The Parish I grew up in was Sacred Hearts and St Stephens on Hicks Street. Monsignor Delvecchio was the pastor for about thirty years all through the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's. The bishop wanted to move him but he was afraid of him. You see he was known as one of the "mafia" priests. Not that he was in the mafia but he buried a lot of hoods from out of his church. They made some pretty hefty contributions. His real power base was the fact that he went to school back in Italy with the Cardinal who became the Vatican Secretary of State. So it is who you know not what you know.
After he passed a way they had four different pastors in ten years. They moved guys in and out. I had moved on to St Agnes in the meantime as it was closer to our house and my Mom couldn't walk so far anymore. That church had the same pastor for twenty years but then the same thing happened. They had four different pastors in five years. One was the chaplain of the Fire Department but had to move because of that duty. Another left the priesthood. A third was a professor and left to teach at Notre Dame. Finally they put in this German guy who had spent thirty years in the Army as a chaplain. Big mistake.
You see the parish was run by Spanish ladies. In Brooklyn normally one ethnic group dominates the parish and the rest of us go along or you go somewhere else. Sacred Hearts was all Italian. St Mary's Star of the Sea was Irish. And St Agnes was Puerto Rican. This guy comes in and starts to tell them how to run things. You know. The fund raising. The parish dance. The coffee get together. When they told him this is how we do things he was all "Not anymore." So they all quit. Left the parish rudderless. He was out in a month. They brought in a new guy and it was back to business as usual. But you know what. The parish never recovered. It now shares a priest with three other churches.
Father Chris Cashman does a great job at St Mary's even though the bishop is always on his back. He has brought a lot of young families into the parish because they like the way he does things. He keeps the sermons short and to the point and he has been very good to me. He visited me in the hospital a couple of times and calls me every week to see how I am doing. In fact a lot of folks from church call or stop by to ask how I am. One of them who is a retired nurse comes by every day to take my blood pressure until I get my new fangled monitor. This is what people who don't belong to an active parish miss out on. And all of it can go away quick if people get apathetic or there is a bad priest who doesn't care and is just going through the motions.
This is what worries me about the new Pope. He might have the best of intentions and be a holy and good man. But if he just decides to turn things upside down he might lose a lot of people that have been the bedrock of the church for all these years. I mean look at the Anglicans. They went all socially liberal and are getting schisms left and right. I just pray that doesn't happen if Pope Francis goes off the rails. Because they can't just transfer him to the Bronx like they did with that Army guy. We are kinda stuck with him.
27 comments:
Trooper, I understand your anxiety. My take on Pope Francis is he wants to change the tone. I believe he is the first pope to realize the self inflicted damage done by predator priests and hierarchy covering it up. Jesuits teach using the Socratic method, asking provocative questions, playing devil's advocate. Trying to read a Jesuit based on the questions they ask is a mistake. This is all what I expected when he was elected. It certainly shouldn't be a surprise to the men who elected him.
The suburb we lived in a couple of decades ago was growing very rapidly and the closest parishes were packed full every Sunday. A map was drawn and we who lived within a certain area got to start a new parish.
The priest assigned to our new parish was a remarkable and much loved guy. Former Army officer, well educated, pragmatic, good on the Gospel and Catechism, great personality, a real dynamo. Someone everyone liked.
Our church got built, then expanded twice. Father's sermons were not to be missed and the pews were kept filled.
Then the Archbishop decided to transfer him and replace him with a wimpy liberal. The sermons became tirades about why cocaine laws discriminate against minorities, how we were all abusers of one sort or another , yadda, yadda, yadda.
We asked to have our old guy back. No dice. The attendance plummeted, and has not returned to its former level.
We built a new home in another neighborhood and joined a different parish. Our padre is form France, says Mass in Latin, has very elegant manners, and preaches one hell of a sermon. Packed house most Sundays.
I think Pope Francis is a good one.
He's not a liberal, so his social gospel is more Jesus than 20th century academics.
Even taking the name Francis points towards his intent, as Francis of Assisi was very committed to people in a sacrificial way.
He was raised up by John Paul II, if I'm not mistaken, who was exceedingly anti-communist. Francis was seen as suspect by Liberation theologians because he was not seen as on their side and participated in the crackdown of the more marxist elements.
At the same time, his work in South America affected him so there's a strong interest in being a Church for and with the people, not for and with the powerful.
For and with the people who stayed strong with the church or for and with the people who left. The ones who think abortion is no big deal and get divorced three and four times. Those people?
This pope makes me very uneasy.
I wanted an African or Asian Pope who is strong in his traditional beliefs.
And Paddy how come I never see you comment on the dog sex threads. Just sayn'
We try to cover a lot of ground here at Trooper York.
Of course I have no idea what the internal political dynamics of the Church are, but why this compulsion to torture a Puerto Rican parish with an Irish priest or an Irish parish with a Puerto Rican priest? Does it break some kind of rule when the comfort level is high? Anyway, the obliviousness to the obvious that's rampant in all huge organizations never ceases to amaze. But then I guess if you're inside the organization there's always "a reason" to scramble whatever's going smoothly.
