It seems the Vatican, or even brother bishops, are wont to overlook a bishop's bad behavior about as long as they can. Bishops are little popes in their dioceses, and as successors to the apostles highly regarded. Which may be fine, except they are actually humans with human failings.
I pray for father and the diocese. I AGAIN reiterate,we here in Charlotte wait for the restoration of our pastor after four years,did you read that? Yes,four years of a priest’s life in exile and reputation destroyed because of complaints and a bishop who cannot admit he jumped the gun. SICK. Bring forth the TRUTH before you destroy a person! And do it before 4 years! Take the targets from our priests backs and let the pendulum swing to the middle. Abuse works both ways and by NO means do I condone allowing it to children or vulnerable adults.
Well done Archdiocese of Milwaukee. But even more, kudos to The Pillar for your investigative journalism. It is highly unlikely that without your investigation, things would have continued as they were for years.
I tried to find this statement ("a statement from Father Nathan Reesman") but instead found a column that I guess he wrote years ago in response to a different goat rodeo; the column was on the side of chastity and self-sacrificing love and the right of us to be handed accurate teachings, which is nice. But I continue to pray. Even if the archdiocese gets a well done in the end, we would need to pray for repentance of whoever needs some repenting (I put myself at the top of the list on general principles).
How can anyone condemn the messenger (?). There can be no shame in being righteously corrected by whomever the Lord inspires. If I were one so accused of moral error, I know it will certainly be harder for me to accept correction and repentance, even though I certainly need it. This situation might have been better resolved with Pastoral Privacy rather than public humiliation. That seems to be the problem with our historical treatment of these issues. We hear about it much later on when it bubbles up to a lack of correction for an individual case. This should have been handled at the first instance of notification. The process reveals how much more we need to do to improve our responses within the church. However, I say that this case, maybe resolved in a much shorter time than other cases so publicly outed. I salute the Pillar instead!
We should pray for all those involved to repent including someone like me tempted to jump to conclusions with a hard heart. The act of charity is our duty and mission as it is the head of our church, Jesus Christ, of whom we are part of his body. This too we can heal by his grace. There is no shame in that. m
But how many priestly affairs flourished under his reign? How many were protected by Mutually Assured Blackmail? Rembert could hardly start disciplining immoral priests without someone revealing his boyfriend. There might be a complex long term network of which this latest scandal is only a small node.
For The Pillar and all concerned. St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Cocaine possession by his partner? Even more reason to suspect that a financial audit of Father is appropriate and would probably be very illuminating.
Inevitably I link yet again to Michael Ryan's invaluable 2005 essay on thieving from Parish collections. It was plain even back then that financial and sexual corruption went together like horse and carriage. An honest celibate priest can live on a modest stipend. But a priest with one or more sexual partners needs a lot more. And if your partner has a drugs problem.....I am reminded of Robin Williams' joke that cocaine is God's way of telling you that you have too much money.
Thank you Pillar for your work. It's why I subscribe. It sickens me that all that went on for that long and it took this to get something done about it.
With the social media aspect (postings by the partner), there had to be a lot of people who knew about this ongoing odd and scandalous situation. Maybe not everyone in the two parishes but probably more folks than you think. It had to be an open secret. Thank the Lord this was finally exposed and the Bishop was forced to deal with this. How sad that it took outside exposure for it to be addressed. Terrible governance. A follow up story with some parishioners would be good at some point.
He retired recently, probably doesn’t give a damn. No periodic updates on the canonical investigation. It’s all being swept under the large sanctuary carpet in the cathedral.
From my experience with similar situations, I would say that the Pillar has earned the undying hatred of the archbishop of Milwaukee, because it forced him to do something he obviously did not want to do but knew he should do. The archbishop who hated me would , somewhat to the embarrassment of those around him, scream when my name was mentioned. As is well known, the sin against the Holy Ghost is inconveniencing a bishop.
I assume this is your website. So I am not in the least surprised that numerous reverend gentlemen are uneasy at your name. Congratulations on fighting the good fight.
Call it the Pillar Rule (I'm open to snappier names). ONLY media exposure will prompt action on this kind of case. True throughout the McCarrick saga, true here.
It is especially depressing when a grubby tabloid finally forces action on a scandal which was already public knowledge. Bishop Kieran Conry was a protege of Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor (St Gallen Mafia). He survived an article in the small circulation Christian Order which reported him walking with a lady friend in the grounds of the country house of the English College in Rome. It did not help that the traditionalist Christian Order was a very long term thorn in the flesh of the British bishops. Some years later the unsavoury and big circulation Daily Mail came calling at Kieran's door about his latest girlfriend.....
It seems the Vatican, or even brother bishops, are wont to overlook a bishop's bad behavior about as long as they can. Bishops are little popes in their dioceses, and as successors to the apostles highly regarded. Which may be fine, except they are actually humans with human failings.
I pray for father and the diocese. I AGAIN reiterate,we here in Charlotte wait for the restoration of our pastor after four years,did you read that? Yes,four years of a priest’s life in exile and reputation destroyed because of complaints and a bishop who cannot admit he jumped the gun. SICK. Bring forth the TRUTH before you destroy a person! And do it before 4 years! Take the targets from our priests backs and let the pendulum swing to the middle. Abuse works both ways and by NO means do I condone allowing it to children or vulnerable adults.
The Pillar gets results!
Absolutely, but in a way it's almost more sad that it takes outside reporting to get things done and not have more proactive action by dioceses.
