A lot of people are fed up with the lackluster, confusing responses from the Archdiocese of Boston to the ongoing scandal of the ”Rainbow Ministry” at St. Cecilia’s in Boston, the promotion of ”gay marriage” at the church, and the previously scheduled Gay Pride Mass–now rescheduled and repositioned as an “All Are Welcome” Mass for their GLBT community. If you’re Fed Up, you can take action today.
For the many people who want to ensure the Catholic Church in Boston clearly articulates the teachings of the Church and leads people on the path to holiness and salvation, you can now easily ask the Vatican to intervene in this scandal. Here’s the text of a letter. If you agree with it, just click on the “Fed Up” button (or click here if the button doesn’t work for you), fill in the form, click submit, and your letter will be emailed or faxed to the Holy Father, Congregation for Bishops, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Papal Nuncio. Here’s the text of the letter we’ve drafted:
I am writing to request that the Congregation for Bishops and Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith intervene to address the scandal over the Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender(GLBT) Ministry at St. Cecilia Church in Boston.
As you may know, St. Cecilia Church had planned and promoted a Mass to “celebrate” and “commemorate”Boston’s Gay Pride Month on June 19. The Mass was rescheduled to July 10, and withapproval of Cardinal O’Malley and the Archdiocese of Boston it is still beingpromoted as an “All Are Welcome” Mass to welcome the GLBT community. The Mass is reflective of an ongoing scandal at this Church and in Boston:
- This parish has an active “Rainbow Ministry” for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) Catholics. Their blog, whose history was recently deleted, has promoted a number of speakers and programs incompatible with Church teachings on sexual morality.
- Nothing about the Rainbow Ministry or ministry to homosexuals at St.Cecilia’s calls those with homosexual attractions to repentance, conversion and turning from sin, or chastity as essential to growing in holiness. Courage ministry is not present at the parish.
- In recent years, the parish–with knowledge of the pastor, Fr. John Unni–has promoted speakers on “gay marriage” who specifically worked to advance legalized ”gay marriage” and opposed the Church’s teachings on marriage.
- Fr. Unni has called “hateful” those Catholics who opposed the original “Gay Pride” Mass. He preached in the presence of his regional bishop, Robert Hennessey, that he had no idea what the agenda of Gay Pride was, yet he had agreed to celebrate a Mass that was to commemorate Gay Pride.
- Senior leaders of the parish council and Rainbow Ministry have been quoted publicly saying they believe a Mass to celebrate Gay Pride is analogous to a Mass for elderly and shut-ins or a Mass held in prison. They have also been quoted saying that teens who think they might be gay should “come out” and get “new energy and life.”
The Boston bishops, instead of addressing the problems with the Rainbow Ministry and promotion of the gay agenda at St. Cecilia’s, are praising the pastor and parish while criticizing faithful Catholics.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley, through his spokesman, Terry Donilon, reacted by saying Fr. Unni is an “outstanding pastor” who has the “full confidence” of the Cardinal and the parish is a “wonderful example of an exceptional parish.” At the same time, the archdiocese has expressed harsh criticism of Catholics who complained tha thomosexuals are being led astray at the church, saying criticism by faithful Catholics was “outrageous and disgraceful,” “malicious,” and was “about hurting, defaming, speaking mistruths.”
Beyond these problems, now the Catholic Mayor of Boston, Tom Menino, who has a strong record of support for gay marriage, Gay Pride, and abortion, has announced plans to attend the July 10 Mass. A number of individuals have asked Cardinal O’Malley if Menino will be denied communion consistent with Canon 915, and there has been no response.
Cardinal O’Malley, Bishop Hennessey, Fr. Unni, and Terry Donilon have all abdicated their responsibility to help lead Catholics to the truth in their response to the ongoing scandal at St. Cecilia’s. The failure to teach the truths of our faith is putting the salvation of souls at risk.
I respectfully ask that you intervene in whatever way you feel appropriate to ensure that the Truths of Catholic Church teachings on sexual morality are taught at this parish and promulgated publicly throughout the Archdiocese of Boston. I also ask that you take whatever action necessary to ensure that those responsible for these problems are no longer in such positions of responsibilit yin the future. Finally, I ask that you add to the topics planned for the Archdiocese of Boston’s November ad limina visit,
Thank you for your assistance and urgent action on this grave matter.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
If you’re concerned that St. Cecilia’s is not leading people on the path to holiness and salvation and you’d like for the Vatican to intervene to address this scandal, click on the Fed Up button to the right.
