Gaia and Antiochus both are welcome in the Archdiocese of Toronto!

Update: Confirmed from the concert organiser. "All details of the concert were discussed with (          ), the lady in charge of the events at St. Michael’s Cathedral. Posters of the event were dropped off at the Archdiocese in Toronto at 1155 Yonge Street, where they were further distributed to Catholic Churches across the GTA."

Clearly, this took place with the full knowledge of someone at the Chancery office, not just the Cathedral.

Again, what happened to the policy on concerts in churches under the late Cardinal Ambrozic which was in accord with the norms issued by the CDWDS?

Angelica's sensual performance in St. Michael's Cathedral

House of God turned into a cabaret

Look at what they've done to the Temple of God

Please excuse your writer for being a year or two behind the time but this is what they hope for. You understand right?; they want these things to pass under the radar (May 2011). Then one day, someone organises a concert in a Catholic Church with a composition of the Divine Liturgy dedicated to a pagan goddess known as Gaia and dares to call it a Mass and it is reported. Some other people read it make recollection of other events. I've now asked a third time for the policy of the Archdiocese of Toronto on concerts in churches.  We had one once under Cardinal Ambrozic.

Msgr. Ronan is not amused

What you see above and below is so far from what is permitted in a Church and is nothing less than a scandal. This is a desecration of the sanctuary for commercial purposes. No fee or donation to the Cathedral can justify such a use of this sacred space. A lounge singer concert (and I mean lounge singer in the most positive of ways) in a strapless dress, singing profane music in the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Toronto. The signing of autographs and selling of (non-religious) items in the forecourt. A poster showing her bare midriff, close ups of her body during the concert -- all of this in front of the Altar of Sacrifice! 

The Rector of St. Michael's Cathedral, Father Michael Busch has shown a failure of stewardship and a complete disregard for the sanctity of this place and the Holy of Holies. He should be ashamed of his dereliction in this regard; debasing this House of God for money!

Is it any wonder why people find refuge in the SSPX? 

Is there not something fundamentally wrong with the Church and the administration of a diocese when this is allowed to happen?

Don't we take our hats off in Church? 

The Cardinal Archbishop of Toronto, Thomas Collins lives at the Bishop's Palace attached to the Cathedral where this desecration occurred. Your Eminence this is wrong, we are owed an explanation. What are you going to do about this? What are you going to do to ensure that this kind of desecration in our churches is going to stop? What about reparation to God?

No artist has a right to desecrate the Cathedral with a secular, commercial performance in a sacred space set apart for the worship of God. 

The dress is beautiful, the woman is obviously talented and fully suitable to Roy Thomson Hall, but not here, not in the Cathedral of Toronto.  Concerts of this type are simply not to be held in churches, the Vatican Congregation responsible has already stated it. 

The quote below is from a composition about Jesus sung and available in the authorised links below.

"nobody's wrong, and nobody's right, we're all givers of light... you just be true, be truthful to yourself, and lead as you really are..."

The "Dictatorship of Relativism" sung loud and proud in St. Michael's Cathedral Cabaret; but I can tell you with every certainty; this is not what Jesus would say.

I ask you, could Antiochus have done worse?

See also:

http://torontocatholicwitness.blogspot.ca/2013/04/abomination-in-sanctuary-st-michaels.html

http://torontocatholicwitness.blogspot.ca/2013/04/abomination-of-desolation-st-michaels.html

Leslie Scrivener's war on the Catholic Church in Toronto

Leslie Scrivener is a reporter with the Toronto Star, Canada's version of Hell's Bible (a.k.a., The New York Times). Has there ever been an article by Scrivener or the Star in living memory that dealt honestly with the faith? Do they ever interview anyone other than dissenters?

Let's just take a little look; but sorry no links, I won't be responsible for any more hits than necessary to this failing media broadsheet.

