The Missionary Society of St. James does pretty good work with the poor in Latin America. So, it’s kind of a shame that they’re putting their credibility on the line by continuing their plans to honor Fr. John Unni, of St. Cecilia’s “Gay Pride Mass” fame at their Boston Banquet in October. Some readers complained that I haven’t taken up the subject. You’ve now gotten your wish.
Here’s their July 2001 newsletter. It probably went to press before the big public flap over the “Gay Pride Mass.” Here’s the notice about honoring Fr. Unni:
I wrote to the St. James Society to complain about this.
from: Joe Sacerdo
to: ReverendRodney_Copp@rcab.org, info@socstjames.com
date: Tue, Jul 12, 2011 at 10:57 PM
subject: Fr. Unni being honored by St. James Society?Fr. Copp and Fr. Hays,
I notice that the St. James Society plans to honor Fr. John Unni of St. Cecilia’s in Boston on Sunday, October 23 at Boston College High School. As I’m sure you know, he has brought shame upon the archdiocese for plans to celebrate a Mass commemorating Gay Pride last month, and his parish has sponsored speakers in recent years who support gay marriage and worked against the Catholic Church on gay marriage.
Were you both aware of this? In consideration of what has happened over the past 4-5 weeks, is the plan still to honor him?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Here’s the response I received back:
To: Reverend Rodney Copp (CC), Mr. Joe Sacerdo
From: Rev. Kevin Hays
RE: Cardinal Cushing AwardMr. Sacerdo. Thank you for your communication regarding this year’s recipients of the Cardinal Cushing Award.
The Missionary Society of St. James the Apostle has existed for the last 53 years as a missionary group in the poorest areas of Latin America. For many years now Fr. John Unni and people associated with St. Cecilia’s parish have done missionary and humanitarian relief work in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. He was chosen to receive this award for the work that he does with God’s poorest of the poor. The Society of St. James the Apostle will make no comment on the events of the last number of weeks, given that the Archdiocese has already done so.
With every best wish,
Rev. Kevin Hays
Director
Is it just me, or is kind of a problem to award someone for their work serving the physical needs of the “poorest of the poor” in Haiti, and then look the other way when you know they’ve created public scandal by planning a “Gay Pride Mass,” and you know they’re sponsoring a “Rainbow Ministry” at their parish that tells sexually confused teens they should “come out” to get new life and energy, they’re sponsoring speakers in support of “gay marriage” who lead poor souls away from holiness and salvation, and they’re failing to serve the needs of the spiritually poor in his own parish by failing to lead them towards God’s plan for salavation?
If you’d like to write to the two people in charge of the St. James Society here in Boston and let them know what you think, here are their email addresses:
Fr. Rodney Copp: ReverendRodney_Copp@rcab.org
Fr. Kevin Hays: info@socstjames.com
As a Guatemalan fro a poor family I cheer their desition, for a group alike I was accommodated a future, not confused at all, I was a gay teen thrown out of my house at 14yo. My catholic family turned away from me. The group guided me and took me away from the streets and thanks to them I had a wonderful word career.
I honored them.
Rene Micheo.
Has the Archdiocese of Boston lost the ability to discern right from wrong? Has good become evil…and bad become good? The St. James Society was just at our church, St. Michael in North Andover, asking for support in their work. The parisjhioners were very generous to them. How disappointing to see them take this action and simply dismiss the the scandal created by the one they honor.
Shame! Shame! Shame! The Cardinal Archbishop of Boston must see the very confusing message being sent out by the RCAB and remember their responsibilities as shepherds of His flock. Sour very souls are in their hands.
Ora pro nobis…….
John Cronin
Regarding the Guatemalan child, Rene Micheo’s response, when I was visiting someone in Guatemala in the late 1980′s, the Polish priests who were pastors in the towns around where i was staying were complaining that the American Peace Corps members who came to Guatemala were sowing the seeds of hedonism among the poor people they claimed to be helping. The priests had gathered together to celebrate the feast day of Maximilian Kolbe at a church in Guatemala that was named after him. These missionary priests complained that members of the Peace Corps were not only encouraging the practice of same- sex sex but were also trying to get the farmers’ wives to practice birth control and to learn about how to get abortions.
Did Rene’s parents refuse to allow the practice of same-sex sex acts to take place under their roof? In many cases when parents will not allow this practice, the child turns the situation around and says they were “thrown out of the house”. In many cases it was the determination of the child to pursue the hedonistic practice at any price, even if their actions alienated them from their parents.
I suspect that this is really the case ,too, with many of the children who are now living in Waltham at the Home for Little Wanderers. Unfortunately, the media portrays the parents as the” cruel” persons who “throw their child out” when really the choice is that the child chooses to demand that the parents accept their hedonistic behavior even if it is going to effect the behavior of other children in the family. I expect that many parents in Guatemala would strongly object to one of their children insisting that they “have the right” to act out in this hedonistic way and if the parents say “No!”, the child tries to portray the parents as the “cruel” ones.
The following was e-mailed to Fr. Hays this morning.
Dear Fr. Hays:
I have read the remarks between you and Joe Sacerdo on the brianhehirexposed website. It is admirable that Fr, Unni and his parish are involved with charitable work in Haiti. It is a scandal that he and his parish are flaunting the teachings of the Church regarding homosexual practice and the homosexual agenda generally.
