prepare. If you were to have an "important" guest come to your house, you would want it to look good. In this case we have an important guest--the most important Guest possible, our Creator--coming to be with us, so great is His love for us. We should want all around us to remind us of His loving and sacrificial Presence.

Says the Catholic Church of England and Wales:

A Church for us is more than a building - it is a Sacred Space, filled with God's presence. Everything within that space - the paintings, the statues, the stained glass - exists for a spiritual purpose.

This is to provide people with a focus for prayer and an insight into God: literally a 'glimpse of heaven'. The word 'Patrimony' describes the Church's cultural inheritance in terms of architecture, art and artefacts. All witness to our Catholic past: a history of persecution, struggle and ultimately, revival. We are just custodians, with a duty to preserve these sacred treasures for the future. Today we also create the Patrimony of tomorrow by commissioning high quality Sacred art.

But now, after roughly two thousand years of Holy Mother Church teaching us

• about the sacredness the church building,
• about how we must be ever vigilant of the possibility of sacrilege not only personally but also in our churches and shrines,
• about how Our Lord would be with us even until the end of time both spiritually and in the Holy Eucharist in our churches and sacred places,
• about Christians sacrificing all they had materially and even their own lives for the sake of their holy churches erection and continuation,
  
• to fall on our knees before God in our beloved churches,

now, in late twentieth and early twenty-first century America we are told to believe that our churches are "just buildings" and we ought not be attached to them. I don't know about you, but my mother taught me when I was just a child that this is one of the most important things that distinguishes us as Catholics from the protestants: our churches are open because we believe that they are holy places, that Our Lord is there, and that they are not just buildings. My mother was no liar.

Places where Our Lord has come to us sacramentally in His unbloody sacrifice, day after day after day, we are now told to believe are buildings like any other. That isn't Catholicism. That is materialism. And that, my friends, is precisely what the devil himself would have us believe. To believe our churches are only buildings would be to deny Our Lord's Eucharistic Presence, our ultimate and eternal destiny, and that for which we were created--the worship of God. In fact, to claim that our churches are just buildings would be to deny our spiritual nature, the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and even our sacred baptisms and confirmations. To claim that our churches are just buildings is to deny the validity of their consecrations and blessings. To claim that our churches are just buildings is an insidious lie. And a lie is a lie no matter who says it.

By a decree of the Council of Trent (Sess. XXII), Mass should not be celebrated in any place except a consecrated or blessed church. Hence it is the wish of the Church that at least cathedrals and parish churches be solemnly consecrated, and that smaller churches be blessed (Cong. Sac. Rit., 7 Aug., 1875), but any church and public or semi-public oratory may be consecrated (Cong. Sac. Rit., 5 June, 1899). Both by consecration and by blessing a church is dedicated to Divine worship, which forbids its use for common or profane purposes. Consecration is a rite reserved to a bishop, who by the solemn anointing with holy chrism, and in the prescribed form, dedicates a building to the service of God, thereby raising it in perpetuum to a higher order, removing it from the malign influence of Satan, and rendering it a place in which favours are more graciously granted by God (Pontificale Romanum).  (From New Advent, the Catholic Encyclopedia.)

In the past, Catholics and Catholic buildings alike have been the targets of hatred and persecution. I need not list the litany of specific examples, but priests have been tarred and feathered, buildings blown up, altars desecrated, the Sacred Body of Our Lord maligned, churches vandalized. The history of anti-Catholicism in this country is well-documented and is, in fact, alive and well today. Of course in this country Catholics not even permitted to run for public office (and even when they were, there was serious doubt about their "patriotism"). Catholics have experienced horrible persecution in this and other countries, and by extension our houses of worship desecrated in the worst possible ways. Suffice it to say that many of you have likely heard the stories of your own ancestors and what they went through to preserve the faith, or even just to get to mass. I know I grew up hearing these stories of perseverance in the Faith, and my own family sacrificed much and for that I am so proud and so grateful. It is a great privilege to be born into a good Catholic family and to receive the benefits of our patrimony. The fruit of all that sacrifice is made real to us by virtue of worshiping in the places bequeathed to us by our ancestors and by the grace of God.


It is amazing that at this point in American Catholic history, instead of the Catholic Church being the object of hostile attacks from without, our church buildings and even the Church itself is being attacked from within. Sadly, our shepherds are leading their sheep astray, and many souls will be lost. Instead of protecting our churches, our patrimony, they are being closed (and often the contents sold on ebay) and when faithful Catholics hold tight to the timeless teachings of their Faith, they are called all manner of things from "disobedient" to "unchristian" and worse. Sometimes these attacks are leveled, shamefully, by their own priests and bishops. Yes, many of the very bishops who

• harbored child abusers, shuffling them from one parish to the next
• affiliate themselves and do business with the likes of criminals who would steal churches and schools right out from under unsuspecting Catholics
• allow the rampant sexual impropriety of priests in their diocese
• advocate such unorthodox doctrine as married, gay, and "womyn" priests; as well as downplay of the sacrificial nature of the mass and many other things
• repeatedly lie to the faithful in matters ranging from real estate transactions to canon law to theological Truth
  
• justify closing churches by claiming there's a "priest shortage" and then persecuting and sending away priests by the dozen...
  

...yes, some of the very same bishops would be so blind and arrogant as to criticize the faithful Catholics who merely want to worship their Lord and Savior in the manner they always have: in their own churches. This is an outrage, and it should not be tolerated by any thinking Catholic.

We received this email yesterday. It's basically what people have been predicting would happen all along. But maybe all the confusion, crowding, and lack of parking gives the Diocese the green light to build the protestant megachurches of their dreams. I, for one, am conspiracy minded enough to doubt that even those in the chancery office are so stupid as to underestimate the required parking and potential confusion of the situation they created.