April 8, 2013 
Reformist priest refused permission to speak to Toronto-area educators on Catholic property. He's now speaking at Sheridan College 

Well Leslie, the Archdiocese of Toronto implemented a protocol recently that all speakers must have either faculties if a priest (that means they're in union with a bishop) or a letter in good standing from their Ordinary (that's a bishop) if a layman or woman to speak on issues within the Church. What is so shocking about ensuring that those who speak on Church property preach what the Church preaches. When I first saw this policy I said to myself, "well, that's an interesting way to keep Michael Voris out of Toronto's church halls" but then again, the knife cuts both ways. It could keep out many of those whom you fawn over such as the ex-Anglican, Roman Catholic Nun, then married mother and grandmother and now lesbian Anglican priestess who spent most of her career in Toronto corrupting Catholic school children with her heterodox views as we will read about three paragraphs below.

March 17, 2013
Toronto Catholics express their hope for Pope Francis - one word at a time

Blessings, peace, love, reformation, change, equality, gender, sexuality, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I guess she didn't visit the Oratory. Enough said.

March 9, 2013
Catholic parents disgusted with by letter sent from parish priest containing provocative questions.

This matter was dealt with a few weeks ago. I'm disgusted that these people re referred to as "Catholic parents."

March 3, 2013
Former Catholics say rigid church forced them to leave

I could be snarly and say, "don't let the door hit you on the way out" or that "it's okay, the biological solution is fixing the problem" but we really do need to regret this. These Catholics have not been fully formed in the faith. They are protestant in their belief and this is a sad fact for us. Our Pope Benedict XVI wrote of a "smaller church" though it would be "holier" as a result. While this is happening slowly and may come to be more explicitly  it will not be nice. It will be through mass desertion, apostasy and persecution. We are seeing it now in many parts of the world and most shockingly, in the United State of America where even now, Catholics, have been equated on the same level by the U.S. military as the terrorists. Rather, we really don't want a smaller Church, we must want a bigger Church. We must want what Our Lord wanted, that all come to Him to be saved including Joanna Manning and Leslie Scrivener.

On the matter of Scrivener and the Toronto Star, we count four articles on the Catholic Church in just over a month; let us remove for a moment the one on Pope Francis as Scrivener's not responsible for badly catechized Catholics; not one of these is balanced; each is presented as Church bad - subject good. Not one of these columns interviews anyone that is not a dissenter.

Where's the balance? The fact is, the anti-Catholic bigotry of the Ulster of North America has never gone away, the "liberal" founders of this newspaper, notwithstanding.

Toronto Gaia "Mass" UPDATE

 Confirmation has been received from Chancery officials in Toronto that the Gaia "Mass" at Holy Name Church was "explored by the "appropriate diocesan authorities" as it was clearly, a concern of theirs as well.  The notice on the web page slipped through the radar and it was removed from some time prior to our original post. It also went out to parishes and there is no doubt that many priests took this matter up (as has been confirmed privately). The "event," if you will, will go-ahead. Tickets have been sold. It is clearly not a Mass, but a concert, and we were certainly aware of this fact. However, the fact remains that this composition of sacred liturgical texts and those behind its composition and presentation reveal that this is not sacred music and is anything but appropriate for the liturgy or a Church, even as a concert. that being said, let's take things step-by-step.

It is confirmed, the Blessed Sacrament will be removed from the Church. 

Without bemoaning any further the background of the composers or the suitability of this "Mass" named for a pagan goddess rather than to the glory of the Triune God, the whole matter of concerts in churches is important and needs to be addressed in this and probably many dioceses. 

Under our former Archbishop, Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic, there was a policy consistent with that of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. This policy, as far as we are aware, and we are awaiting confirmation, has not been changed in Toronto. Clearly, it is being ignored and not just for this event. Three years ago, Salt + Light and an FM Radio station turned St. Paul's Basilica into a "facility" as the FM announcer referred, with a hefty ticket price for a recorded for broadcast concert by "The Priests" with the attendance of at least one Toronto Auxiliary Bishop, notwithstanding the policy. This is not the first time that the Basilica has been used as a concert hall in violation of the Congregation's directive. 

Below are some of the more salient points to consider. The entire document, Protocol 1257/87 from the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments can be read at Adoremus. It was sent to the presidents of the national conferences of bishops and through them to commissions on Liturgy and sacred art.

