No tears shed for St. Aloysius

Normally, when I hear about the closing of a Catholic church, it saddens me. And that was the way I thought when I saw the headline in The Washington comPost (Sept. 9, 2012). But my thoughts changed, as I read the article a few times.

My reading reminded me of my my previous posts and the one time, of my recent visit.  In fact, the closing is actually a good thing and may be part of the very slow revival of a faithful Roman Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Washington.

So, we have the comment by a L. Tydings (of the People's Republic of Takoma Park), which leads many of us to believe that if you were a dissenter (pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, etc.), you were not only welcome but your views were respected and honored.

And the comment by Teddi Ann Galligan (DC) complaining about the church's stance of married and women priests. All I can say is; Hey lady, blame the fact that the Jesuits cannot attract young men to their order. Having seen them in action over the last few years, makes me wonder about their upholding of the faith, and could be one reason why men are not flocking to their order. Also, it was up to the Jesuits (although Cardinal Wuerl could have done something, if he wished) who refused to have it staffed by other orders or even to turn it over to the Archdiocese. Don't blame the Catholic Church. Look to the Jesuit's on this one Teddi Ann.

St. Al's was always a bed of dissent. It seemed to look the other way on homosexual relationships and was considered to be a very gay friendly church. It recently hosted a retreat by dissident Bishop Gumbleton (ret.). And, from the altar a parishioner was asking others to support the Occupy protesters.

So, I do not shed a tear for the closing of St. Al's.

Fr. Clifford please cancel the Retreat by Bishop Gumbleton

Dear Fr. Clifford:

It has come to my attention that Bishop Gumbleton will be conducting a one day retreat on March 3rd at your parish.

I am calling upon you to disinvite him (and Pax Christi) from holding a retreat at a Catholic facility.

Bishop Gumbleton is well known for his opposition to church teachings in the area of homosexuality and the ordination of women.

Our Church is under attack from all sides, and we do not need to "invite the fox into the henhouse."

In addition, was this cleared with the Archdiocese of Washington? It is my understanding that Bishop Gumbleton has not informed the Archdiocese of his intent to visit. Maybe he and Pax Christi were hoping to pull a fast one, like he attempted to do to Bishop Morlino.

It is time to stand up for the faith and tell those who wish to destroy true marriage and the Sacrament of Holy Orders that they are not welcome in the Catholic Church.

AWashingtonDCCatholic

Fr. Clifford Please Disinvite Bishop Gumbleton

An open letter to Fr. Clifford, SJ, Pastor of St. Aloysius Gonzaga Church (Washington DC)

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Dear Fr. Clifford:

It has come to my attention that Bishop Gumbleton will be conducting a one day retreat on March 3rd at your parish.

I am calling upon you to disinvite him (and Pax Christi) from holding a retreat at a Catholic facility. Bishop Gumbleton (and it even makes me wince to use the word "bishop" with him) is well known for his opposition to church teachings in the area of homosexuality and the ordination of women. Our Church is under attack from all sides, and we do not need to "invite the fox into the henhouse."

In addition, was this cleared with the Archdiocese of Washington? It is my understanding that Bishop Gumbleton has not informed the Archdiocese of his intent to visit. Maybe he and Pax Christi were hoping to pull a fast one, like he attempted to do to Bishop Morlino.

It is time to stand up for the faith and tell those who wish to destroy true marriage and the Sacrament of Holy Orders that they are not welcome in the Catholic Church.

AWashingtonDCCatholic

PS: I stopped in your Church a couple of months ago and just happened to walk in during the announcements. It is always interesting to hear a parishoner asking for food and supplies for the Occupy DC slackers from the altar.

St. Aloysius - Liturgical Abuse?

A few weeks ago, I wrote that St. Al's was seen as one of the four "gay friendly" parishes in the Diocese by New Way Ministries. I had not realized that I wrote about that same parish almost a year ago, when they too were listed as one of the Washington DC "gay friendly" parishes by the Conference of Catholic Lesbians (April 9, 2009).

In the past, when I have attended Mass, and the group is very small, we are sometimes asked to speak up and offer our own intentions during the Prayers of the Faithful. Usually, someone will ask for prayers for Uncle Bob with cancer, a couple who is going thru a rough time in their marriage, etc. All very, very good things and most pretty non-controversial.

However, when someone prays that the Archdiocese change their their practices of discrimination, or that we should not pay our Federal taxes to support the military and asks the congregation to do so, and the congregation prays for it, what does this say about the pastor and parish. Is this a liturgical abuse? I am not an expert in liturgical practices but I would probably say yes.

You can read about this and a couple of other things at the Capitol Catholic.

New Ways Ministry and the Archdiocese of Washington

By now, many of you have heard that the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops has stated that New Ways Ministry cannot cannot legitimately speak for Catholics. It has not been approved by the Archdiocese of Washington since 1984. You can read the entire release here.

Now, if you poke around there site just a bit, you will find a list of "gay friendly" parishes. For the Archdiocese of Washington, four are listed:

• St. Matthew's Cathedral
• St. Aloyisius
• Holy Trinity
• St. Rose of Lima

According to the New Ways Ministry, these are listed as "gay friendly" because they are:

welcoming to lesbian and gay Catholics as members and active parishioners.

So I guess I would like to know how they have come to be listed as such.

Are these parishes "welcoming" because they accept those who are living in homosexual relationships as okay and normal?

Are these parishes welcoming because they support same sex marriages and a change in the teachings of the Catholic Church?

Is it because they welcome those who are homosexual but continue to encourage them to be celibate?

Or is it simply that they simply look the other way?