However, they must be undergoing some turmoil and dissension in the ranks given that so many of the key players in the chancery's Parish Closure Program have mysteriously "left" over the past couple months. (I guess we can call it a "program" now that Ms. Marilyn Vollmer, national church shut-down queen, is gone. An appropriate name for the program might also be "Destroying God's Gifts.")  At least four of the key players have left, total. Msgr. Roger McGrath, remains, however. But maybe since he's in the area he'll come to our Assumption Feast and have such a good time, he'll learn to like us! Chicken barbecue's on us, Msgr. McGrath! Hope to see you there!

Here's the email:

I spoke with my mother, who attends that church on Saturday nights and just as I predicted, parking is a huge problem over there. My sister works nights so she needs to go to Mass as early as possible on Saturday nights. Unfortunately, when she arrived, there were no parking spaces left, so she was unable to stay. My mother got the last parking space so she was able to attend. However, the service began ten minutes late. She said she observed people talking during the service and leaving after staying only fifteen minutes! It sounds like there was lots of confusion there.

My mother actually lives in Maple Shade so I am hoping that she and my sister find a church in the Trenton Diocese that fits their schedule. Things are less crazy up there!

Also, in the Courier Post article, the Pastor of the new Church (community, whatever) said that Queen of Heaven church would not be sold for at least a year. If that's the case, then why did they close the church now?  Also, there are still some nuns who live at the Queen of Heaven convent. Does this mean that they will be thrown out and lose their home?

May God help us all.

Good news from Rome. It seems there will be an investigation into the lives of nuns and sisters in the US. Here the NY Times reports that

The Vatican is quietly conducting two sweeping investigations of American nuns, a development that has startled and dismayed nuns who fear they are the targets of a doctrinal inquisition....While some nuns say they are grateful that the Vatican is finally paying attention to their dwindling communities, many fear that the real motivation is to reel in American nuns who have reinterpreted their calling for the modern world.

All we can say is yippee. Now since there's already investigating going on...

Clarifying a Misleading Diocesan Administrator on Prayer

When Marilyn Vollmer tried to explain prayer to the multitudes, she said we often don't receive what we pray for. I thought and prayed about that point when I was in first grade. I later found out that we often get something better than what we pray for.* In fact, true prayer--which Marilyn Vollmer ought to study because her immortal soul depends on it--always has a primary goal to give honor and glory to God.

Our Lord teaches us that fact in the Our Father. The fact that the first words and the Name of that prayer are stressing the relationship we have with God. Any other reason for praying is secondary, far down on the list of genuine prayer. "Lifting of the mind and heart to God" says everything. No conveners or facilitators need apply.


Prayer and Our Blessed Mother

In our battle against the devil Catholics make the consecration to Our Lord through the Immaculate Heart of Mary and that is true prayer. Our Blessed Mother's prayer, which is subordinate to the Our Father but flows from it, gives all honor and glory to God. "My soul doth magnify the Lord" (St. Luke 1:46). The actions of our Blessed Mother and St. Elizabeth portray the perfection of prayer.

First, there is the salutation of our Blessed Mother that leads to the sanctification of her child, St. John, in her womb. This encounter is the model for all who hold human life sacred. When prayer is performed properly, great and majestic events take place.

Our Blessed Mother greets us in every prayer because she is always united to Our Lord and brings Our Lord to us. St. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost (St. Luke 1:41). This is what happens to us in our devotion to our Blessed Mother. Unbelievers don't allow these words to penetrate the heart. Believers never doubt nor fear the encounter with Jesus through the intercession of His Mother.


Proper Lenten Prayer and Practices

That is why our prayers enable us to prepare for Lent properly as in the Latin Ordo (calendar of the saints). We dismiss the apostates'** practices of stones in the holy water font, having the Resurrected Lord in place of the Crucified Lord, failure to practice bodily mortification (we practice penance), substituting yoga instead of the Stations of the Cross, and ignoring the law of abstinence on Fridays. The apostates in the Church like to tell us how they enjoyed their vacations. There aren't any vacations in Hell.***


Holy Examples are No Accident: They are God's Grace!

Sr.Mary Celine of the Felician Sisters of Lodi taught us the above in the seventh grade. We knew of that material on prayer before that, but Sr. Mary Celine stood out by living that prayer in a cheerful way. It was a grace for me to find out that Sr. Mary Celine often visited a family at St. Mary's, Malaga long before I came here. Those graces never stop coming to our Shrine Parish!

Praised be Jesus Christ,
Now and Forever!
Father Jerome C. Romanowski, Pastor


* From the Editor: God answers all prayers of his children! But the problem of the current diocesan administration is something we've long known at Savestmarys: they have no hope.
 

Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.... We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love him and do his will. In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to persevere 'to the end' and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1817-1821)

See also the following texts, all of which show how those people currently running the diocese into the ground lack are confusing the faithful with their words:

• John 16: 23-24: Amen, amen I say to you: if you ask the Father any thing in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto you have not asked any thing in my name. Ask, and you shall receive; that your joy may be full.

• Mark 11: 21-23: And Peter remembering, said to him: Rabbi, behold the fig tree, which thou didst curse, is withered away. And Jesus answering, saith to them: Have the faith of God. Amen I say to you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, Be thou removed and be cast into the sea, and shall not stagger in his heart, but believe, that whatsoever he saith shall be done; it shall be done unto him. Therefore I say unto you, all things, whatsoever you ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive; and they shall come unto you.

• Matthew 21: 18-22: And in the morning, returning into the city, he was hungry. And seeing a certain fig tree by the way side, he came to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only, and he saith to it: May no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And immediately the fig tree withered away. And the disciples seeing it wondered, saying: How is it presently withered away? And Jesus answering, said to them: Amen, I say to you, if you shall have faith, and stagger not, not only this of the fig tree shall you do, but also if you shall say to this mountain, Take up and cast thyself into the sea, it shall be done. And in all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.