Well done Archdiocese of Milwaukee. But even more, kudos to The Pillar for your investigative journalism. It is highly unlikely that without your investigation, things would have continued as they were for years.
Would absolutely hold off on the well done to the Archdiocese for now
Ha!
I tried to find this statement ("a statement from Father Nathan Reesman") but instead found a column that I guess he wrote years ago in response to a different goat rodeo; the column was on the side of chastity and self-sacrificing love and the right of us to be handed accurate teachings, which is nice. But I continue to pray. Even if the archdiocese gets a well done in the end, we would need to pray for repentance of whoever needs some repenting (I put myself at the top of the list on general principles).
I don't think they published the statement. I think they just emailed it to parishioners and to us.
But would they have done anything if The Pillar had not reported on this issue?
The Milwaukee Archdiocese deserves no kudos whatsoever for being shamed by The Pillar into doing what they should have done from the get-go.
Exactly. The moral bankruptcy among some clerics is astounding. Don’t attract publicity and don’t get caught is their highest moral maxim.
How can anyone condemn the messenger (?). There can be no shame in being righteously corrected by whomever the Lord inspires. If I were one so accused of moral error, I know it will certainly be harder for me to accept correction and repentance, even though I certainly need it. This situation might have been better resolved with Pastoral Privacy rather than public humiliation. That seems to be the problem with our historical treatment of these issues. We hear about it much later on when it bubbles up to a lack of correction for an individual case. This should have been handled at the first instance of notification. The process reveals how much more we need to do to improve our responses within the church. However, I say that this case, maybe resolved in a much shorter time than other cases so publicly outed. I salute the Pillar instead!
We should pray for all those involved to repent including someone like me tempted to jump to conclusions with a hard heart. The act of charity is our duty and mission as it is the head of our church, Jesus Christ, of whom we are part of his body. This too we can heal by his grace. There is no shame in that. m
Rembert Weakland is spinning in his grave.
Rembert is beyond earthly justice.
https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/the-many-sins-and-crimes-of-archbishop-rembert-weakland
But how many priestly affairs flourished under his reign? How many were protected by Mutually Assured Blackmail? Rembert could hardly start disciplining immoral priests without someone revealing his boyfriend. There might be a complex long term network of which this latest scandal is only a small node.
Hence the intentional irony of my comment.
For The Pillar and all concerned. St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Thank you so much for all your good work! Continued prayers for you all at the Pillar! 🙏🏻
Way to go AGAIN Pillar!
Cocaine possession by his partner? Even more reason to suspect that a financial audit of Father is appropriate and would probably be very illuminating.
It’s never just one thing, is it? Sin begets sin. Evil begets evil.
Inevitably I link yet again to Michael Ryan's invaluable 2005 essay on thieving from Parish collections. It was plain even back then that financial and sexual corruption went together like horse and carriage. An honest celibate priest can live on a modest stipend. But a priest with one or more sexual partners needs a lot more. And if your partner has a drugs problem.....I am reminded of Robin Williams' joke that cocaine is God's way of telling you that you have too much money.
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2005_01_06/2005_06_17_Ryan_TheSecond.htm
And do Catholic parents want a cocaine user as their children's theology teacher?
The teacher calls a snow day ... but not like back in the day.
Oh good one!
Thank you Pillar for your work. It's why I subscribe. It sickens me that all that went on for that long and it took this to get something done about it.
And yet another example of why we support the Pillar. Good work. Praying for all involved.
Once again, nothing done until exposure, ala McCarrick, Rupnik, on and on, ad nauseum.
Thank you Pillar for doing the work to expose this one.
With the social media aspect (postings by the partner), there had to be a lot of people who knew about this ongoing odd and scandalous situation. Maybe not everyone in the two parishes but probably more folks than you think. It had to be an open secret. Thank the Lord this was finally exposed and the Bishop was forced to deal with this. How sad that it took outside exposure for it to be addressed. Terrible governance. A follow up story with some parishioners would be good at some point.
Agreed. It would appear that some scrutiny of Abp Listecki’s governance is in order.
He retired recently, probably doesn’t give a damn. No periodic updates on the canonical investigation. It’s all being swept under the large sanctuary carpet in the cathedral.
From my experience with similar situations, I would say that the Pillar has earned the undying hatred of the archbishop of Milwaukee, because it forced him to do something he obviously did not want to do but knew he should do. The archbishop who hated me would , somewhat to the embarrassment of those around him, scream when my name was mentioned. As is well known, the sin against the Holy Ghost is inconveniencing a bishop.
Mr Podles,
I assume this is your website. So I am not in the least surprised that numerous reverend gentlemen are uneasy at your name. Congratulations on fighting the good fight.
https://podles.org/Books-Articles.htm
100% why I subscribe.
Call it the Pillar Rule (I'm open to snappier names). ONLY media exposure will prompt action on this kind of case. True throughout the McCarrick saga, true here.
It is especially depressing when a grubby tabloid finally forces action on a scandal which was already public knowledge. Bishop Kieran Conry was a protege of Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor (St Gallen Mafia). He survived an article in the small circulation Christian Order which reported him walking with a lady friend in the grounds of the country house of the English College in Rome. It did not help that the traditionalist Christian Order was a very long term thorn in the flesh of the British bishops. Some years later the unsavoury and big circulation Daily Mail came calling at Kieran's door about his latest girlfriend.....
Perhaps "The Pillar Reader Effect"? Or PRE as an acronym.