Have at it, and please share with your like-minded friends and family members.
http://dossiergeilenfeld.blogspot.com/2011/06/haiti-pedophil-one-more-testimony-of.html
Fr. Unni and Haiti and a sexually abused boy? Does anyone know anything about this. Read carefully.
Maria,
as naturgesetz said, this credits Fr. Unni with helping the victim.
Joe,
Naturgesetz twists a very sophisticated modernist tale. He has now claimed you as an advocate for his position and will build on this ‘reasonableness’. His value to this blog is to keep the dialogue going, but at this point I think there is a danger in bringing confusion and needless frustration to actual Catholics. I do not know if Unni is another Shanley or simply poorly formed in the faith, but I do know a ‘celebrate sodomy’ Mass is diabolical in nature.
The facts surrounding Unni’s meeting a victim of sexual abuse at a restaurant in Braintree are publicly unknown at this point. What little is know from a brief blog entry elsewhere may be completely erroneous, such is the nature of the internet… It appears Unni was on the Board of an orphanage where sexual abuse of young men was – a part of the institution – given that the founder stands credibly accused.
It is my hope that the victims from Haiti can get a good lawyer and some good old fashioned justice. Objectively, it seems a bit unclear which side of the court room Fr. Unni will be sitting on if it gets that far…defending the institution or defending the victims…haven’t we heard this tune before?
How interesting. I thought links weren’t welcome here? I guess it depends upon what link is being posted.
Interesting.
“Cardinal O’Malley, Bishop Hennessey, Fr. Unni, and Terry Donilon have all abdicated their responsibility to help lead Catholics to the truth in their response to the ongoing scandal at St. Cecilia’s. The failure to teach the truths of our faith is putting the salvation of souls at risk.”
In light of the statements by Cardinal Seán on homosexuality in recent weeks, along with the editorial in the Pilot, the above statement is highly misleading at best. Cardinal Seán has clearly stated the truths of our faith in this regard. (Terry Donilon, of course, is not an authorized teacher of the faith to the people of the diocese.)
I have warned commenters about calumny. It is one thing to calumniate on a blog in Boston. To calumniate one’s archbishop to the Pope and Congregations of the Roman Curia is far more serious.
Your lack of honesty is highly troubling; and I think anybody who is aware of Cardinal Seán’s recent statements and puts his name to your letter is placing an act which is gravely wrong and should seriously examine his conscience as to whether he is required to obtain sacramental absolution before receiving Holy Communion. My advice is that he should confess the sin of calumny.
(It’s ironic that my comments on other blogs include explaining why same-sex “marriage” is wrong. Just yesterday, someone called me a bigot for setting forth my position. But those of us who support the Church and her teachings must not stoop to misrepresentations of others in order to get our way.)
Ah, naturgesetz; the Great defender of Braintree!
Compare the letter from Fr. Landry and anything Card. O’Malley has written on the subject. He uses his Bishop’s staff like a wet noddle, many of us have had enough. People forget; the staff has a hook on one end to bring the sheep back into the fold and a sharp point on the other end to stab the wolves. Your loyalty to Braintree is noteworthy, it just isn’t particularly Catholic in any dogmatic sense.
cal·um·ny/ˈkaləmnē/Noun
1. The making of false and defamatory statements in order to damage someone’s reputation; slander.
2. A false and slanderous statement.
Calumny?
Nobody is buying this line any more.
TLCiB — You may think that Fr. Landry’s statement is better than the ones that Cardinal Seán issued, but that is a far cry from saying that the Cardinal has failed to teach the truths of the faith. If the letter accused him of “failure to teach the truths of our faith as forcefully as we wish he would” it would be a legitimate expression of opinion;” But to accuse him simply and unqualifiedly of “failure to teach the truths of our faith” is a false and defamatory statement of pretended fact.
You might wish he had done more, but to say that he has not taught the truths of our faith in this regard is a lie.
Fortunately, if anybody in Rome decides to ask the Cardinal about it, he can point to his statements, and they’ll realize how lacking in honesty the crank complainers are.
Or, let me put it this way: not only is it wrong to lie about the Cardinal, but the lie, when demonstrated, will serve to discredit the entire letter.
naturgesetz,
There’s nothing in our original letter that’s a lie or inaccurate.
Yes, Cardinal O’Malley can point to various aspects of his statements or The Pilot editorial to claim he is teaching. But his own statement that the original Mass was a Mass of welcome for all parishioners is obviously false, so that undermines the other things he said. If you feel anything we wrote discredits our entire letter, then why don’t you feel the Cardinal discredited himself by his own statement?