• Interestingly, see James 4:1-5, the section summarized as, "The evils that flow from yielding to concupiscence and being friends to this world." Perhaps this is why Ms. Volmer does not receive that for which she purports to pray.
  

  From whence are wars and contentions among you? Are they not hence, from your concupiscences, which war in your members? You covet, and have not: you kill, and envy, and can not obtain. You contend and war, and you have not, because you ask not. You ask, and receive not; because you ask amiss: that you may consume it on your concupiscences. Adulterers, know you not that the friendship of this world is the enemy of God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God. Or do you think that the scripture saith in vain: To envy doth the spirit covet which dwelleth in you.

• Again, if we keep his commandments. See 1John 3:21-22: Dearly beloved, if our heart do not reprehend us, we have confidence towards God: And whatsoever we shall ask, we shall receive of him: because we keep his commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight.

• Matthew 7: 6-10: Give not that which is holy to dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, they tear you. Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. Or what man is there among you, of whom if his son shall ask bread, will he reach him a stone? Or if he shall ask him a fish, will he reach him a serpent?

• Luke 11: 9-13: And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. And which of you, if he ask his father bread, will he give him a stone? or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he reach him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask him?

**Footnote from Father Romanowski: An apostate is one who denounces the teachings of the Catholic Church and instead malpractices a denomination (that is, a cult).

***Emphasis above from the Editor.

For anyone who doesn't receive the transition newsletter series, this latest one (#18, from 01-09-2009) is pretty funny, so I wanted to share it with you.  Like the rest, its entertainment value far outweighs its "news" content.  But at least you get to see how your charitable contributions are being spent at the diocesan level.

 

The newsletter starts with what can only be described as a large bowl of word salad from Marilyn Vollmer:

 

"Belated and prayer wishes for the New Year!  My fingers find it difficult to type 2009 as this number marks the 3rd year of planning preparations leading toward the goal of renewed and dynamic parish life in South Jersey."               

I'm not sure if this greeting is an attempt at New-Aginess or just a sign of intellectual decline.  I'm also not sure if her fingers are disappointed that the program has taken so long or if they are just in shock that this farce has been allowed to continue for three years now. 

 

Anyway, the word salad greeting is followed up with some platitudes, then this interesting analogy:

 

"At a deeper level this is a profoundly spiritual journey of the Paschal mystery, the same mystery we celebrate every Lent that climaxes with the Easter Triduum: life, death, and resurrection so that others may have life."

Ooh, I like metaphors.  Let me try this one out.  Our parishes are like Jesus, their destruction is like His crucifixion, and the new parishes are like His resurrection.  Not at all sure I agree with the last part of that, but I'll play along and extend the metaphor a bit further.  I guess that means that the Bishop would be like...Judas.  Those who know this is wrong, but refuse to say or do anything about it for fear of losing their position would be like...Pontius Pilate.  And the people from stand-alone parishes and primary worship sites who support this reconfiguration because it validates the "holiness" of their own parish would be like...the Jews crying out "Crucify Him!"  You make a good point Marilyn - thanks for the insight! 

 

Next comes the rolling out of a "leadership" training program by Peg Garvey-Mitchell for all core team members and conveners.  I can't think of a better way to waste large amounts of money than this.  Even the empty "convent" in Pittsgrove may eventually increase in value, but this is just silly.  If leadership can be taught at all, it would certainly take a lot more than a few hours with a consultant whose qualifications seem questionable.  Peg Garvey-Mitchell's profile on the National Pastoral Life Center website is strikingly devoid of any real credentials:

 

"Ms. Peg Garvey-Mitchell - Planning Consultant for non-profits

"Peg comes to us from with a vast experience of planning experiences which include leadership development, communication skills and group process. She recently served as a facilitator for the Diocese of Metuchen's First Synod. She is a consultant to the NPLC and facilitated the 2007 and 2008 Bernardin Conferences for the Catholic Common Ground Initiative."

No degrees or training are mentioned and no specific experience referenced prior to 2007 - just the generic claim of "a vast experience of planning experiences."  Surely, in such a short bio, there would have been room to mention at least one of the vast experiences.  I just don't get it - first Follieri, now Peg Garvey-Mitchell - who is making these decisions and where is the accountability? 

 

But my favorite line of the whole newsletter is this:

 

"It goes without saying that attending the Training Sessions is a must for the Priest Conveners."

Well, I guess it also goes without saying that if it really went without saying, Marilyn would not be saying it, much less underlining the word "must."  Yes, you conveners, you must go see Peg Garvey-Mitchell.  Without the benefit of her "vast experience of planning experiences," how will you ever learn how to communicate or lead?    

 

The newsletter ends with a note that Marilyn will be addressing questions about worship sites soon.  We've heard that the diocese is going to stop using the term "secondary" for worship sites to try to stem opposition from those parishes designated "secondary worship sites."  That's not confirmed yet, though, so we'll just have to wait and see.

 

My fingers find it difficult to type 309 as this number marks the 309th blog entry since the planning preparation decisions leading to the destruction of nearly half the parishes in South Jersey were announced.   Delayed and charm thoughts for the New Year to you too, Marilyn.

 

To be honest, we didn't have high expectations for the turnout at the rally outside St. Charles Borromeo. Imagine the allure: "Drive a half hour or so to come hold a sign on a weekday January morning/afternoon in pouring rain! Surely you don't have anything better to do, anyway, like work, homeschool, or laundry, right?" Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Let that be a lesson: never underestimate the commitment of our Council of Parishes membership!

The bishop and some of his friends must have arrived super early to avoid us, since our first picketers arrived nearly an hour and a half before the meeting was scheduled to begin. Guess we're a pretty rowdy looking group. Ha ha!