In order that the sacred character of a church be conserved in the matter of concerts, the Ordinary can specify that: a. Requests are to be made in writing, in good time, indicating the date and time of the proposed concert, the programme giving the works and the names of the composers. b. After having received the authorization of the Ordinary, the rectors and parish priests of the churches should arrange details with the choir and orchestra so that the requisite norms are observed. c. Entrance to the church must be without payment and open to all. d. The performers and the audience must be dressed in a manner which is fitting to the sacred character of the place. e. The musicians and the singers should not be placed in the sanctuary. The greatest respect is to be shown to the altar, the president’s chair and the ambo. f. The Blessed Sacrament should be, as far as possible, reserved in a side chapel or in another safe and suitably adorned place (cf. C.I.C., can 938, par. 4). g. The concert should be presented or introduced not only with historical or technical details, but also in a way that fosters a deeper understanding and an interior participation on the part of the listeners. h. The organizer of the concert shall declare in writing that he accepts legal responsibility for expenses involved, for leaving the church in order, and for any possible damage incurred. 11. The above practical directives should be of assistance to the bishops and rectors of churches in their pastoral responsibility to maintain the sacred character of their churches, designed for sacred celebrations, prayer and silence. Such indications should not be interpreted as a lack of interest in the art of music. The treasury of sacred music is a witness to the way in which the Christian faith promotes culture. By underlining the true value of sacred or religious music, Christian musicians and members of "scholae cantorum" should feel that they are being encouraged to continue this tradition and to keep it alive for the service of the faith, as expressed by the Second Vatican Council in its message to artists: "Do not hesitate to put your talent at the service of the divine truth. The world in which we live has need of beauty in order not to lose hope. Beauty, like truth, fills the heart with joy. And this, thanks to your hands" (cf. Second Vatican Council, Message to Artists, 8 December 1965). Rome, 5 November 1987. Paul Augustine Card. Mayer, O.S.B. Prefect Virgilio Noè Titular Archbishop of Voncaria Secretary

Surrexit Christus!

\

All change is bad - Father F.W. Faber, Cong. Orat.

All change is bad from its very nature. It is full of evil; it unsettles and disturbs; it is full of the world; it is the very spirit of the world; and nothing worse can be said of it. Whenever we are tempted to change any thing, we must not only be quite sure that the old system contained evils, but also that those evils were more numerous and more important, than the ones we must inevitably bring in by change. So cautious, so slow, so meek must we be; so different from those rash and headstrong men who are for changing every thing, though they are not certain that they know all the hidden uses of that which they attack. But change in religion is of all things most perilous. We all of us feel how intimately our spiritual life is bound up in little things, and how change of time and place and company is always putting us wrong. It dislocates our religious habits; our religious ways of thinking, and acting, and speaking. This is the great reason why we should oppose all changes in our ancient Liturgy. It would disturb and unsettle the people." Father F. W. Faber, Cong. Orat. Credo, 1840

It is finished

Gaia Earth Worship Mass to be held in Toronto!

As much as I regret disturbing my own peace or any others on this Holy Day, this cannot be allowed to continue. How much more are we to take?

"The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen that that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation. Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Return unto the LORD thy God."

From the the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah; First Nocturn of Tenebrae for Holy Thursday.

From: Vox

Sent: March-28-13 9:58 AM

To: 'archbishop@archtoronto.org'; 'bishop.boissonneau@rogers.com'; 'holyname@rogers.com'

Cc: 'neilm@archtoronto.org'; bills@archtoronto.org

Subject: GAIA EARTH MASS at HOLY NAME CHURCH TORONTO!

Your Eminence, Excellency, Father Morrasse,

“If we do not preach Jesus Christ, we preach the Devil.” These words spoken by our Holy Father Francis have never ringed more true, yet, on this Maundy Thursday, this scandalous matter has been forwarded to me. Regretfully, I must write to you on this Holy Day, rather than all of us being docile to the Spirit, truthfully, the Cult of God must go on and our labours as laity justified in Lumen Gentium and by our Baptism and Confirmation in Christ and the Holy Spirit, must continue.

How is it possible that this abomination of earth worship to a pagan goddess can be allowed to take place in a Catholic Church and promoted on the web page. Now, I note that it does not appear on a page today that I can find, but it is cached in a search as you will see below on the print screen.

Your Eminence, Your Excellency, many times I and others have written and we receive no answers. With all filial respect, I am requesting an answer that this abomination not take place and that the Communications Department will take up its responsibility in these matters not only not to post  but to bring such matters, the actual breaking of the First Commandment to your immediate attention. How much more scandal do the flock of Toronto have to contend with?