More importantly, Cardinal O’Malley’s words–limited as they may be–don’t match actions, meaning his own actions and those of the people under him. The archdiocese acknowledges they haven’t talked to the Rainbow Ministry. Bishop Hennessey sat there at the Mass on June 19 and did nothing then, or since then about Fr. Unni’s theologically flawed homily about the “Jesus agenda.” Terry Donilon has done nothing but criticize those of us who are defending Church teachings. There’s a reposiitoned Mass tomorrow that stills says it’s reaching out to the GLBT community that the archdiocese still says is just a rescheduled version of what they were intending to do June 19, which clearly was planned in celebration of Gay Pride. The Cardinal’s spokesman praised Fr. Unni and the parish on behalf of the Cardinal saying he’s an “outstanding pastor” and the parish is exceptional. Mayor Menino plans to be there, and will no doubt be giving Holy Communion. Nothing’s been done about Fr. Unni having allowed speakers in support of gay marriage to speak at his parish. Rainbow Ministry members tell youth to “come out” and say in the press that it’s as permissible to offer the Holy sacrifice of the Mass to celebrate Gay Pride as it is to celebrate Mass for shut-ins and elderly. What does the Cardinal do in response to all this to ensure Catholics are led to salvation and holiness at St. Cecilia’s? He issued a statement saying the political and moral agenda of Gay Pride is incompatible with that of the Church, he let his spokesman muddle the issue by praising St. Cecilia’s in every public word and criticizing faithful Catholics, and the Pilot published an educational piece.
We edited the letter on Friday, just to clarify the point, but I don’t think there’s anything in the original one that was inaccurate. Writing a couple of words on his blog or in The Pilot–only in response to a public scandal–and failing to act on well-documented problems of false teachings–is an abdication of responsibility.
When Catholics divulge what the Cardinal is doing inside of Catholic classrooms and parishes, he pulls out something he published in the Pilot to ‘prove’ parents are lying and ‘sinning’.
He sends his PR people out exposing his internal corruption and dereliction of duty to teach Catholics their religion, malicious defaming degenerates and people who are hurting the Church. (All while giving the funeral of a saint to an individual who spent his life supporting decapitating infants alive.)
He returns gay priests who take a sabattical to live with their lovers or play the piano at a gay hotel that specializes in gay marriages but restrains a heterosexual man who fell in love with a woman and had an inappropriate relationship with her. He surrounds himself with young pretty boys and theologians who support gay liberation and abortion. He mandates that gays who oppose Church teaching be enrolled in our schools while at the same time admitting even he has difficulty teaching moral ethics in their presence.
He pulls out his smoke and mirrors he publishes in the Pilot and this is sufficient enough to impress the Romans?
I can’t put my finger on it, but something very queer is going on.
We are talking about the children and the people sitting in the pews being deprived of our religion.
I would suggest you go back to Braintree for more talking points.
Naturgesetz,
Lacking in honesty?
You know, it would be really easy to dismiss this whole issue as a bunch of hateful loonies who don’t want a Mass celebrated for a group they disagree with.
This was and is a Mass to celebrate sodomy an unsanitary deviant sexual practice. Outside of modernist Boston it is so outlandish that people find it hard to believe. Yet we have to suffer with these annoying relativistic emotional pleas like yours.
This is a dogmatic issue. There is no wiggle room on it, the suggestion that it still remains debatable is modernist drivel.
Scandal can be defined as; A word or action evil in itself, which occasions another’s spiritual ruin. A Mass to celebrate what The Church calls gravely disordered IS scandal. To not teach this forthrightly, is a clear sin of omission. Rome will have the final word on the matter.
Perhaps it is time BHE filters out Naturgesetz prolific inane comments.
Joe,
I hope someone will be at the Mass Sunday morning to report completely what is actually said by whom so we can all know just what it was (and not have to rely on the selective reporting of someone from the secular press who may revel in seeing it as a priest defying the Church, when maybe it’s much more nuanced than the reporter realizes). Ideally, there would be an a recording of the whole thing from beginning to end posted on the internet. If all we get is highlights from the Globe and the Rainbow Times and sound bites on TV news, we really won’t know what happened.
One thing I’d point out to you is that when you say nothing has been done, you don’t know whether there have been conversations between Bishop Hennessy and Fr. Unni about any of this. I don’t know if every regional bishop scrutinizes every bulletin of every parish in his region. but I very much doubt that they do. So the way they become aware of something is when someone calls their attention to it. Then they have to decide if they need to do something about it. If so, I suppose what they will do is have a conversation with the pastor and tell him, “You can’t do this. As a representative of the Church, you may not undercut Church teachings. You must never have people here speaking in favor of same-sex marriage.” We’d never hear about it. (BTW, it’s been years since same-sex marriage was on the table politically here in Massachusetts. When did Fr. Unni have those speakers? Is that “ancient history” at this point.)