The meeting held inside the church was one to which approximately 40 "priest conveners" were invited, in addition to various lackeys like undercover sisters Marilyn Vollmer and Roseanne Quinn, and of course Bishop Galante. The purpose of the meeting was, effectively, to give a pep talk to the priest conveners.

They brought in a slick consultant to speak with them. (Hey, at least we know our money is being spent on something useful...SIKE!) She is facilitator Peg Garvey-Mitchell from the "National Pastoral Life Center" (again ironic since the whole program is intended to destroy pastoral life by destroying parishes and communities).


It is our understanding that morale is very low not only among priests in the diocese generally, but also among the priest conveners. This is why the meeting was needed. We have learned that several priests--none of whom have contacted the Council of Parishes or Savestmarys.net in any way, nor have we contacted them--are having serious second thoughts about their status as priest conveners. So the imposed program is apparently unpopular among laity and clerics alike, with the exception of a select few. (One wonders how, precisely, this select few envision themselves personally benefiting from this diabolical scheme, but we digress.)

Our information of low morale may have been confirmed by the attendance at the "pep talk" meeting yesterday. In retrospect we should have been more methodical about counting each priest as he entered the building, but judging from the cars in the parking lot upon our arrival (we got there very early) and the number of priests we saw enter the building, we estimate only about 20-25 priests actually bothered going.

We gleaned from the initials following her last name, "SSM," that Ms. ("Sr.") Marilyn Vollmer, commonly known as "the other bishop" around the Diocese, likely belongs to an order called Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother. Founded by German Mother Frances Streitel, the SSMs describe themselves as Franciscan and involve themselves primarily with healthcare and education among the poor. Quote:

The purpose of our Congregation is to hold out to society the witness of God's love and in so doing invite people to turn to God. We are dedicated to the Franciscan values of peacemaking, hospitality and reverence for all creation.

Other than that, the order's official website has very little information on it, and it appears to be a very small, aging order. Surprisingly, pictured in one of the few photos on the site are a couple of sisters wearing habits. Not surprisingly, there are no newsletters in their newsletter section and there is no way of finding out how to visit or join the order.

In any case, one wonders why an order like this one would allow one of its members to go around the country doing "work" like Ms. Vollmer is engaged in (coast-to-coast diocesan take-down aid for bishops involved with corruption scandals, etc.). How would a member of a seemingly modest Franciscan order from Wisconsin get involved with this sort of thing?

On the Archdiocese of Milwaukee site, it says that the SSMs'

ministries focus on those who suffer deprivation, social fragmentation, family disintegration, and personal isolation.

How ironic! It does not say that their ministries include causing these things, it only says that their ministries focus on these things. Hmmm. Oh, it's made a little clearer here, a little further down:

We minister in many places, from the central city to the AODA unit, from retreat centers to board rooms, from migrant camps to offices.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin's website directs us to an SSM website with literally no content whatsoever: ssmfranciscans.org. That's no help. But maybe they are a small order, but not such a modest one. On the Marian Healthcare System site, they tell us just a tad more. They came to this country in part to help an ailing hospital in Kansas, and

The Sisters stayed busy during the 19th century, establishing healthcare ministries throughout Wisconsin and in Denville, New Jersey. The congregation has continued its growth in healthcare and education with ministries established in Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Iowa, New Jersey and several foreign nations.

And this leads us to a 1997 article that describes a name change for the sisters' ministry, and this is where we learn of the order's extensive involvement with the health care industry:

Health care isn't the kind of mission called to mind by the name Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother.

So beginning April 1, Sisters of Sorrowful Mother Ministry Corp. will be known as Ministry Health Care to better represent the Milwaukee-based health care system's purpose.

"The name Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother -- while it reflects the system's Catholic sponsor -- doesn't carry a lot of meaning for the average consumer that we're meeting in our marketplace," said Sister Lois Bush, chief executive officer. "The new name is simple and reflects what we do, which is the business of health care."

The article goes on to say that the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother's health care system is "one of the largest in the state [of Wisconsin]." However, when we looked up the "SSM Ministry Corp" nothing much in the way of information is available, but we did find another name: "SSM Diversified Health Services" located at 11925 West Lake Park Drive, Suite 100, Milwaukee, WI 53224, phone (414) 359-1070.

Maybe they've changed their name again? There's something called "Ministry Health Care" that describes itself in this way:

When you walk into any Ministry hospital or clinic, you will see the healing ministry and values of our founders, the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, at work. Here, everyone works together, as one, to provide the best care available for all patients. 

At Ministry, we continually look to tomorrow. We push ourselves as an organization and as individuals to grow, to take the extra step, to work as hard as we can to bring hope, respect and dignity to each patient and their family.

Here, we see that a "Ministry" can be a business, even a multiple-clinic and hospital health care system, "one of the largest in the state" of Wisconsin.

I'm confused. Is this a non-profit group? If so, what services are they providing? It would seem, based on Ms. Vollmer, that it's just a bunch of professional women sharing their income, but maybe this is just something we need to do more research into.

Anyway, the point is that it is pretty clear that health care has been the mission and apostolate of the SSMs from the beginning. And indeed they continue in this booming industry now. So again, what is Marilyn Vollmer doing here in the Diocese of Camden? Why is she not off nursing, teaching, helping the poor in some way, or manning a retreat center somewhere? And how can we get her retrained?

(BTW, they also have "Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother International Finance, Inc.": link, which is sort of funny.)

As a side note, there is another question, which is sure to become an issue at some point.  Most members of this type of order, because of their vows of poverty, do not pay income taxes.  At what point, however, does this "vow of poverty" become a joke?  How is a "sister" who has a solid middle management position (with wages that are more than competitive for her level of ability) and who lives independently from the order to which she belongs different from the rest of us?  What is she giving to society, as a whole, to warrant special tax treatment?