Know that you are in the prayers of myself and many these Holy Days.

Yours truly,

www.voxcantor.blogspot.com

bcc. various Catholics in Toronto

Google the cache here.

 (Taken from the Newsletter of the Archdiocese of Toronto)

Apr 3 & Apr 5

Missa Gaia Earth Mass.Holy Name Catholic Church, 71 Gough Avenue, Toronto. 7:30 p.m.The school’s 140-voice choir, musicians and dancers will perform this joyous rhythmic, contemporary work inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and ecology.  It is a musical/spiritual celebration of God’s creation that includes the human voice alongside that of the wolf, whale and loon. An instrumental ensemble featuring present students and alumnae provide an eclectic canvas of traditional, gospel, new age and world music.

Admission is $15.

Fiat, voluntas tua

⁴² Again the second time, he went and prayed, saying: My Father, if this chalice may not pass away, but I must drink it, thy will be done.

⁴³ And he cometh again and findeth them sleeping: for their eyes were heavy.

⁴⁴ And leaving them, he went again: and he prayed the third time, saying the selfsame word.

⁴⁵ Then he cometh to his disciples, and saith to them: Sleep ye now and take your rest; behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴⁶ Rise, let us go: behold he is at hand that will betray me.

Could you not watch on hour with me?

^{Matt. 26:36} Then Jesus came with them into a country place which is called Gethsemani; and he said to his disciples: Sit you here, till I go yonder and pray.

³⁷ And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to grow sorrowful and to be sad.

³⁸ Then he saith to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay you here, and watch with me.

³⁹ And going a little further, he fell upon his face, praying, and saying: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

⁴⁰ And he cometh to his disciples, and findeth them asleep, and he saith to Peter: What? Could you not watch one hour with me?

⁴¹ Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh weak.

He was troubled in spirit

^{John 3: 21} When Jesus had said these things, he was troubled in spirit; and he testified, and said: Amen, amen I say to you, one of you shall betray me.

²² The disciples therefore looked one upon another, doubting of whom he spoke.

²³ Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

²⁴ Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, and said to him: Who is it of whom he speaketh?

²⁵ He therefore, leaning on the breast of Jesus, saith to him: Lord, who is it?

²⁶ Jesus answered: He it is to whom I shall reach bread dipped. And when he had dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.

²⁷ And after the morsel, Satan entered into him. And Jesus said to him: That which thou dost, do quickly.

²⁸ Now no man at the table knew to what purpose he said this unto him.

²⁹ For some thought, because Judas had the purse, that Jesus had said to him: Buy those things which we have need of for the festival day: or that he should give something to the poor.

³⁰ He therefore having received the morsel, went out immediately. And it was night.

³¹ When he therefore was gone out, Jesus said: Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

³² If God be glorified in him, God also will glorify him in himself; and immediately will he glorify him.

Mandatum

John 13 Before the festival day of the pasch, Jesus knowing that his hour was come, that he should pass out of this world to the Father: having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

² And when supper was done, (the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him,)

³ Knowing that the Father had given him all things into his hands, and that he came from God, and goeth to God;

⁴ He riseth from supper, and layeth aside his garments, and having taken a towel, girded himself.

⁵ After that, he putteth water into a basin, and began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

⁶ He cometh therefore to Simon Peter. And Peter saith to him: Lord, dost thou wash my feet?

⁷ Jesus answered, and said to him: What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

⁸ Peter saith to him: Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him: If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with me.

⁹ Simon Peter saith to him: Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.

¹⁰ Jesus saith to him: He that is washed, needeth not but to wash his feet, but is clean wholly. And you are clean, but not all.

¹¹ For he knew who he was that would betray him; therefore he said: You are not all clean.

¹² Then after he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, being set down again, he said to them: Know you what I have done to you?

¹³ You call me Master, and Lord; and you say well, for so I am.

¹⁴ If then I being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another's feet.

¹⁵ For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also.

¹⁶ Amen, amen I say to you: The servant is not greater than his lord; neither is the apostle greater than he that sent him.

¹⁷ If you know these things, you shall be blessed if you do them.

¹⁸ I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen. But that the scripture may be fulfilled: He that eateth bread with me, shall lift up his heel against me.

