How Bishop's Kill (Fr. Michael's Newsletter)

 

This is taken from the substack page of  Fr. Michael's Newsletter (Sept. 22, 2024) .  Fr. Mike is from the Archdiocese of Washington.  

I am posting this here in full and not simply as a link, as I believe that +Gregory will order it to be taken down.  And Fr. Mike will take it down, but as the Archdiocese has no control over me, I will leave it up. 

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The powerful centuries in which popes, bishops, priests and religious men killed is well documented. I use the verb kill very deliberately. This centuries old traditional manner of killing is not the same as the criminal act of murder. Church killings do not take a person’s physical life. Rather this ancient mode of killings by ordained men involve the killing of a person’s human spirit, the oppression and eventual destruction of one’s mind and heart and the steady destruction of various body parts such as one’s muscles and bones. Depression is nearly a universal pain inflicted upon the victims whose lives have been, are now being, or ultimately are intended to be destroyed.

One only need sit down with clerical rape victims. They might have been raped by a priest forty years ago. The reality is they have suffered every year since that evil act was carried out by some ordained priestly rapist. The criminal act was long ago. The suffering continues decades later. The rape victim is living out a life sentence. Among our three to four hundred American Roman Catholic bishops 150 or more are known to be sexual predators and almost all of these bishops are accessories in the decades old cover-ups of such criminal sexual abuse matters. Do our US Bishops care? Absolutely not! They work the hardest covering up. 

Just recently here in the Archdiocese of Washington our Wilton Cardinal Gregory has authorized the return of a credibly accused homosexual predator. The rectory he now lives in also houses our internationally renown homosexual predator, Fr Adam Park. Some of the vulnerable boys or young men they targeted with sexual predation are now living daily lives in depression, parts of their young adult bodies have required surgery, and their passing days are spent in despair. In contrast these ordained sexual predators live their comfortable daily lives fully aware they are well protected by our Church. Is this fair?

Also, is it fair a young girl raped by her parish priest in the 1970s remains in her coffin around fifty years later with no accountability provided by the Archdiocese of Washington? Is this ok? I say not! However, the older priests and bishops tell me to “Let it go”! Really? There is a little boy raped by a priest in the 1970s who then killed himself. That same priest is known to have raped at least five other boys. The Archdiocese of Washington simply wants to leave this matter in the past. Is this justice? No! Not at all! Our child-centered and young adult rape victims of RC ordained sexual predators deserve the fullness of greater justice, greater divine mercy and greater revelation of the fullness of truth. Many of these victims are dead or living daily lives suffering in sheer miseries. Our trusting and youthful brothers and sisters deserve our undivided attention. Justice for these countless victims of clerical sex abuse has yet to be fulfilled!

The bishops and priests have a great criminal or mafiosi system going. Until the laity and serious law enforcement agencies come down very hard on the American RC Bishops these lives will continue to suffer and thousands of additional clerical rapes will continue. Where is law enforcement?! It is way past the time for both Catholics and non-Catholics to partner and investigate, gather testimony, evidence and the legal representation required to pursue this far too long postponed justice. I pray my fellow priests and faithful Catholics will help to obtain this justice. We must do this in order to rebuild His Church. Let us work for greater justice. Amen.

 

 

St. Teresa of Avila - Liturgical Abuse (Part Two)

 In my parish, and probably almost all of the parishes in the Archdiocese, I have been told that the only ones who can give a sermon/homily is an ordained Catholic priest and/or deacon.  No lay person.  No religious.  No one else.  I know in my parish, this is strictly enforced.   

If you want one of the parish ministries to get up and say a couple of words about themselves, well, that is done after Communion at the time of the parish announcements. No ands, ifs, or buts.

Well it seems that at St. Teresa, someone other than a priest or deacon can give the homily/sermon.  And, this has also been done on March 17th.  You can see it on their YouTube Channel.  Here is the link to the video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC0-ZcAj2_k  

So, who is this person?  Her name is Sr. Dr. Oralisa Martin and runs Oracle Religious Assn in DC, which was established in 1993 according to their website.

Sr. Dr. Martin, based on my reading of her bio, is a religious but I have no idea which order she was a associated with but it was located in LA. 

It says that she has moved to "private" vows.  You can read all private vows here. So, is she using the term "Sr." in the religious order sense, or is she using it in the generic sense, as when the priest says "Sisters and Brothers"?  Msgr. East calls her "sister," but again, is she still a member of an order or has she renounced her vows.  I am very unclear about it.