The links to these articles were forwarded to us yesterday by a reader. We haven't thoroughly read them yet, but from our point of view the bottom line is this. Have no doubt that the powers that be in the diocese--Bishop Galante, Terry Odien, Roger McGrath, Marilyn Vollmer, and company--fully intend to close down your church, even if it was canonically established and has a stable group of parishioners. Yes even if it's "vital," "vibrant," and sparkly fabulous. Let's look at this clearly. The bishop down there in New Orleans--despite the fact that many of their people have been through hell and back recently, have lost their town, some have lost their jobs, some have lost their homes, many have been displaced for periods of time--still sees fit to close their churches, too. How heartless can a person be?! A bishop of an area that has experienced nothing less than complete disaster would do this? What kind of a shepherd is he? Certainly for some in the New Orleans area, the one stable thing left in their life--their parish community, their church, the place where they go to be with God--is being taken away from them too. How horrible and shameful. Have no doubt that we up here in NJ, who have been through no natural disaster, would have our parishes similarly ripped away from us. The time for action is now. We must make every effort to save our parishes and our faith from this onslaught. Get ready to vigil inside your church. God expects sacrifice for His sake and certainly our parishes and our faith as we know it--for certainly nothing less than this is on the line here--should not be taken from us willingly or with our cooperation. There is no compromise with evil. Christ himself and the saints (particularly the martyrs) have shown us this time and again. Saints Thomas More, John Fisher, and Margaret Clitherow, orate pro nobis!

Article 1 This one has interesting comments about transition team, etc.
Article 2 This is the main story, including video footage.
Article 3 About vigils in Boston and New Orleans

Previously we have quoted a bit from the 2002 Michael Rose book entitled, Goodbye, Good Men: How Liberals Brought Corruption into the Catholic Church. This excellent book is well researched and sheds a great deal of light on the controversy, unorthodox doctrine, emphasis on "lay ministry," and seminary/priest formation problems encountered in the Catholic Church in the United States today. Perhaps more than anything else, it explains well how the "priest shortage" crisis is contrived and utterly avoidable.

(As a side note, Bishop Galante and those attempting to make changes to the Church ought to pay attention. Unless we  miscalculate, Rose was 33 when he wrote this book. The younger generations, which the bishop is supposedly trying to attract, are often the ones most disenchanted by the lack of adherence to traditional, orthodox Catholicism.)

Seminary & Priest Formation Problems

From Chapter 5, "The Heterodoxy Downer: How False Teaching Demoralizes and Discourages the Aspiring Priest."

Beyond issues of grave sexual immorality, the seminary environment presents a number of other deterrents to the orthodox seminarian. The most obvious and perhaps the most insidious is heterodoxy, open or subtle dissent from the official teachings of th Church. Many faculty members are averse to teaching what the Church teaches, and some find it onerous even to hide their disdain for Catholicism. The seminarian who arrives on campus expecting to find faculty and staff that love the Catholic faith and teach what the Church teaches can be sadly disappointed.

Continued:

Dr. Louise Leidner, who taught students from the Washington Theological Union in Washington DC...during the 1990s claims that students who expressed orthodox Catholic opinions were "publicly mocked by their WTU peers and by WTU faculty and superiors for taking positions consonant with the Church's teaching." In addition, she says that "Several of her students...were actually kicked out of their religious houses because they expressed orthodox opinions that were 'dangerous and harmful to other people"--even though their positions were supported by the Catechism of the Catholic Church--because they would "negatively infect and unduly influence and contaminate" the other students.

Does it get worse? Apparently. In Chapter Four, Rose mentions several well-known nicknames for seminaries, including a seminary (St. Mary's) to which Bishop Galante, here in the Camden Diocese, has decided to send seminarians. Yikes. (Incidentally, last we heard, this is where our married, former evangelical seminarian/diocesan chaplain employee is currently taking classes.)

According to former seminarians and recently ordained priests...institutions have earned nicknames such as Notre Flame (for Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans) and Theological Closet (for Theological College at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC). St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore has earned the nickname, "The Pink Palace."

Meanwhile, St. Charles Borromeo in Philadelphia, a seminary the diocese of Camden has most often sent seminarians to, is "known to be of a much more conservative mentality" (page 165).

The Rise of "Lay Ministries"

Rose also researched a typical "Lay Pastoral Ministries Program" run by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. (Note that our own bishop is currently implementing one such program here in our diocese, while at the same time, by slow trickle, removing priests by the dozen to forcible retirement, military chaplaincy, removal to other dioceses, and ostensibly to "study" in Rome.) In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, a man named Glenn Jeviden was interested in serving the Church and was directed to this Lay Ministries program. The screening process began with an interview conducted by what turned out to be a liberal sister who

asked me several times if I understood the Church was changing, and if I thought I was able to be "flexible enough to accept a pluralistic Church."

The interview was friendly enough but Jividen, though conceding that change is a part of life, asked the sister "if she believed that some truths never changed." She did not answer. He was next asked to write an autobiography, in which he discussed his pro-life activities, involvement with Catholics United for the Faith (CUF), and his devotion to the Church, the Holy Father, and the Blessed Mother, etc. He also had to take the Myers-Briggs personality test (a test based on Jungian psychological types) and was seen by a priest psychologist for other "tests."

During a psychologist visit, following the results of the tests, the conversation turned to CUF, and its alleged inflexible attitudes (read: orthodox) and Jividen's explicitly orthodox positions. The psychologist stated that the pope only had to be abided by when he spoke ex cathedra. It went on from there, you get the idea. Finally the priest psychologist suggested that Jividen would

feel uncomfortable with my CUF friends after entering the Lay Pastoral Ministries Program.

Needless to say, Jividen didn't make the cut and was told to "update" his theology. They suggested he develop his "personal spirituality" and that he see one of their spiritual directors, 22 of the 25 of whom were women.

The Agenda, says Rose?