¹⁹ At present I tell you, before it come to pass: that when it shall come to pass, you may believe that I am he.

²⁰ Amen, amen I say to you, he that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me.

Conrad Black: An up to now closeted enemy of the faith

Conrad Black's arrogance has been well known in Canada for decades. While one can appreciate his intellect, his business practices are exactly what Pope Francis would have deplored. I know people who still pay the price for his corporate manipulation and pension machinations in Toronto thirty years ago. Black spent time in prison in Florida for malfeasance against shareholders in the United States. Brought into the Catholic Church by the late Toronto Archbishop Emmett Cardinal Carter, Black had renounced his Canadian citizenship in order to accept the peerage of the British House of Lords. It is important to note that Emmett Cardinal Carter, one of the so-called, "gang-of-five" was instrumental in the development of the Winnipeg Statement which gave Canadian Catholics the "permission" to dissent on Church teaching.

In a column in the National Review, Lord Black contradicts himself in a column instructing Pope Francis to change the Church's teaching on contraception. On the one hand he finds it "commendable" that the Church "avoids trendiness and pandering" which "distinguishes it from many other churches" and on the hand declares that "the Church’s official position on contraception enables its enemies to portray it as an archaic society for the propagation of chaste humbug by an esoteric fraternity of superannuated clergymen in antiquarian costumes." 

So which is it Lord Black; Is the Church to be commended for not being trendy or is She to submit to the worldly view?

And speaking of "antiquarian costumes" ...

Lord Black tried to dismiss his outfit, saying it was "the only one available at the costumier the day before the party" and insisted that he certainly wasn't dressed as the power-crazed Richelieu. He added that, rather than Marie Antoinette, Barbara - famous for her hundreds of pairs of Manolo Blahnik shoes and penchant for gold-plated loos - was dressed as a lowly barmaid.

Black opines that the Church should end its "its hostility to safe sex ahead of its mortal opposition to abortion: and calls it "a much more defensible and important cause that would be directly assisted by ending the failed war on contraception." Yet, whilst doing so, he completely misses the intricate connection between failed contraception and procured abortion to say nothing of the degradation of the conjugal act to be only for that of pleasure divorced from its procreative aspects. Black declares that the Church's teaching is "not supported by more than a small and very doctrinaire section of the laity." This may be true, but even Lord Black should know that the Church is not a democracy.

Rather than lecturing Pope Francis, perhaps Lord Black might allow Pope Francis' words on humility to pierce him instead; but then, Black's unethical business practices in Canada were exactly those which caused the growth of Liberation Theology in the land from where our Holy Father hails.

Pro-Life? No software for you!

No Software for you!

Software company refuses service to pro-life group over abortion, marriage views

BY THADDEUS BAKLINSKI

• Mon Mar 18, 2013 11:08 EST
• Comments ()

TORONTO, March 18, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A U.S. company that provides software solutions to nonprofit organizations has refused service to the Canadian pro-life group Campaign Life Coalition, accusing it of supporting “hate, prejudice and bigotry." 

CLC's Jack Fonseca told LifeSiteNews.com that recently Campaign Life Coalition asked an information technology (IT) consultant to help improve its business processes. 

"He searched for a database solutions company that specializes in non-profits like ours," Fonseca told LifeSiteNews. The IT specialist found a company called The Databank, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Read the rest here.

Solemn Mass for St. Joseph at Richmond Hill

What better way to celebrate Holy Father's installation on the same day; let us celebrate the Patron Saint of the Universal Church and of Canada with a Solemn Latin Mass in the Ordinary Form with the music of Franz  Schubert.

If you've not been to St. Mary's or to an Ordinary Form liturgy celebrated in complete accord with the intent, then you should come and experience the solemnity and prayer.

See you there!

Father Forget responds

In a story titled, Toronto Star trashes Catholic priest for raising sexual immorality, misrepresents Archdiocese, LifeSiteNews has further developed the matter, Diocesan spokesman publicly rebukes Toronto priest. In an interview with LifeSiteNews, Neil MacCarthy, Director of Communications for the Archdiocese of Toronto indicated that he spoke with the Toronto Star reporter for twenty minutes. However, it would appear that Mr. MacCarthy, who was extensively interviewed, was not actually misquoted, but selectively quoted. 