Look I’m not saying that Fr. Unni accepts the Church’s teaching on homosexuality. I’ve never met him, and I’ve never heard anything he’s said directly on the topic. I acknowledge that it’s entirely possible that in his heart of hearts he doesn’t accept it. But if so, for him to remain silent on the matter is the best he can honestly do. For him to remain publicly silent in the face of the Cardinal’s statements, if he inwardly disagrees, is IMO an indication of his awareness that it is his duty not to contradict Church doctrine, and I think silence is far better than open disagreement.
I’m also not saying that the Cardinal and Bishop Hennessy have handled St. Cecilia’s perfectly. I’m not saying that you can’t think they could have done better. But even if they could have done better, that does not mean they have abandoned the teaching of the faith. When the Cardinal provokes the kind of reaction he got from the rabbi and from the “gay community,” I think it’s perfectly clear to them which side he’s on. And that’s what you want.
naturgesetz,
When I say nothing has been done, I’m referring to several things:
The first comments from the archdiocese said Fr. Unni would clarify that original Mass was not intended to be celebrating Gay Pride in his comments to the parish on June 19. That didn’t happen at all–instead he slammed us for “hate,” said he didn’t know what the agenda of Gay Pride was , and gave only a fraction of the story about “Jesus’ Agenda” in the presence of his bishop, Robert Hennessey, conveniently avoiding any mention of sin and the need for repentance.
People contacting Bishop Hennessey’s office have gotten the response that “he’ll check into it.” What’s there to still check into? If he said, “I realize there are some issues and be assured, I’m working on them,” that’s a lot different than saying, “I’ll check into it.”
The Mass was said as intended to be welcoming to all and not specificaly the gay and lesbian community, yet still specifically calls out the GLBT community once again.
The USCCB advises persons with a homosexual inclination and encourages them to NOT define themselves primarily in terms of their sexual inclination or to participate in ‘gay subcultures,’ which often tend to promote immoral lifestyles, yet this Mass is being promoted as welcoming to the “gay, lesbian, bisexual , and transgendered community.” Why was that permitted?
If something were being done behind the scenes, why is it that we see zero evidence of that, and the public communications are largely unchanged?
I agree we need to hear or see a full recording of today’s homily and festivities (St. Cecilia’s word, not ours–they say they want the reception after Mass to be “festive.”)
As for the Rainbow Ministry, we will post the old links here soon.
Look, I have had enough about the claim the action of a Cardinal putting statements in the Pilot and saying something in the Globe is the shining achievement to teach the children our religion.
I don’t give flying fig about his public statements. His duty belongs in every classroom and every parish – where he has places heretics, homosexual and gay marriage activists to teach the faith to Catholics.
He is silencing Church teaching and promoting false teachings inside of schools and parishes and he is lying about it and attacking people who shine the light on his predilections.
If you have an example of where moral teaching has been promoted inside of a classroom, please cite it here. Otherwise, shut your piehole about calumny because you don’t know what you are talking about.
It would be interesting to see Phil Lawler’s reaction if they started teaching about homosexuality “in every classroom.” Considering how ballistic he went over “Talking about Touching,” imagine how he’d feel about “Talking about Sodomy” with grade schoolers.
Am I to understand your post to convey that the Archdiocese doesn’t know the difference between telling children all their relatives are going to rape them and you’re there to protect them from it, giving them explicit what fingers and parts of the body will violently go into what holes — and teaching the moral teachings of the Church?
The problem was that the Archdiocese did not and would not keep tabs on who their priests were sleeping with and how old they were and they are still not doing it.
“Am I to understand your post to convey that the Archdiocese doesn’t know the difference between telling children all their relatives are going to rape them and you’re there to protect them from it, giving them explicit what fingers and parts of the body will violently go into what holes — and teaching the moral teachings of the Church?”
No.
n.b. Let me see if I can give you a clearer message to take back to the luminaries at the pastoral center:
Remember when Paul Shanley set up a ministry and it had older gay men on it looking for sex partners and they went out to recruit young gay men and teenagers to hook up with mentors who would teach them the ropes?
Guess what? Fr. Unni’s got the ministry going again, right inside of a parish setting.
“Remember when Paul Shanley set up a ministry and it had older gay men on it looking for sex partners and they went out to recruit young gay men and teenagers to hook up with mentors who would teach them the ropes?”
No. I was not aware of that.
