The Pastor, Father Joseph Gorman, has been removed for the time-being for "ecclesiastical irregularities." Last Sunday, Auxiliary Bishop Wayne Kirkpatrick attended the parish to explain the situation to the people. The next day Neil MacCarthy, Director of Communications for the Archdiocese of Toronto explained that there were two serious irregularities. Father Gorman presided over a wedding in the parish where one person had not received a "Decree of Nullity" and he allegedly wed two other Catholics -- a couple, according to the Toronto Star, in an Anglican chapel. It is also alleged that Father Gorman then altered the records to indicate that another minister had officiated. He is also alleged to have not followed accounting procedures for special collections and according to a report, gave parish funds directly to people "in need" in the parish. According to our sources Father Gorman was asked to take a leave of absence and to advise the parish and refused forcing the bishop to order the leave and make the announcement. Father Gorman is still listed as Pastor.
Please note that any comments about Father Gorman other than an expression of prayer for him, will not be published.
Now, let's get to the meat of the matter.
One cannot marry in the Catholic Church if one is married previously. An investigation must be held by the Marriage Tribunal and a Decree of Nullity issued that the first marriage did not take place for whatever grounds or defects are determined within Canon Law. Father Gorman knows this.
Not all annulment requests are granted. There are safeguards in place so that this does not happen. If this is true and Father Gorman did this it is extremely serious. It involves a desecration of the Sacrament of Matrimony, and the "second" marriage was invalid and the people are in a state of mortal sin (adultery) sanctioned by the parish priest. Secondly, marrying a Catholic "couple" at an Anglican church is a serious matter. What could be the reason for this? Were they not permitted to marry in a Catholic Church? Were they previously married? Were they a couple of the "same-sex?" Why would a Catholic priest preside over the marriage of a Catholic couple in an Anglican church and then falsify the documents? This is a very, very serious matter, it violates provincial government law as well as Church Law. Further, there were some alleged financial irregularities on special collections which are ordered by the Bishop for specific purposes. However this, if true, pales in comparison to the issues of the marriage ceremonies.
From the Catholic Register:
One cannot marry in the Catholic Church if one is married previously. An investigation must be held by the Marriage Tribunal and a Decree of Nullity issued that the first marriage did not take place for whatever grounds or defects are determined within Canon Law. Father Gorman knows this.
Not all annulment requests are granted. There are safeguards in place so that this does not happen. If this is true and Father Gorman did this it is extremely serious. It involves a desecration of the Sacrament of Matrimony, and the "second" marriage was invalid and the people are in a state of mortal sin (adultery) sanctioned by the parish priest. Secondly, marrying a Catholic "couple" at an Anglican church is a serious matter. What could be the reason for this? Were they not permitted to marry in a Catholic Church? Were they previously married? Were they a couple of the "same-sex?" Why would a Catholic priest preside over the marriage of a Catholic couple in an Anglican church and then falsify the documents? This is a very, very serious matter, it violates provincial government law as well as Church Law. Further, there were some alleged financial irregularities on special collections which are ordered by the Bishop for specific purposes. However this, if true, pales in comparison to the issues of the marriage ceremonies.
From the Catholic Register:
The archdiocese said it ultimately acted in response to an "ongoing pattern" by Gorman to disregard Church procedures. That was particularly the case when Gorman married a Catholic couple from his parish in an Anglican chapel "after being advised on more than one occasion this was not permitted," according to Neil MacCarthy, the archdiocese director of communications. Gorman then falsely indicated on marriage papers that another minister had performed the ceremony.
"This activity was contrary to the laws of the Catholic Church and violated the civil marriage act, putting his own licence to celebrate weddings in jeopardy," said MacCarthy.
"This was not a rash decision," said MacCarthy. "It followed ongoing discussions over several months with Fr. Gorman."
After Bishop Kirkpatrick read a statement, presumably at the homily, His Excellency was interrupted by various people who stood up in the church and shouted out at the Bishop demanding their pastor back. Interviewed by the well-known anti-Catholic Toronto Star (bet they couldn't wait for this one, eh?), Randall Gerrits, said that the people shouted that the "Catholic Church should be more open to change ... there was a standing ovation and then people started walking out ... nothings been explained; everyone is still in the dark"
In the dark? That's an understatement.
You should be ashamed of yourselves.
You are a disgrace.
You should be ashamed of yourselves.
You are a disgrace.
Your shouting out at the Bishop in the church during Mass and then giving a standing ovation to the muckrakers and walking out - objectively speaking was a mortal sin - it was a sacrilege. You also missed Mass on Sunday. You did everything but, the keeping of "the Lord's Day holy!" It requires you to go to the Sacrament of Confession before receiving Holy Communion again, lest you commit another sin of sacrilege for receiving "unworthily and bringing condemnation upon yourself." Hey, don't blame me, take it up with Saint Paul (Corinthians 11:27).
How could you possibly think that doing this was the right thing to do at Mass?
Gerrits continues, "I'm not Catholic. My husband's not Catholic but we go to Our Lady of Grace because of Father Joe."