Rose's point in discussing the lay ministries program is that some see the vocations crisis as "presaging a revolution and the demise of the  hierarchical structure of the Church" (quoting Helen Hull Hitchcock, 1999).

This is the contingent that has long been promoting "lay ecclesial ministry," the laicization of the clergy, and the clericalization of the laity. Simply put, they would like to see the laity take over the leadership of the Church at the parish level and beyond, from teaching and preaching to administering the sacraments. This program would effectively entail eliminating the priesthood rather than just "reenvisioning" it.

Indeed in many places, the lack of priestly vocations (or in our case, the forced scarcity thereof) is embraced as a way to promote a new vocation to "lay ecclesial ministry," that is, non-ordained, paid church professionals. Some bishops, priests, and other diocesan and seminary authorities actually seem to rejoice over decreasing priestly vocations as an opportunity for creating a "new model of Church" in which the laity can "take their rightful place" (quoting Roger Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles).

This philosophy, drawn out by many over the last decade of the 20th century, betrays a peculiar attitude--the priesthood as a barrier to the emergence of the laity in their own dignity and mission (pages 209-211).

The word vibrant, is of course dropped--its use is not new--and the priest shortage is described as a self-fulfilling prophecy. "Where lay ministry is overemphasized, the priesthood becomes devalued" since it is reduced to sacramental ministry, viewed as being on par with "music ministry," "hospitality  ministry," "youth ministry," etc. Priests are mistakenly "defined...by what they do rather than what they are--an alter Christus."

The Vicious Circle

Tell us if this doesn't look familiar to you? The "vicious circle" looks like this:

Catholics in key positions of authority...actively discourage vocations to the priesthood in order to promote lay ministry. Yet at the same time, lay ecclesial ministry  is proposed as the answer to the dearth of priestly vocations, as if this were a permanent and perhaps ideal situation. Parishes run by lay ministers are likely to foster little, if any, interest in vocations to the priesthood. The result is that the number of priests will continue to decline further, necessitating more lay ministers to fill their places (211).

Rose goes on to describe church closures and radical "faith communities" formed in some places:

Priestless "faith communities" over time are likely to become simply congregational communities centered on the reading of the Scriptures, the homily, and on sharing bread and wine--devoid of the act of perfect worship, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass--based on the model of Protestant community.

Continued:

The so-called shortage suits them just fine, precisely because they can use the crisis to justify radical change in the local Church...one run by "lay pastors." This "new model of Church" is not really about solving the priest shortage. It is about advancing their agenda of a politically correct Church.

Potential seminarians will, and do, gravitate toward dioceses and orders "that support the ministry of the priest as defined by the Church." The bishops in such diocese are not "issuing pastoral letters introducing parish 'clusters' or worse. Rose suggests that there are all too many in positions of Church leadership who have a "death with for the male, celibate priesthood."

Nothing New

Friends, what we have going on now in the Camden diocese is nothing new. As we have seen, it has been going on for a couple decades now, it has been perpetrated elsewhere, it has ruined other dioceses, it has discouraged vocations to the priesthood, it has wrought havoc and confusion in the Church. Now this downright un-Catholic plan is being recycled here in South Jersey in order to liberalize the Church by depriving us of the priesthood and even our very churches. Our churches are the places that reflect who we are in God's cosmology, they put us in our rightful place! But Galante, Vollmer, and McGrath would like to replace our churches--and Church--with something altogether different. Make no mistake about it. Bishop Galante even brought along one of the leaders from the Los Angeles Archdiocese--a diocese infamously known as one of the greatest messes with one of the most corrupt bishops in the entire country--"Sister" Marilyn Vollmer, to bring a bit of that mess here. (Of course, they called the program "Gathered and Sent" there, now they're calling it "Gathering God's Gifts" here, so at least they switched up the name a tad.)

Currently we are undergoing a screening process in which the "core groups" at each parish--those who are meant to lead the church mergers--are chosen based on their willingness to close or otherwise undermine their parish and positively participate in the bishop's agenda. Those who don't agree with the closure or status of their church and the direction the Diocese of Camden is headed are quickly weeded out.

Don't fall for the nonsense! Keep the faith. It his a hard thing to keep in a time when church leadership, even some bishops and priests, believe things very different than many of us do, a model of church unlike what we have known and what has been promulgated down the centuries. So continue to pray for Bishop Galante. He needs our prayers. And continue to pray for the holy courage and fortitude of the priests of our diocese and seminarians everywhere.

Our pastor sure doesn't mince words. In this latest piece from Father, he calls it as he sees it! At St. Mary's we don't pussy-foot around when it comes to things eternal and risk posed to our immortal souls.

Quote:

The diocese had previously planned to build a seminary at the site, said Walton, but over the decades the number of men entering the priesthood has decreased and with it the need for a new seminary.

"But there is a need for a cemetery in that area," Walton added.

Click here for the article from the Gloucester County Times.

The choice for a cemetery over a seminary is emblematic of this entire situation, isn't it? Burying our diocese should not be on the top of the "to do list" of any bishop. Building up holy religious vocations should be. Thank God, THANK GOD that we have been promised, as we heard in the Gospel this Sunday, that the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church (Matthew 16:18).

Here is a challenge. Let's assume that God, in His Divine Providence, provides us with our needs, as He has indeed promised. Let's assume that God will provide us with men to serve Him, just as he always has. Let's build that seminary, staff it with good, solid, orthodox instructors and priests. Instead of tolling the death knell of the priesthood in our diocese, let's encourage all Catholics and parishes to pray weekly and daily for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Instead of having one measly "vocations" talk in an entire childhood of Catholic education, like I had my Freshman year of high school (and never was the topic spoken of again), why not talk about the possibility of the religious vocations with our children from the time they are babies? I do with my own children who are only 2 and 4! Why not assume that God does in fact call men to the priesthood and that we only need to nurture those vocations, help embolden young people to search themselves and follow where God leads?