BTW, any notion you have that I am in contact with archdiocesan officials about this is the erroneous figment of your overactive imagination.
Never forget Shanley made his $300,000 bail and fled to P-town.
The Gay community publicly tries to distance themselves from him
but he is their true folk hero.
It sounds like you don’t understand the magnitude of and potential dangers of the problem and there is very small number of people around these parts who have not experienced the bad faith in the archdiocese. Since most of the people afflicted with these conditions work in the Chancery, I made an erroneous assumption. I beg your pardon.
bwt – here’s the 411 on the ‘ministry’ Fr. Unni is sponsoring and how it is a throwback to Paul Shanley’s:
Paul Shanley was an hero in the gay community. He gained their trust. When young adults and teens were troubled about their sexual identity – gay Catholics sent them to Paul Shanley. Shanley guided them to lower their guard, let loose, come out of the closet and energize their sexuality. He took an inventory of which of these kids were from troubled families who were not keeping an eye on their children – and he escalated energizing their sexuality by arousing them himself, told them if they got an erection, it meant they were gay and he proceeded to victimize them himself.
Gay “ministry” at the Jesuit Urban Center which was voted the best place to find a sex partner in the City migrates to St. Cecilia’s. Gay men, most of them, even perhaps all of them are consenting adults. But there is simply no way to police it. The clarion call comes to young gay teens and men to come out of the closet and energize their sexuality, they join this group. Perverts who manipulate young men and teenagers infiltrate without anybody knowing it. History repeats itself in the Catholic Church.
Fr. Unni can’t police it. The men and women running it can’t police it.
Of course, Shanley took advantage of the children and young gay men struggling himself — which is despicable — but a young man confused about his sexuality is in grave danger in these ministries which advocate promiscuity. They are magnets for perverts.
I’d hate to see what Paul Shanley did in his “ministry” to young people happening at St. Cecilia’s, but there are a couple of differences based on what has been said about both. Unlike Shanley, St. Cecilia’s Rainbow Ministry does not appear to be directed at teenagers.
Shanley was actively recruiting young people into homosexual activity. The quote from the vice-chairman of the parish council (not an official statement of the parish) in an interview with Rainbow Times does not encourage sexual activity. Here’s what the interview reports:
And Iandoli offered strong words of encouragement to gay youth. “I urge you to come out,” he said “The closet is a hateful, lonely, silent, and unholy place.”As Iandoli explained, “If you can, come out when you are ready and when it is safe, I think your yoke will be easier, your burden lighter. The freedom that comes from being honest with yourself, accepting yourself, and sharing that information about yourself when appropriate will release terrible psychological pressure and give you new energy and life.”
The fact is that the effort required to stay in the closet can be draining, and it often leads people to feel that they are “living a lie” even when they have not actually lied, but just kept a secret. Being “out” does carry the danger that there will be pressure to become sexually active, but even those who are in the closet often want to become sexually active, but secretively. So Iandoli does have a valid point in what he actually says. Will those who come out with his encouragement be recruited into sexual activity? There is ,as you note, no real proof that the men in the Rainbow Ministry will do so. Ultimately, it depends on how well catechized the young people are. By the time people are in college, they know the fact that the Church teaches that homosexual activity is wrong. So, IMO, they don’t need to be told that again. What they need is to come to understand why that teaching is true. And it will take much more patience and “soft sell” than if they had been well catechized before adulthood.
So we come to the point that this is a much wider issue that St. Cecilia’s. (I gather there are not even a lot of children in the parish.) Despite my wisecrack, we do need age appropriate catechesis on sexual morality in our schools and religious education programs; and it needs to start before middle school, because of the way our culture sexualizes children. And of course, it needs to cover heterosexual activity as well, since there are way more heterosexuals than homosexuals, and they are equally in danger of absorbing the culture’s attitude that sex is meaningless — just something enjoyable for two people to do when both want to. IMO our young people need to be thoroughly grounded in the Theology of the Body as the basis for chastity, regardless of sexual orientation.
This brings me to one more point: there is probably a whole lot more artificial contraception occurring than homosexual activity. So it could be argued that we need to pay much more attention to the catechetical shortcomings in the areas of heterosexual activity, and that this is even more urgent than homosexuality. How many programs clearly and convincingly present the Church’s teaching on contraception? It needs to be part of the religious education and Catholic school curriculum. Again, IMO, the Theology of the Body is the most effective tool we have.
I agree that a ministry to people struggling with sexual temptation hinges on catechesis but there are several glaring omissions in your thesis.