In addition, it should be noted that Msgr. East serves as the chaplain of Oracle Religious Association's evangelization and catechetical ministries.

More tomorrow.

 

 

St. Teresa of Avila - Liturgical Abuse (Part One)

A reader has informed me that there has been liturgical abuse happening at one (and there are probably others) DC parish: St. Teresa of Avila.  

St. Teresa of Avila is located at 1401 V St., SE Washington, DC.  The pastor is Msgr. East.

Looking at the website, it looks like most other parishes.  There are Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, there are various ministries to help those in need of food, the men's group, etc.  But there is also Liturgical Dance, which always raises my eyebrows.  

Looking at their bulletin for March 17th, they have lots of activities - either direct, jointly or simply advertising what others are doing.  Some lean to the more "progressive" side.

St. Teresa takes the Gospel and instead of reading it, as it should be, acts it out -- as if it was a play you might see in an elementary school.  

Also, the Gospel is read by a lay person and not a priest or deacon, given the fact that there are both on the altar.  

Unless, the person doing the Gospel is a deacon, which then shows a disregard for the norms of how a deacon should be clothed on the altar.

Here are some screenshots from their YouTube video:

But, the best is yet to come on liturgical abuse...

And to see the full video, please go here:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC0-ZcAj2_k    

The Gospel starts about 24 minutes in.

Fr. Michael Briese on The Angry Catholic

 You can have a listen to Fr. Michael Briese, of the Archdiocese of Washington, reflecting on the bishops of Washington, his work with the poor, his faith and how we take back the Church.

 

http://theangrycatholic.libsyn.com/the-angry-catholic-show-episode-208-w-fr-michael-briese-and-gene-gomulka

 

Why must children take abortion-tainted jabs to get a Catholic education in DC?

 

This includes not only the responsibility to uphold the dignity of human life from conception until natural death, but also rights of conscience – particularly for parents – when it comes to refusing vaccines produced or tainted by human cells lines derived from direct abortions.

Shamefully, ADW does not afford this freedom of conscience to families within its jurisdiction. For two decades, families requesting exemptions for morally objectionable vaccines – or any others – have been consistently denied admittance to archdiocesan Catholic schools. This McCarrick-era policy has been perpetuated by ADW with disturbing fidelity.

But the archdiocese is in conflict with its own Catholic identity in more ways than one.

 

To continue, go to LIFESITE NEWS.

TLM Update - Not Good

 Note: I received this second hand, so I cannot verify the information or the source.  However, the person I received it from, believes his source.  

Currently, there are seven public TLMs in the Archdiocese of Washington.  The "Committee" of priests assigned to look at it, looked favorably upon it.  However, they are not the decision makers.

 

Word is that Cardinal Gregory will restrict it to only one place and once per month.  That will be at the the Franciscan Monastery in Brookland, which is not easily accessible by public transit, may have an unsympathetic pastor, and may not permit the Triduum.  

Why such hate?

Latin Mass Update in DC

Fr. Z has a blog posting regarding a TLM announcement at St. Mary Mother of God in Washington, DC.  

Here is the Facebook video link, which Fr. LaRosa spoke of.  You can hear the exact announcement at the 1 hour and 17 min. mark. 

DC Catholic Schools, Masking & +Gregory's Reluctance

 From the Washington Examiner:

 It was perfectly fine for 20-somethings to go unmasked on a packed dance floor at Cafe Citron. But a 6-year-old sitting at a school desk at Sacred Heart School was considered a public health risk if her face was uncovered.

This has been a long and multistep fight for D.C. Catholic school parents. In the first stage, I was directly involved. We had to lobby the Archdiocese of Washington to repeal its own school mask mandate. Although the archdiocese initially said no, a coordinated campaign of parents convinced the archbishop to move Catholic schools to mask-optional. This freed up children in the Maryland counties included in the Washington Archdiocese, but it left D.C. Catholic schools under the thumb of Bowser.  

 To read it all, go here.  

+Gregory, National Press Club and the McCarrick Situation

+Gregory spoke at the National Press Club yesterday (Sept. 8th) and to take questions.  And no, I did not submit any questions in advance. 

Although there were a number of questions, there were the obvious ones regarding Mr. McCarrick and sexual abuse.  

 

Here is The Pillar's take on this: 

Clerical sexual abuse is “absolutely contrary to everything that I as a priest, my brother priests and bishops, should be pursuing, in terms of serving of our people,” Gregory said.