Father Charles Forget, Pastor at St. Leo the Great, in Brooklin, Ontario, attached to the weekly bulletin a standard "examination of conscience" brochure. For those who might have missed it (can't imagine how if they went to Mass on Sunday), women of the parish with children in the two elementary schools inserted the examination of conscience into identifiable envelopes, sealed them and delivered them to the schools for distribution. There were only two complaints from parents were received at the parish who later went on to write vile and possibly criminal remarks on the Brooklin Moms Facebook Page and contacted the Toronto Star. "You haven't heard the last of me" one screamed. Vox has confirmed that the reporter at the Star is now a member of the same, Brooklin Moms Facebook page. It seems that the protagonist in this matter who wrote extensively in the comment box at the above link works for a firm aiding in people obtaining divorces. It is now clear that the objection was not the form itself but the action sins listed, particularly those of homosexuality and lesbianism as revealed in direct correspondence.

Father Forget has written in his bulletin for this weekend an explanation to provide clarity to the parishioners and the facts. In the interests of truth, Father has given permission to post the bulletin remarks on the matter here.

The people of St. Leo's Brooklin are very fortunate to have such a Pastor. May God bless Father Forget and the people at St. Leo's as we enter Passiontide: 

H  A   T   R   E   D

“Gossip is hearing things you like

about people you don’t.”

Hatred is such a strong word and an awful thing.  It can lead to calumny, (a misrepresentation intended to harm someone else’s reputation - Merriam Webster Dictionary), cause the ruin of another’s life or even put the other persons’ life in danger in the extreme.  I love the above quote I heard on a radio program a while ago because it hits the nail on the head.  We tend to think of gossip as a light form of talking about other people’s lives, faults, shortcomings, behaviours and actions but at the heart of gossip is often hatred for another person.  Speaking about someone else can also be a forum for us to falsely feel better about ourselves as we compare ourselves to someone else we strongly criticize.

Brooklin is a relatively small community where people tend to know and recognize one another more than they would in larger urban centres.  I am sure it is no surprise to anyone in our parish of the situation I have been facing with a small group of people who have been fueling flames of hate towards me, the Catholic Church and pretty much anything they can wrap their tongues around and their more recent venture to go to, what one blogger so aptly called “a Catholic-hating, Catholic-bating media outlet” with the hope of goodness knows what. 

Stories grow and have a tendency to become embellished and take on another life.  I feel the need to write here what has taken place to enable our parishioners to know the full truth should they hear all manner of versions from the media and talk on the street.  As my mother used to say, “Error is half way around the world before truth gets its’ boots on”.

On Sunday February 24^th I inserted in the parish bulletin a two-sided sheet called an Examination of Conscience (which I didn’t compose) and explained in my announcements that this was intended as an aid to those who might want to avail themselves of the Sacrament of Reconciliation taking place two days later.  Many parishioners told me they used them and I received no complaints or comments at all.  The following day I sent to the homes of every Catholic parent who has a child in one of our two elementary Catholic schools, envelopes containing the same Examination of Conscience along with a cover letter explaining the Examination of Conscience and an admittedly blunt, straight forward message about the need for Catholics to attend Mass each Sunday and that not do so constitutes serious sin, a sin that some parents pass on to their children who will continue to do what their non-church-going parents have taught them.  Twenty years of priesthood has shown me that a soft, sweet and flowery letter would not have impacted anyone. Considering our times of moral relativism, a loss of a sense of sin and a general attitude among some Catholics that all that is necessary in life is to “be nice”, I felt the language had to be honest and challenging.  All of the envelopes, marked with the name of the parish, were sealed by women of the parish who have children in both of our schools and these were distributed to the schools to be taken home by children to their parents.  (We use this exact process twice a year in sending home sacramental information to any parents who might otherwise not know what is going on sacramentally in the parish and the Catholic School Board does the same in our parishes.)

Two days later I received a phone call from one parent who was furious at what I had sent to her home.  She told me her envelope was not sealed and that her daughter had opened it and read a word she asked her mother about.  But that was not her point of upset.  Her anger was over one of the sins mentioned in the Examination of Conscience which she took great exception to and taught her children that it was okay in their family.  The issue was over the actual Examination of Conscience and how dare I as a priest send that garbage to their home.  Our phone conversation was short and her last words to me were to the effect that this would not be the last I would be hearing from her. 