How many times does our Lord need to tell us in the Gospels that "all things are possible to him that believeth?" (Matthew 9:22) In this particular part of Matthew, Our Lord is casting out an unclean spirit, and the father of the boy with the unclean spirit says, "I do believe, Lord, help my unbelief." How many of us pray this prayer ourselves? Indeed, not trusting in God is a difficulty I myself have had over the years, but I witness to you all now that not trusting in God is like a disease. It is like having an unclean spirit that needs to be cast out. Not trusting that God Himself, through his Most Holy Mother, plants priestly vocations in the hearts of His Children is a despair of the deepest kind. Have no doubt of that. Let us pray for vocations and, perhaps even more than that, pray that Bishop Galante, Andrew Walton, Marilyn Vollmer, Roger McGrath, and all those heading up the experiment in our diocese come at last to Faith that what the Lord Himself has promised, he will indeed provide!

(Bishop Galante,
He is who He says He is.
He does what He says He'll do.
Do not despair.

It's like they read from the same script, huh?

LANSING -- Two months into his new position, Bishop Earl Boyea is confident the 10-county Lansing Catholic Diocese, which includes Jackson, will emerge stronger, more vibrant and holier from a three-year period of self-examination.

The product of that study -- a report that is a composite of information and feedback gathered from parishes, schools and other entities -- reached Boyea's desk Tuesday.

Boyea has the power to make changes in the diocese based on the report, but in an interview Wednesday he said he wasn't ready to say what moves he will make. Some changes will be immediate, he said, others will take several years to implement.

At issue is whether any parishes or schools will close because of a shortage of priests and a shifting Catholic population in the diocese.

The commission that prepared the report has met monthly for 39 months.

"It would be foolish for me not to accept their judgment," he said. "I think they have done more than a thorough job. I couldn't believe when I read that 94 out of 97 parishes contributed to it."

Besides parish or school closures, consolidation options will be considered, he said.

The article goes on. Believe me, I know nothing about Lansing and I've never been there, but it sounds pretty darn fishy to me. Why? Because clearly there is just one playbook and the liberal bishops share it. The thing is, though, that even when you're plagiarizing somebody else's work, you should at least look for other words to use. You know, make it look creative and different and unique, not like you're just copying somebody else's work. These guys can't even find new words to use to attempt to dupe the general public.

For example,

"Blah blah blah more vibrant, blah blah blah more vital churches. And therefore blah blah blah listening session so we can hear the voice of the people. We of course want their feedback and participation (except when it isn't what we want to hear). Blah blah blah we know the laity, in their wisdom, will of course tell us to close (ahem "merge and consolodate") their churches and schools. And why will we do this? Blah blah blah priest shortage (insert fake numbers from rigged studies here, don't mention money) and blah blah blah population shifts demographics blah blah blah other big, four-syllable words and corporate-speak. But the blah blah process was a process and of course there was no preordained end result even though the other bishops are all doing the same things and saying the same things. And did we mention there's a priest shortage? (Of course, we have to make sure to get rid of as many good priests as possible to ensure a priest shortage, but keep it on the down-low so it doesn't look like we have an agenda or anything.) But keep in mind it's not because there's a priest shortage we're doing this because this article is coming out on a Wednesday and Wednesday is a "shifting demographics" day, not "priest shortage" day. (Tomorrow is chow mein day.) Blah blah blah young people. Blah blah blah lay participation blah blah blah VATICAN II !

The bishop up in Lansing says this. (He must've been paraphrasing either Joseph Galante [bishop], Roger McGrath [official string-puller], Marilyn vollmer ["the other bishop"], or Walton [diocesan spokesperson who must be very busy these days with spin].)

Boyea, 57, said "not everyone will be happy with changes but because this was such a great process, they will accept it."

Uh-huh, I suspect that's wishful thinking. I doubt a big love fest is what you'll be facing up there, Bishop Boyea. And of course, we must replace the priests with lay ministers:

Meanwhile, he said he sees many positives in the diocese, including the "excellent" lay minister preparation...

And finally he drops the V-Bomb:

...even if we had a hundred more priests, we would still need lay ministers," Boyea said. "They are part of the blessing of the post-Vatican II Council."

Nevermind almost two thousand years of Church teaching. What counts are the abuses of the last 40 or so done falsely and for self-serving purposes in the name of Vatican II. So predictable, isn't it?

In the end it's not about a lack of priests. God knows, there are plenty of them in the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, but the liberal bishops won't allow these orthodox young priests into their diocese. That's because there's an agenda; a liberal agenda. The poor faithful in the Diocese of Lansing are about to have their churches ripped away from them and the bishop's liberal agenda foisted upon them. Yuck. I pray they fight for the Faith. It's the only thing a person can do when insidious plans begin to infultrate Holy Mother Church. Sometimes the battle to do what's right is not easy. In England only one bishop stood up to Henry VIII. Only one!* Take courage and stand up! Times aren't so tough as then, but God still requires acts of martyrdom on a daily basis, however small in comparison.

Whatever happens, we know they can never win because that is what God has promised us. He will preserve His Church until the end of time.
 
Click here to read the article.


* In case you're interested in St. John Fisher, I thought this was a very useful quote from the brave and saintly Bishop John Fisher:

Reply to Bishops Stokesley, Gardiner and Tunstal, sent to the Tower by Thomas Cromwell to persuade Fisher to submit to the king:

Methinks it had been rather our parts to stick together in repressing these violent and unlawful intrusions and injuries dayly offered to our common mother, the holy Church of Christ, than by any manner of persuasions to help or set forward the same.

And we ought rather to seek by all means the temporal destruction of the so ravenous wolves, that daily go about worrying and devouring everlastingly, the flock that Christ committed to our charge, and the flock that Himself died for, than to suffer them thus to range abroad.