Perhaps surprisingly, the cardinal also talked about vicarious liability. He explained that bishops should not be held accountable for assigning abusive priests to ministry if they had no way of knowing about the acts of abuse or misconduct.

Gregory was direct on that issue: “I can only act on that which I know. And I do it clearly, honestly, straightforwardly, and I continue to do it.”

 

 To read the rest of their "take" on this, and it is good and only a couple of minutes, please go to The Pillar. 

 

Msgr. Burrill assigned temporarily in Potomac, MD (UPDATE)

Update:  July 27, 2021   5pm

 It seems that Msgr. Burrell will not be on the altar this weekend at Our Lady of Mercy.  The most recent bulletin does not have him on the schedule.  We will keep on eye on this.

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 It seems that Msgr. Burrill, the former General Secretary to the USCCB, who resigned after the investigative report by The Pillar, is headed on Sundays to Our Lady of Mercy in Potomac, MD.  

 Why did he resign?  

It seems that he was a frequent user of GRINDR.  Don't know that that is?  It is a hook up app for homosexuals. 

This image is taken from the Parish Bulletin dated July 25th:

 

 

Note that it is possible that this bulletin was produced/printed before the scandal hit on July 20th.  Possible he will not show.  Possible that he will.   

If you are from Our Lady of Mercy, love to hear from you. 

I

 

 

+Gregory and Traditionis Custodes

 As you know, +Francis issued Traditionis Custodes earlier this months.  It gives bishops the right to restrict what is commonly known as The Latin Mass (TLM). 

Here is what has been written in the Catholic Standard, as of July 26th:

Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of Washington told priests of the archdiocese July 16: ”I will prayerfully reflect upon ‘Traditionis Custodes’ in the coming weeks to ensure we understand fully the Holy Father’s intentions and consider carefully how they are realized” in the archdiocese.

In the meantime, until there is “further guidance,” he said, he would allow “those who celebrate the Mass using the liturgical books issued before 1970 to continue to do so ... in the days to come.”

 

Signatories on letter opposing USCCB vote on ‘Eucharistic coherence’ include 5 cardinals, 6 archbishops

The signers of a May 13 letter which pressed the U.S. bishops’ conference to suspend its conversation on “Eucharistic coherence” include 47 diocesan bishops, five of whom are cardinals, along with 21 auxiliary bishops.

Of course, +Gregory is one of the Cardinals, as well as, two of our Auxilaries

To read the entire article, please go to The Pillar

+Gregory Supports Pro-Abortion Biden - His Latest Shameful Action

 A group of more than 60 bishops has written to Archbishop Jose Gomez this month, pressing for the U.S. bishops’ conference leadership to suspend discussion of the subject of Eucharistic coherence ahead of the USCCB’s June meeting, despite a recent letter from the Vatican’s doctrinal office counseling the bishops to continue discussing the matter. Discussion on the topic was scheduled in March through the ordinary USCCB procedure for setting meeting agendas.

The letter was signed by several U.S. cardinals, including Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, and Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston.

 

To read the full article, go to:  THE PILLAR 

The Angry Catholic Podcast Reminds Us of +Gregory

 

The Angry Catholic Podcast (Episode 116) reminds us of how +Gregory was involved with +Wuerl and +McCarrick.  Have a listen.

2021 Annual Appeal Flier - Unusual Things...

 Ah yes, it is that time of year, when the Pastor and his staff are required to beg for the Annual Appeal.  We heard about it at the "Commitment Weekend."

There were fliers in the back of the church weeks ago, and now I received it about a week or so ago.  I just found it, as it has sat under a pile of papers.  

In looking at the letter and flier, here is what I found unusual:

1.  The request did not come from +Gregory, but from Joseph M. Gillmer, the Executive Director of Development.   This is unusual, because normally it "comes from" the Cardinal/Archbishop.   Maybe they believe it is too polarizing to have him on the letter.

2. The flier I received, does not mention or even have a photo of +Gregory.   Again, not normal but he has been controversial, so maybe they want to downplay it.  

3.  There is no mention about the amount to be raised in total.  Maybe they don't want people to know if they fall short, and by how much.

 4.  If you send in your $$ by mail, using the envelope, it is processed in Topeka, KS.   Guess they got a really good deal, but you would think that after they have laid off a number of employees, they would want that work done locally.

 

Just my thoughts...