The Rainbow Ministry is a Ministry that has been well known as the best place to find a sexual partner in Boston. There is ample evidence on the internet to confirm they support suppressing the urge to resist homosexual sex, individuals leading the ministry are well known supporters and lobbyists of gay marriage and outright opposition to Church teaching, including yelling and screaming and disrupting a Mass should a priest define the sanctity of marriage in accordance with Catholic teaching.
Therefore, let us end the charade.
If proponents of activating homosexual sex and gay marriage, previously known for having one of the best hook up for sex ministries in Boston, calls forward youth and children -along with the lack of evidence Fr. Unni has ever taught homosexuals must be celibate and that he has called Catholics who do teach it hateful and implied they are bigots – one has to be truthful about the fact that any youth responding to Mr. Ianoldi is going to led to repress his urges to avoid temptation and led to a life of sexual activity in the homosexual community.
One also has to admit that this kind of a ministry IS a magnet for perverts and children are therefore in danger as there is no way to police it.
Finally, it is irrefutable that the cause of the scandal that has bankrupted the Archdiocese is not up and running at St. Cecilia’s- at arms length – and the Cardinal has referred to Fr. Unni’s ministry as having his full confidence and support.
Beg pardon, That last sentence should read:
Finally, it is irrefutable that the cause of the scandal that has bankrupted the Archdiocese is NOW up and running at St. Cecilia’s- at arms length – and the Cardinal has referred to Fr. Unni’s ministry as having his full confidence and support.
anna,
You see, I haven’t been following the Rainbow Ministry on the internet or anywhere else. All I know about them is what I’ve found here and on an almost empty page which I found linked to the online bulletin of St. Cecilia’s parish. Certainly the evidence on the internet which you are aware of should be presented to Bishop Hennessy.
And I see your point about young people coming out in the specific environment of a “ministry” which encourages sexual activity. Context is certain;y important. Coming out to a sympathetic straight friend, a parent, or a priest who supports the Church’s teaching on homosexuality can be helpful when one is struggling, but coming out to a person or group that supports homosexual activity is unwise and can be very dangerous.
Maria, I have read the item you linked. Here’s the part that speaks about Fr. Unni.
Geilenfeld [the abuser] wanted Emile [one of his victims] to write a letter in which Emile would deny that Geilenfeld ever abused him. Geilenfeld mistakenly thought that if he could get Emile to speak with a nearby Hearts with Haiti board member, in this case, John Unni, then Unni would convince Emile to recant his prior testimony that Geilenfeld abused him (see letter below).
Instead, and not unexpectantly (except in Geilenfeld’s sick mind), Unni became overwhelmed by the horror of Emile’s story and told Emile he would stand by him and help him and support him. Unni says, “After listening again and again to Emile’s story of abuse, I have such serious concerns that I call for an immediate investigation of Michael Geilenfeld by Haitian and U.S. law enforcement officials.”
This certainly is to Fr. Unni’s credit, whatever one may say about what happens at St. Cecilia’s Parish.
Unni’s credit?
I think we should let law enforcement flesh this matter out.
He is a board member of an agency whose founder
is a homosexual with a taste for Pederasty, and he has
been prowling unfettered since 1983?
Gay Pride indeed.
May God bless the investigation.
Naturgesetz are you high?
If I am so’s Joe Sacerdo.
I am not high. All I said as far as the Haiti situation was that one article acknowledged Fr. Unni listened to what the abuse victim said and expressed outrage.
Joe, you have bent over backwards trying to appease naturgesetz, even to the point of rewriting the letter. For you own good, don’t let these defenders of sodomy waste your time and effort. It was clear long ago that this guy lacks sincerity. He must be getting a good laugh at the expense of you and the sincere commenters. I can understand your letting him blather on, as he will surely continue because it is effective. But take heart and don’t let him get to you. God bless.
“It was clear long ago that this guy lacks sincerity. He must be getting a good laugh at the expense of you and the sincere commenters.”
Jerry, you have misjudged me. Time for you to do some genuine introspection/examination of conscience as to what made you fall into that error.
The fact is, I don’t know about what’s happening at St. Cecilia’s apart from what I’ve read here and in an article or two in the Globe. But it seems to me that some comments go beyond the facts presented here to extravagant conclusions. People make wild accusations about Cardinal Seán, and seem totally oblivious to their moral obligation “to interpret insofar as possible his neighbors thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way.” Catechism of the Catholic Church 2478. It seems as if some commenters instead would rather give the worst possible interpretation to what people are doing. So I write to try to point this out, Basically, I see myself as following the lead of St. Ignatius of Antioch, who in his epistles urged the people of the churches to which he wrote to remain united with their bishops. I see no real good in a “blame the Cardinal for everything we don’t like” mindset. He has a demanding job, in which he must constantly make judgment calls where there is no absolute right or wrong. So if he does things differently from what you or someone else thinks would have been best, that does not justify claiming, in effect, that he tacitly supports homosexual activity.