This same woman is also on a local Facebook group of mainly Brooklin moms and she started a tirade that invited a handful of other moms to join in on the fun of mercilessly attacking me personally, my priesthood, the parish, the Catholic Faith and Catholic schools and organized religion in general all the while still calling themselves ‘Catholics’.  Messages were sent that could never be repeated in civil company much less a parish bulletin and it was obvious that the instigator was bent on fueling the flames all the more in her attack.  She finally came to the conclusion that ‘someone’ (but not her) needed to go to the media with this and the assurance that anyone who spoke to the reporter could remain anonymous.  She could serve my name up to the likes of the Toronto Star but she and others could remain incognito.  Most convenient.

Sadly, the real issue that started this whole shemozzle – a person taking exception to Catholic teaching – has been lost as with the Star article the ‘anonymous’ now claim that the issue is that I sent the letter home with their children, unsealed.  And it certainly didn’t help that a representative of the Archdiocese said to the reporter that my letter wasn’t ‘pastoral’.  But the letter was not the bone of contention at all and hasn’t even been cited by the Facebook group – it was the content of the Examination of Conscience that Jesus wrote in the sand in this Sunday’s Gospel.

Perhaps my letter and the attached Examination of Conscience hit such an unexpected nerve because those who are filled with rage don’t understand the role and call of the Priest of Jesus Christ.  There is a moral imperative upon every priest as a shepherd of souls to speak the truth that has been revealed by God, in season and out of season.  While some have reduced the Gospels to a group of days in the life of a man, people of faith know them to be a Living Word, able to, with great power, convict us and comfort us, challenge us and give us hope; to warn us and defend us, to teach us and to guard us.  Jesus is that One, the Son of God, our Saviour who has revealed to us all that we need to know in following Him faithfully with our lives.  Jesus is the One who founded the Church upon Peter, the Rock.  Jesus is the One who instituted the Priesthood in order that the Sacraments He entrusted to the Church might be administered, the Gospel preached, the sinner converted, Holy Mass to be celebrated and Christ made present.  Each priest is called by Holy Orders to “preach, teach and sanctify” and to call sinners to repentance, himself included.  As a priest and pastor, sending the Examination of Conscience to Catholic homes was a part of doing my job.

In the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (3:20) whom God appointed as a “watchman for the Israelites”, we read about the same responsibility for souls that every priest is charged with:

“It may be that a righteous man turns away and does wrong, and I let that be the cause of his downfall; he will die because you have not warned him.  He will die for his sin; the righteous deeds he has done will not be taken into account, and I will hold you answerable for his death.  But if you have warned the righteous man not to sin and he has not sinned, then he will have saved his life because he has been warned, and you will have saved yourself.”

One comment posted on a Catholic blog put it so well:

“The call of the conscience is very unpleasant indeed, but then again, so is the strident noise of the fire alarm, and we don't normally complain about it when it saves our lives. So do we really value our spiritual lives the same way?”

Good point.  Sometimes it’s ‘pastoral’ to shout!  (Fr. Charles)

Prayerful Cardinal, Deaf Reporter, Absent Media Man

May God bless Thomas Cardinal Collins our Archbishop of Toronto. What a kind and thoughtful pastor when confronted by such idiocy. I can tell you, I would not have handled this imbecile with the same grace and tact and patience and tolerance. Let us continue to pray for him and all the Cardinals at this time.

 

Twenty-five years ago, I lived in Ottawa and worked on Parliament Hill as a Special Assistant to a Cabinet Minister in the government under Brian Mulroney; he later went on to become a provincial premier. Advance was my specialty and he was never more than a metre away from me. If someone had a gun, my job was to jump in front of the bullet, as well as have a clean shirt and tie in my briefcase in case he dripped his coffee. My point is this, we are talking here about our Cardinal Archbishop, a Prince of the Church on the morning of the Conclave on his way to St. Peter's Basilica for Holy Mass; he should not have had to struggle with his bag, and a cart, trying to call for a cab  in the rain and at the same time fend off (with much grace and pastoral solicitude, I might add) a nasty, nosy and  bothersome reporter, who showed no discipline, no tact and no respect.