A question for Mrs Gerrits, has Father Joe asked your family to take instruction in the RCIA -- the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults -- you know, to become, Catholic? Has anyone ever told you that you don't to to Mass for any priest but for God and to save your soul?
She continues, "During mass, he's funny. People laugh. He's great with kids and makes them part of mass, so they have fun and want to go."
Oh how sweet. How warm and fuzzy. (JB this was from the Fox)
Oh how sweet. How warm and fuzzy. (JB this was from the Fox)
Mrs. Gerrits - The priest is not be "funny" at Mass, he should be sober. The Mass is not about the priest, it is about Jesus Christ. Mass is not about having fun and your children should go because you take them and teach them, not because it is fun.
We go to Mass for four reasons which you can remember with the acronym, ACTS, just like the book of the Bible:
A = Adoration of God - FATHER, SON and HOLY
SPIRIT.
C = Contrition for our sins.
T = Thanksgiving for all the gifts that God has
given to us.
S = Supplication - asking God for our needs and
the needs of others.
Nowhere there does it say to have fun or to go because the priest is funny.
In all the time that you have attended at Our Lady of Grace were you ever told that the
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the Sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary
brought forward in time and re-presented on the Altar of Sacrifice in our
churches? That it is a propitiatory (appeasing) offering to God the FATHER by God the SON through God the HOLY SPIRIT of the once and final blood sacrifice of Christ re-presented in an unbloody manner for the expiation of our sins and those of the whole world? Were you told that the Eucharist is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus, "tis God, the very God" made present under the species of bread and wine?
I have a question for Gerrit, did she and her family, non-Catholics, receive Holy Communion?
I have a question for Gerrit, did she and her family, non-Catholics, receive Holy Communion?
Gerrit adds that she is "quite certain that if Father Joe doesn't come back, that church will lose lots of people." Perhaps she should read John 6:67.
A petition is being taken up for the return of Father to the parish. The comments there are pathetic. They are of the same type as Gerrit's and worse. What is clear is that a cult of personality seems to have existed at this parish. A cult of personality that has caused these people to lose all rationality and moral judgement of right and wrong. A cult of personality that endangers their faith and their souls.
The comments in the newspapers and the petition which you can read by clicking on the links below is a judgement and a condemnation of the current state of catechesis in the Archdiocese of Toronto. The actions of Father Gorman, the standards of the liturgy, his dog in the sanctuary as commonly known are all examples of a failure of formation and education -- this is also a condemnation on his superiors and his professors and the people of Our Lady of Grace parish are paying for it.
Something else about Our Lady of Grace Church in Aurora that will make you sick to your stomach.
The cult of personality that seems to have developed with some parishioners for Father Gorman is quite strange considering previous episodes in this parish. Perhaps they're too young to know,perhaps they are new to the community. Perhaps the older ones that do know the history have forgotten or have have chosen to forget.
Last Sunday was not the first time that all hell broke loose in this parish and people stormed out. It happened one Sunday in 1990 when they did it to Cardinal Ambrozic himself when he announced that the pastor, Paul McCarthy was removed from the parish. A sordid and sinful abomination of innocents - there, in the rectory and at summer camps. Not only him but another. Barry Glendinning was stationed there as an Associate.
Who was Barry Glendinning? Look him up and the trail of defilement, sodomy and destruction he sowed in dioceses across Canada from Edmonton to London, to Ottawa and Toronto. The Diocese of London is still literally "paying" for the crimes of this man shuffled off from parish to parish and diocese to diocese by Emmett Cardinal Carter. Glendinning plead guilty in 1974 to six counts of gross indecency involving children in Windsor, Ontario and was given a suspended sentence and three years probation. Yet, he was later sent to the people of Aurora by Carter! A liturgist he was that Glendinning, just like his fellow sodomite and child pornography aficionado Raymond Lahey (former Bishop of Antigonish arrested and convicted for possession of child pornography and now defrocked under the orders of Pope Benedict XVI). It's funny eh, how these types always end up in liturgy. They seem to have a hatred for the Mass and what it truly means and all things Holy these sodomites; and a sordid saga of deception, seems to be a regular pattern for the poor people of Aurora.
Perhaps the parishioners of Our Lady of Grace parish in Aurora need to ask some serious questions to the leadership in this Archdiocese about what is wrong with their parish and why they are afflicted with such pastors. Perhaps they need to ask how they an be so ignorant in catechetics that they would develop such patterns of cult worship rather than true worship of Our Blessed Lord. Hard questions to be sure, but someone above Father Gorman owes this parish an explanation for decades long patterns and failure in teaching the Catholic faith.
It is a sad situation and a great divide has been created in the parish. It need not have happened, had the Pastor done what was asked and gone quietly for the time-being explaining the reasons to the people himself. Instead, he chose a different path and it will not be an easy task for the parishioners to move forward. From the comment boxes, it is quite apparent to witness first hand the ignorance of many of the parishioners, there lack of respect for norms and the rule of law and their hostility towards anyone that would try to explain it.
Pride is a dreadful thing.