There seems to be an attitude at work in which people feel that every time a pastoral judgment isn’t just what they want, then it proves the pastor is faithless. The faithful have a right to make their needs and wishes known to their pastors; they do not have a right to insist on specific actions from the pastors. The attitude I see is one which if unchecked ultimately tends to schism as people decide that they are more Catholic then their bishop, and, when Rome leaves him in place, that they are more Catholic than the Roman Curia and the Pope. I mean, if Cardinal Seán is really as terrible as some people here claim, what will it mean when the Vatican leaves him in place? How can people who think he has abandoned orthodoxy stay in communion with Rome when Rome says he’s okay?
Pertliz, Haiti, young boys the victim of sodomy, the Jesuits, priests advancing the homosexual agenda in Catholic Churches, Fr. Unni. Whew, I get dizzy.
I learned at “New Ways Ministry” that there is a list of “gay friendly Catholic parishes”. In Boston there are a total of seven of these parishes. I thought that New Ways Ministry was adivsed to cease and desist. It seems that these orders fall on deaf ears.
Massachusetts
Boston: Paulist Center, St. Anthony Shrine,
St. Cecilia
East Longmeadow: St. Michael
Newton: St. Ignatius
Sharon: Our Lady of Sorrows
Springfield: Sacred Heart
Worcester: Holy Cross College
Jim Martin SJ is a frequent contributor to New Ways Ministry and the bulletin at St. Cecelia’s. It seems we are falling down on the job, Joe.
A word to the wise: “No heresy in the Catholic church ever succeeded without the suport of a Bishop”. –John Hardon SJ
Gay friendly parishes:
District of Columbia
Holy Trinity, St. Aloysius, St. Matthew Cathedral
Oh, lookie here, two out of three are Jesuit parishes! What are the chances?
Bishop Daniel Ryan was in union with Rome despite the fact that the hierarchy knew he was raping teenage boys. Bishop Anthony O’Connell was in union with Rome when the Pope appointed
him Bishop of West Palm Beach, Florida despite the fact that the hierarchy knew he had molested teenage boys. They even made a payment to one victim on his behalf years earlier. The list goes on and on but what’s the point? The point is being in “union” with Rome or your local Bishop can lead you to Hell. Rome knows full well that Bishops like Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles and Howard Hubbard of Albany have lost their faith but still they are in union with
Rome while they destroy their Dioceses. [this was written in 2009].
While bishops and priests in union with Rome have been destroying the Faith – good Holy Priests have been stripped of their faculties for simply defending the faith. Most of you know of a priest who falls into this category.
Fr. John Hardon, S.J. (RIP) was one of the first priests to offer his help to RCF (No one could doubt Father’s orthodoxy). In 1996 Fr. Hardon arranged for me to speak at a Detroit parish and helped RCF raise funds. At the time he was telling anyone who would listen that, according to his Vatican superiors “one diocese after another would be lost UNLESS THE LAITY DID SOMETHING.”
FR. HARDON WAS MAKING IT VERY CLEAR THAT THE BISHOPS WERE CORRUPT AND DESTROYING THE CHURCH”.
I believed that one thing RCF could do was publicly expose this corruption, prick the conscience of the once faithful and maybe then things would change. I was wrong.
It was Fr. Hardon who suggested I use the canonical services of Fr. Alfred Kunz of Dane, Wisconsin. While Fr. Kunz was glad to help RCF, he made it clear that “YOU WILL FIND NO JUSTICE IN THE CHURCH TODAY.” Father’s comments added to those of Hardon’s painted a very dismal picture. But I still had hope that the “system” might work. Fr. Alfred Kunz was brutally murdered in 1998 while he was helping RCF with the case of predatory homosexual Bishop Daniel Ryan. Father’s killer has never been found”.
Good to know, huh?
You can read the rest here @
rcf.org/RCFgoodbye.pdf
New World Order!
Please stop supporting and participating the lie about the homosexual agenda by accepting and using the word “gay.” That is their term. It should not be the Catholic’s term. Call it what it is. What are you afraid of? Make them use your vocabulary. Don’t you use theirs. Words matter, and, if the battle for words is lost the rest of the battle is lost with it.