But (alas) seeing we do it not, you see in what peril the Christian state now standeth: We are besieged on all sides, and can hardly escape the danger of our enemy. And seeing that judgment is begone at the house of God, what hope is there left (if we fall) that the rest shall stand!

The fort is betrayed even of them that should have defended it. And therefore seeing the matter is thus begun, and so faintly resisted on our parts, I fear that we be not the men that shall see the end of the misery.

This information was submitted to by email me for posting today:

From the Catholic Star Herald, May 15th, 2008:

...consultations are now taking place with parish representatives to determine pastoral needs before the naming in August of the priests who eventually will become pastors of merged parishes when the new parishes are formally established by decree (a timeline was published in the May 2 Catholic Star Herald showing the process).  Existing pastors will cease to be pastors when the decrees establishing the newly-merged parishes are promulgated. Until then, parish life will continue under the direction of the present pastor.

Also a timeline from the Catholic Star Herald:

1. April-Fall 2008

Parishes utilize "Coping with Change Together" resources beginning in spring 2008. For more information about parish resources that are available, see www.GatheringGodsGifts.org.

2. May 1-June 15, 2008                       

In advance of the naming of pastors for newly merged parishes, consultations will occur to determine the pastoral needs of parish communities that will merge or be open due to a pastor resignation. Representatives from the Priest Personnel Board and diocesan or parish staff will meet with eight to 10 representatives from the parishes (typically those who currently are on parish pastoral and finance councils) to determine the pastoral needs of the newly configured parish(es).

3. May 15, 2008                        

Pastors of parishes that will remain stand-alone or clustered and who choose not to continue in their present assignments are to indicate by May 15 their intention to resign at a date to be determined.

4. June 1, 2008                                   

The Vicar for Clergy publishes the list of parish openings and invites priests to indicate their preferences and to apply for available parish assignments.

5. July 15, 2008                       

Priests will have until July 15 to apply for open parishes.

6. Early August                                   

The Priest Personnel and Policy Board deliberates and consults with the individual priests involved and submits recommendations to Bishop Galante for his consideration.

7. Mid-August           

Bishop announces to parishioners the names of the priests who eventually will become pastors when the new parishes are established formally by decree. There will be much work to be done before that can happen, pastorally, canonically and administratively. When the parish has completed its work, Bishop Galante will issue the decree, at which time the new parish comes into existence.  Existing pastors de facto cease to be pastors when the decrees establishing the newly-merged parishes are promulgated.  Until then, current pastors continue their ministry to the people of their parishes.

8. Late August                       

The process of naming priests to open parishes occurs a second time to address the vacancies that will occur as a result of the assignments announced in mid-August. At this time, a list of parish openings will be published.  Priests will have until September 2 to apply for these openings. After deliberation by the Priest Personnel and Policy Board, recommendations will be forwarded to Bishop Galante for his consideration. The assignments for these openings are expected to be announced in late September.

And yet oddly, in an article dated May 28, from the Catholic Diocese of Arlington Click here for link:

Bishop Ireton principal Fr. Matthew Hillyard, O.S.F.S, has been assigned as the Rector of the Cathedral parish in Camden, N.J., thus ending the presence of the Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales at Bishop Ireton High School."

The commenter who sent me this says:

More lies by Galante?  Another "process" where decisions have already been made, before anything meaningful has been done based on the consultations and before applications were even due for priests to apply for this position and before the priest personnel board has reviewed the applications and compared them to the needs of the new parish?  I'm not sure what a "rector" is, but I suspect it means he will be the new pastor, and if so this may be an opportunity to clearly show Galante for what he really is.

Julie now: Notice that in everything they talk about "process." As we were walking out of the "meeting" with Bishop Galante at St.Mary's the other night, I was very close to Kevin from the Council of Churches, who was speaking to "Sister" Marilyn vollmer, trying to get some answers out of her. He was asking her where this (consolidation) program came from and if they brought it with them from LA and Texas. She corrected him, "It's not a program, it's a process."

Pardon my French, but what a load of horse doodoo. Apparently Kevin wasn't buying it either because he followed up quickly and politely with, "Ok, then where'd the 'process' come from?" It was pretty darn funny. But why? Why do they insist on referring to this diocesan massacre as a "process?"

In the sense that it's a process by which they attempt to destroy us and make us less Catholic, one step at a time, I guess it is a process. But seriously, in saying that this is a "process," the diocesan bureaucrats are claiming there's no preconceived or premeditated "plan"... as if this "diocesan restructuring" has simply to do with this diocese and its "needs." In saying it's a "process," they claim that they're "listening" to the Holy Spirit, taking things a little at a time, and "listening" to all of us. This way when they steamroll us and bulldoze our churches they can claim that it was all done for us--for our own good-- because they listened to us. That they are only doing what they see as needed. How many times have we heard Bishop Galante say that his, "conscience would not allow [him] to do otherwise"?

In fact, this IS A PROGRAM and it's one that other diocese and other bishops have instituted around the country. It's a program that attempts to destroy the Faith. They don't want us to connect the dots and realize what's going on: that they want to make us into the "Catholic-Style Community Churches." The other night at St.Mary's, I was surprised to hear the bishop come right out and admit that he was modeling the new churches on the Evangelical Protestant community churches he views as so "successful." He spoke of Gloucester County Community Church specifically. (For their website click here. Notice their church is  less hidiously ugly than St. John's in Naples, FL.) Folks, this is happening all across the country--not just herein the Diocese of Camden. Have no doubt that there is an agenda here.

Well, don't believe the lies. Refuse and resist--speak out against the scheming of Bishop Galante and his "other bishop," "Sister" Marilyn vollmer. Insist you want to be Catholic and you don't want any of the liberal nonsense. Fight for your church and your faith. We must. It's what Christ calls us to do.

 

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.