There are many athiests and anti-Catholic bigots involved in charitable work in our country and the world so, in itself, charitable work is irrelevant. By his words and his actions, Fr. Unni has separate himself from the Church and placed himself above her teachings. That is, and always ought to be, the governing factor in assessing the worthiness of anyone to receive an honor from an identiafiable Catholic entity.
The St. James Society has done heroic work for Christ for many years in Latin America and my wife and I have supported your efforts. It is regrettable that you have chosen to honor a man whose efforts, no matter how high sounding he tries to make them are, ultimately, opposed to the teachings of Christ and His Church.
Yours in Christ,
Ferde Rombola, Beverly, MA
Excellent letter, Ferde. I should do something myself.
The Guatemalan teen was obviously very confused. It would appear extremely likely that the issues in Boston are undergoing a “shakedown cruise” before it is foisted on the rest of the Church. There is also no surprise that the Peace Corps is going to South America and undercutting the work of the Polish priests. The European Church is seen as oppressive toward women and now the American Church is pushing more and more for “sexual rights” of every persuasion with Jesuits “manning the point”.
Maybe Fr. Unni should transfer to this parish in Mexico. I understand they are hiring:
http://areluctantsinner.blogspot.com/2011/07/vatican-questions-bishop-about-his.html
Guess none of these distinguished learned gentlemen, who will carry the mark of priestly ordination on their souls forever, have forgotten some of their dogma. Hell.
There are no second chances with God, in hell.
Hi, Joe…you sound a lot like I used to sound several years ago. Your arrogance and judgmental spirit will catch up with you one of these days. I speak from experience: the means God will use to convert your meanspirited and fearful heart will be astonishingly painful…the longer you wait, the riskier it will be that you will be lost, and the more devastating the conversion you will undergo if, in God’s mercy, you are not lost. Repent of your unkind, unloving and anti-Gospel attitudes now, before it is too late. I am praying for you and all those who find your way of “defending the faith” attractive.
Dear Anonymous,
Your wife tossed you out because you were a jerk.
Your poor Catholic formation made you a “loose canonist”.
Now that you are a warm and fuzzy new-age-y Catholic
a church militant pacifist who stands for nothing and falls
for anything, you want to criticize those whom you see a
being like your former self. Joe, nor the rest of us are
like you used to be. We are not going to ‘get over’ orthodoxy.
Joe rocks.
This is very sad. I think you will be sorry someday. Hope it’s not too late for you when “someday” arrives…it must be hard for you to believe that you could possibly be under God’s judgment, when you can barely contain your exuberant self-righteousness and wretched lack of charity. Ah, Satan’s favorite playground! You are to be pitied, and prayed for. Sorry, but the Lord Jesus Christ is the One who “rocks,” as much as you might prefer your sundry idols. You’ll see…hopefully sooner rather than later.
God loves all of us, including Fr. John Unni whether or not we agree with him. His mother is very proud of him and the missionary work that he has done even in Boston, so as a neighbor Protestant, I decided to Google the event at which he was honored and found your discontent. Fortunately, all is still well “in God’s Kingdom.”
I have read these posts and am appalled at the hate posted here. All of you have lost the message of Christ. He summed it all up in ONE word “LOVE”. I know Fr John. Were it not for him I would have left the church. He preaches LOVE not dogma. Never has he said one word of condemnation. He realizes we are all broken and sinners. He knows God loves us inspite of ourselves. Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to cast a stone. Fr John is much loved and respected. He immitates Christ through his ministry and despite your homophobic diatribes he is much loved by ALL members of the parish. He welcomes all to the table of the Lord. He judges NO ONE.
Look in your mirror. When you are perfect and show true Christian love then post it. Remove the board from your own eye before you try to remove the splinter in someone elses.
Before you post another falsehood come and hear Fr John preach. You will be moved!
God Bless him. May he have a long and fruitdul ministry. I pray he is made a Bishop! The church would certainly do well.
Dave in Salem, Ma
Dave Mack, where is the “hate” in the blog posts? What is false?
I know Fr. John is loved and respected at St. Cecilia’s. I’ve personally heard Fr. John preach. He never talks about sin and repentance. He does not have regular hours at the church for the sacrament of confession. Are you aware that you can lose salvation through mortal sin, and homosexual acts are considered a mortal sin? If you go to St. Cecilias, you will never hear that preached or taught.
You’re missing an important part of the message of Christ and apparently don’t realize it. Jesus’ only message was not love. Why did Jesus died on the cross? TO SAVE US FROM OUR SINS. Jesus told the adulterous woman to go and sin no more. When was the last time that Fr. John Unni said that to his congregation? He knows God loves us in spite of our sin, but what he does not teach is that you have to turn from your sins to embrace Christ and be saved. That, Dave, is the problem.
Fr. John Unni is a gift to the Roman Catholic Church!! You would have to go a long way to find a better priest. You hateful critics must love Bishop Lennon of Cleveland. His priests are petitioning the Vatican to remove him. He has caused nothing but dissension there and has no support from the clergy. We need more priests like Fr. Unni.