My concern is that the true teaching of the Catholic Church, as demonstrated through the ministry of Courage/EnCourage, will never truly take root in the Boston Archdiocese because the way of Courage, in helping those people who are engaging in same-sex sex acts to live lives of chastity in accordance with the laws of God and the teaching of His Church, is denigrated, ridiculed and dismissed as “useless’ by the members of the Rainbow Ministry,Dignity,New Ways Ministry and those who support these organizations which give honor to PFLAG and the GLBT Gay Pride agenda through their activities at St. Cecilia’s parish. The work of the call to chastity of the members of Courage/EnCourage has been called “cruel”,”hate-filled”, and” uncaring” by the organization leaders of the Rainbow Ministry and their supporters. Cardinal O’Malley appears to have chosen to applaud these leaders who have been given the opportunity to represent St. Cecilia’s parish by his words of praise for the “great leadership” of the pastor, Fr. John Unni, who has allowed this way in opposition to the way of Courage/EnCourage way to flourish.
When this same situation took place at Our Lady Help of Christians parish in Newton in 1999-2006 when Fr. Cuenin received the highest honor of the Gay Pride leaders in Boston ,especially because of Fr. Walter Cuenin’s leadership in developing the Companions program, the way that Fr. Cuenin’s anti-Catholic and anti-Courage leadership was addressed was to have him removed from his pastoral role because of financial problems involving misuse of money. This meant that he could be removed without the Cardinal addressing his role in leading his parishioners into supporting his involvement in the PFLAG Gay Pride movement. Therefore the Cardinal never had to confront this scandal. Now, the same issue is prevailing at St. Cecilia’s parish and it has to be confronted and addressed. If not, then there will be other pastors who will think that they can go the same way as Fr. Cuenin and Fr. Unni and the scandal will mushroom even further.
The way of Courage/EnCourage is loving and caring about the soul of the person,. This way is not “cruel”.”hate-filled” and “uncaring” as the opponents of the way of Courage/EnCourage want them portrayed by Cardinal O’Malley. Convincing Cardinal O’Malley to support this Rainbow Ministry view is a grave injustice to the members of Courage/EnCourage who are very personally being attacked by these charges. Because Catholics in the Boston Archdiocese have rarely learned about the way of Courage/EnCourage, the members have no voice to defend their support for helping people live in accordance with God’s plan for human love. Their voices are presently being denigrated and dismissed as the voices of the Rainbow Ministry are being honored and magnified.
Hopefully Cardinal O’Malley will realize what is really happening before he allows the July 10 Mass that is being planned by the Rainbow Ministry at St. Cecilia’s Church.
Excellent observations, Alice. You outline the true charity that we must give to those who want to be free from this vice and the shame it bears in their souls. It requires considerable care and support, but the grace is available. Many have been freed, a fact that infuriates rainbow types.
Contrary to the interminable caterwauling of the troll, Cardinal Sean is derelict in his duty to help homosexuals and to defend Catholic moral teaching. You, Joe and others have shown this beyond any reasonable doubt. With you, I pray that he will change and do the right thing, as he did in divesting his stake in the CeltiCare abortion business.
The Cost of Loving God
John Hardon SJ
“To say that the sacrifice of our own ideas and way’s calls for humility is only to restate what must be a spectacle to the angels. The Church’s authority tells the faithful to accept her teaching and her directives on pre-marital chastity, on priestly celibacy, on chastity in marriage by not interfering with the life process, on the value of confession for children, on the strict and very rare conditions for general absolution. on the vestments that a priest is to wear at Mass, or the recitation of the Divine Office by those in priestly orders, on the rubrics to be observed in the Eucharistic Liturgy, on the whole gamut of Catholic doctrine like the papal primacy, the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, and the meaning of sin. I said when the angels see what’s going on on earth it’s a spectacle. I don’t quite know what I am saying, but I am sure the angels must weep at the lack of humility as a result of which those whom God has called, even to His deepest intimacy, fail in loving Him. They reverse the prayer of Jesus in the Garden, “Not your will, but mine be done”-and they mean it, they really mean it. I’ve reasoned, I’ve argued, given people every possible cogent reason for not insisting on something which the Church said was wrong. “Don’t you see that the Church insists: ‘You may not do this, you may not teach this’?” But they have a reason and the reason is their will. In the bible of Satan the first verse reads: “in the beginning was the deed. And the deed was contrary to the will of God; and God was left to take the consequences”.
Marjorie: Right you are about language. I would add sodomy to this list.
There seems a role reversal. It is now the laity who in trying to lead the clerics back to sound teaching. Strange, isn’t it? God help us and save us.
Let’s hope we can so without becoming proud ourselves. Pride goeth before a fall. The reason so many have fallen is because they began to believe in their own intelligence and did not rely upon God.