Pray for Father Joseph Gorman and for the people of Our Lady of Grace parish in Aurora.
UPDATED:
http://www.catholicregister.org/item/19663-popular-priest-suspended-from-duties-at-aurora-parish
The archdiocese said it ultimately acted in response to an "ongoing pattern" by Gorman to disregard Church procedures. That was particularly the case when Gorman married a Catholic couple from his parish in an Anglican chapel "after being advised on more than one occasion this was not permitted," according to Neil MacCarthy, the archdiocese director of communications. Gorman then falsely indicated on marriage papers that another minister had performed the ceremony.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/02/03/aurora-parishioners-want-their-suspended-priest-back.html
http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/5298720-aurora-s-our-lady-of-grace-parishioners-rally-in-support-of-priest-in-wake-of-temporary-removal/
https://www.change.org/p/cardinal-thomas-collins-we-just-want-father-joe-gorman-back-at-our-lady-of-grace-catholic-church-in-aurora-on
The comments in the newspapers and the petition which you can read by clicking on the links below is a judgement and a condemnation of the current state of catechesis in the Archdiocese of Toronto. The actions of Father Gorman, the standards of the liturgy, his dog in the sanctuary as commonly known are all examples of a failure of formation and education -- this is also a condemnation on his superiors and his professors and the people of Our Lady of Grace parish are paying for it.
Something else about Our Lady of Grace Church in Aurora that will make you sick to your stomach.
The cult of personality that seems to have developed with some parishioners for Father Gorman is quite strange considering previous episodes in this parish. Perhaps they're too young to know,perhaps they are new to the community. Perhaps the older ones that do know the history have forgotten or have have chosen to forget.
Last Sunday was not the first time that all hell broke loose in this parish and people stormed out. It happened one Sunday in 1990 when they did it to Cardinal Ambrozic himself when he announced that the pastor, Paul McCarthy was removed from the parish. A sordid and sinful abomination of innocents - there, in the rectory and at summer camps. Not only him but another. Barry Glendinning was stationed there as an Associate.
Who was Barry Glendinning? Look him up and the trail of defilement, sodomy and destruction he sowed in dioceses across Canada from Edmonton to London, to Ottawa and Toronto. The Diocese of London is still literally "paying" for the crimes of this man shuffled off from parish to parish and diocese to diocese by Emmett Cardinal Carter. Glendinning plead guilty in 1974 to six counts of gross indecency involving children in Windsor, Ontario and was given a suspended sentence and three years probation. Yet, he was later sent to the people of Aurora by Carter! A liturgist he was that Glendinning, just like his fellow sodomite and child pornography aficionado Raymond Lahey (former Bishop of Antigonish arrested and convicted for possession of child pornography and now defrocked under the orders of Pope Benedict XVI). It's funny eh, how these types always end up in liturgy. They seem to have a hatred for the Mass and what it truly means and all things Holy these sodomites; and a sordid saga of deception, seems to be a regular pattern for the poor people of Aurora.
Perhaps the parishioners of Our Lady of Grace parish in Aurora need to ask some serious questions to the leadership in this Archdiocese about what is wrong with their parish and why they are afflicted with such pastors. Perhaps they need to ask how they an be so ignorant in catechetics that they would develop such patterns of cult worship rather than true worship of Our Blessed Lord. Hard questions to be sure, but someone above Father Gorman owes this parish an explanation for decades long patterns and failure in teaching the Catholic faith.
It is a sad situation and a great divide has been created in the parish. It need not have happened, had the Pastor done what was asked and gone quietly for the time-being explaining the reasons to the people himself. Instead, he chose a different path and it will not be an easy task for the parishioners to move forward. From the comment boxes, it is quite apparent to witness first hand the ignorance of many of the parishioners, there lack of respect for norms and the rule of law and their hostility towards anyone that would try to explain it.
Pride is a dreadful thing.
Pray for Father Joseph Gorman and for the people of Our Lady of Grace parish in Aurora.
UPDATED:
http://www.catholicregister.org/item/19663-popular-priest-suspended-from-duties-at-aurora-parish
The archdiocese said it ultimately acted in response to an "ongoing pattern" by Gorman to disregard Church procedures. That was particularly the case when Gorman married a Catholic couple from his parish in an Anglican chapel "after being advised on more than one occasion this was not permitted," according to Neil MacCarthy, the archdiocese director of communications. Gorman then falsely indicated on marriage papers that another minister had performed the ceremony.
"This activity was contrary to the laws of the Catholic Church and violated the civil marriage act, putting his own licence to celebrate weddings in jeopardy," said MacCarthy.
"This was not a rash decision," said MacCarthy. "It followed ongoing discussions over several months with Fr. Gorman."
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/02/03/aurora-parishioners-want-their-suspended-priest-back.html
http://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/5298720-aurora-s-our-lady-of-grace-parishioners-rally-in-support-of-priest-in-wake-of-temporary-removal/
https://www.change.org/p/cardinal-thomas-collins-we-just-want-father-joe-gorman-back-at-our-lady-of-grace-catholic-church-in-aurora-on