More Info on Archdiocese of Boston Reorganization

Today one of Boston's public radio stations, WBUR-FM, has reported on the preliminary lists, showing how the Archdiocese of Boston intends to organize parishes into clusters, so as to best use diminishing resources, both in personnel and in finances.  There are links below.
 
 
 

http://www.wbur.org/2012/01/25/boston-catholic-reorganization

 
 

http://www.wbur.org/2012/01/26/parish-groupings-2

 
 
 
 

The Story Behind The Boston Globe Breaking The Clergy Abuse Scandal

The WBUR.FM program, Radio Boston, had an interview with two of the reporters who had worked on the Boston Globe Spotlight Team, and broke the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.  That series of reports, with evidence to back them up, would finally break down the walls of secrecy and cover-ups.

A Sad and Tragic Anniversay

Ten years ago this month, the scandal concerning the sexual abuse of children by Boston Catholic clergy was revealed by the Boston Globe.  The revelations contained in the newspaper’s reporting sent shockwaves throughout the Boston Catholic community.  The shockwaves have continued to be felt in the national Church, indeed throughout the entire Catholic Church.  Like many Catholics, I was very angry; I felt betrayed by the very men I had believed were suppose to look after their faith communities, to be caring shepherds.  Instead, I saw bishops more concerned with covering up the scandal, to protect the image of the Church.  Anybody in public life could have told them that what really upsets people is not the crime, but the cover-up of the crime.  The scandal was a pressure cooker, waiting to explode; and because it was ignored by the bishops, it did.

Despite my anger, I have never considered leaving the Church, or cutting back my involvement in the life of my parish.  Maybe it was because of my years of formation with other seminarians, who I came to love and respect.  Maybe, it was because of my knowledge of Church history, and experience within the institution; I have known the Church to be both very holy, and unfortunately, very human.  But, mostly, it has been my own encounter with Christ, and where those encounters have been, that have kept me in the Church.

The effects of the scandal are still with us.  I cannot tell you how many CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) release forms I have had to sign because I am both a parish volunteer and a Candidate for the Permanent Diaconate.  The measures taken to pay compensation to the victims are still controversial.  There is still a tug of war between those who want of the names of all accused priests released, and those who believe a person is considered innocent until proven guilty.  The guidelines to handle sex abuse cases, written by the US bishops, have not been followed by all bishops (Incidents in the Philadelphia and Kansas City dioceses come to mind).  This wound is going to be with us for a very long time.

One bishop who is working to heal that wound has been Cardinal Sean O’Malley, OFM CAP, Archbishop of Boston.  He was recently interviewed by John Allen, Jr., a reporter for the National Catholic Reporter.  The link is here.

Conflicts over The Place Christ was Born!

One of the scandals of Christianity has been the conflicts between  various Christian denominations over control of the holy sites in the Middle East.  Catholics squabble with Greek Orthodox, and Greek Orthodox will fight with the Armenian Orthodox; each trying to preserve their piece of a holy site. This state of affairs has existed over the centuries.  Now Huffington Post has a story about a fight between Greek and Armenian Orthodox in the ancient Church of the Nativity.  The church is supposed to enclose the site where tradition holds Jesus Christ was born. 

So in a place that celebrates the birth of the Prince of Peace, Christian clergy are fighting with each other like street gangs over turf.  I can never understand why there is this lack of cooperation, lack of charity, and possessiveness.  Whatever happened to “They will know we are Christians by our love?” 

A Christmas Greeting

Here’s Hoping That Everyone Had A Very Merry And Holy Christmas!

A Lovely SFO Lady Passes Away

While surfing the Web, I came across the announcement that Emanuela De Nunzio, SFO, had passed away on November 10, 2011.  She had been an Italian member of the Secular Franciscan Order since 1949.  After Vatican II, the SFO underwent a renewal, one of the results being that all the worldwide fraternities were united under one Minister General.  Ms. De Nunzio was elected as Minister General in 1990, and again in 1996.

Among her achievements was to get the Secular Franciscan Order recognized as an equal, and valuable part of the Franciscan Movement, and became the first Secular Franciscan to join the Conference of the Franciscan Family, with the other Ministers General.  She also promulgated the revised SFO Constitutions in 2001.

A true servant of God, and daughter of Saint Francis, she will be missed.

Princes of the Church on Twitter

Slowly but the surely, the Web is making inroads among the Princes of the Church.  A posting from the Vatican Insider has a story about Cardinals using Twitter.  It listed some of the top users, those with the largest number of followers.  Among them is Boston’s own Archbishop, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, OFM Cap.  The reporter estimated that Cardinal Sean has about 1,993 Twitter followers, placing him in third place among those Cardinals who are active on Twitter.  Read more.