The Cardinal should not have been left exposed and to fend for himself.

Diocesan "spokesman" publicly rebukes Toronto priest

Reading anything from the Toronto Star is not something that this blogger does, nor any MSM print source for that matter. Therefore, I depend on friends and readers to bring the devil's work to my attention as with this sad matter.

The Director of Communications for the Archdiocese of Toronto, Neil MacCarthy in an interview with the Toronto press is quoted as saying "There was a more pastoral way to welcome people back to the church, ... You have to find the most caring way.”

It seems that a Catholic pastor, Father Charles Forget of St. Leo's Parish in Brooklin, east of the City of Toronto sent a letter to the parents of school children in a sealed envelope. He preached against sin and asked people to come to the Sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation. According to the obviously biased media the letter included: "Have I committed adultery or fornication? Have I become intoxicated? Have I been disobedient or disrespectful to my husband? “Have I done unnecessary servile work (physical labour) or shopping on Sunday?” and “Have I denied my spouse his or her marriage rights?” There were a few for children as well such as: “Have I talked back to parents, teachers or other adults? “Have I pouted and been moody?” The letter concluded with, “Pray about it. Do not be afraid. Come, be reconciled!”

As typical of a spoilt and puerile paganised Catholic generation, some were "shocked" that a priest would do his job and they filed complaints with the school board and of course, called the ever eager Toronto Star to take another shot at the Church.

“Made for an interesting conversation, where my kids were asking what abortion and masturbation were — since it came in an unsealed envelope addressed to no one, and they read it,” the parent said in an email (to the Star). “Hardly appropriate material for a kindergarten to grade 8 school.”

Well I've got news for these parents. Your kid is probably masturbating and someone in his or her catholic school has shown them some porn! Nah, they probably found your stash! Your little angel uses the "F" word too. So, get your head out of the sand and a few other places where the sun doesn't shine and parent-up!

Father says the letters were in sealed envelopes. The parents who contacted the press, said they were not. I'll choose to believe Father Forget rather than the paganised Catholic parents who contracept, abort, watch porn, don't go to Mass on Sunday, don't support the Church with time or money or both and don't raise their children to be Catholic. One opines that she is going to put her children in the public school. Well, don't let the door hit'cha on the way out; I'm sure your kid will find all about masturbating over there but don't expect a Christmas pageant for your little snowflake.

The real problem in this story though is not the priest, the parents the Durham Catholic District School Board or the Toronto Star, the problem is the Director of Communications at the Archdiocese of Toronto. The arrogance of the chancery bureaucracy in Toronto and its chastisement of a priest in public, its lack of support for a priest doing his job and for church teaching, that is the problem here. 

It is not the job of the Director of Communications of this or any Archdiocese to publicly rebuke a priest, to undermine his reputation and authority in his parish. To do this for a half dozen people who probably were in the greatest need of that letter is interfering in the "pastoral" duty and care for souls of that priest. I would think that Mr. MacCarthy should have been applauding the priest to the press and the parents in the administration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation not to condemn him for trying to wake the people up as to the reality of sin.

The "sin of the century is the loss of the sense of sin" said Blessed Pius XII. That is clear in this little parish in Brooklin and it is simply unacceptable that he be rebuked by a bureaucrat.

Any others wish to 'fess up?

3 March 2013

Statement from Cardinal O'Brien

"In recent days certain allegations which have been made against me have
become public. Initially, their anonymous and non-specific nature led me
to contest them.

However, I wish to take this opportunity to admit that there have been
times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me
as a priest, archbishop and cardinal.

To those I have offended, I apologise and ask forgiveness.

To the Catholic Church and people of Scotland, I also apologise.

I will now spend the rest of my life in retirement. I will play no further
part in the public life of the Catholic Church in Scotland."


ENDS

Peter Kearney
Director
Catholic Media Office
5 St. Vincent Place
Glasgow
G1 2DH
0141 221 1168
07968 122291
pk@scmo.org
www.scmo.org


Notes to editors:

1. This is the only statement, which Cardinal O'Brien will be issuing.
2. Cardinal O'Brien will not attend the Conclave to elect the new Pope.
3. Cardinal O'Brien is now out of the country and will not be available
for interview.