I can't locate the clip of this scene, but your description of what's happening reminded me of the priest in Sopranos who bucks decades of tradition of allowing St. Elziar to be carried with his hat out in the street festival. If I recall correctly, the new priest is Hispanic in this Italian parish and doesn't have the brains or sensitivity to cater to the locals, and certainly lacks the respect to honor their traditions.
"how come I never see you comment on the dog sex threads."
Hits too close to home.
And I'd say for and with the people who stay strong with the Church.
My impression as a Protestant who doesn't think all Catholics are evil and some popes may not be the antichrist is that he's really the first truly Vatican II style pope, but not in a 20th century liberal sort of way. I get the sense he's a strong theological conservative in a way that really doesn't fit the older models. Ratzinger (Benedict XIV) was the last of the modern popes, a conventional conservative. Francis is a new breed. I don't think he would put up with corruption in the hierarchy or shoving aside betrayal of the office.
And I think he's an evangelistic Pope, drawing people to the church, making people feel welcome but not feel like they can get away with anything.
Holiness in the best sense of the term. Neither legalism nor aloofness.
Maybe I'm reading into a lot, but I've read a lot of Catholic theologians and saints and he strikes me as hitting the right chord in a way that so many have missed.
I think the Puerto Rican ladies would love him. He wouldn't put on airs and he would show respect for those who are serving and helping.
I think he pisses off the people who are in it for the prestige and like the power.
He's the sort liberals will like until they realize he really does believe in this Jesus fellow and isn't just manipulating people to get them to support his political causes.
Paddy, you nailed it. He makes the right people angry, and that's a good thing.
I agree going "liberal" is bad. What Francis has done so far is not that. And he is not excusing abortion. At least I have not seen that.
That the numbers are actually increasing in church, suggests he may be striking the right tone.
As for divorce--the Catholic Church has been less than rigorous on that issue for decades. Given if you give a big donation that Vatican grants you an annulment no questions asked. I guess they figure after losing England, it is not worth getting your cassock in a bunch. And that was just as true under John Paul and Benedict.
I think Paddy O nailed it, too.
Evi, He's being a Jesuit. I was taught how to think, not what to think by Jesuits. They probe, prod, agitate, get you to think. Doesn't everyone love his austerity. His kicking that gay kraut bishop out of his mansion. That's Jesus turning over the tables in the temple. Have faith!
Your Priest visited you in the Hospital? Wow. Our Protestant minister wouldn't do that for me, unless my wife begged him.
Just be happy you don't belong to the "Church of England". Those guys are worthless. All the drawbacks of big institutional church with none of the benefits. Unless, you count not caring about Christ being a 'benefit'.
And I've never understood why atheists are thinking of starting their own churches. I thought the Quakers and Unitarians had that market covered.
My priest came to bring me communion. He also had the Eucharistic ministers deliver to me every Sunday. I want to get strong enough to go on a Sunday morning.
It should be soon.
The meaning of this new Pope will become clearer over time. I am of course willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But I am fearful that he will dilute the faith to attract more people. You have to stand for something. I hope he does and that Paddy and Michael H are right.
But I have my doubts.
I like Pope Francis so far (and I was a big fan of John Paul too). And Benedict is gay (not that he acts on it, but his orientation is an open secret at the Vatican). I would like to see Benedict kick the eunuchs* out of the Curia, not because I have anything against gay priests (God knows there are plenty of them and many do a honorable job and honor their vows)--but because the Curia is corrupt and everyone knows that too.
* used that term because the Roman Curia (whether its members are homosexual or straight) remind me of the Chinese eunuchs (focused on their own power rather than the bigger picture).
As an outsider (way outside) I'd say the optics on this guy are awesome.
I never see him in the media unless it's in a demonstration of humility.
But I am fearful that he will dilute the faith to attract more people.
I'm wondering what diluting the faith might look like or involve? What does that faith that forms and defines the Catholic Church include that makes it unique, allows it to endure, and invites/calls others to follow?
The faith and power that grew the Early Church went beyond the religion of laws the Jewish leaders were counting on to build their kingdom. According to John, another of the favorites with first hand experience of Jesus,...the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
It's my hope Pope Francis will reveal and extend through his life and leadership the same Truth and Grace that was embodied in Jesus and extended to Peter, the first bishop and Pope, who then went on to break the rules by offering the same to unclean gentiles outside his traditional faith practice.
From this week's reading:
The "lust for certitude" that we sometimes see in ourselves and criticize in others is not the mind and heart of Christ. It is a subtle, or not so subtle, form of religious fundamentalism, one that sees religion as the answer to life's questions rather than unveiling a Person who allows us to live with the questions. Religion always offers the temptation to define salvation in terms of practices, external observances of the law, the nine first Fridays, the stations of the cross, or a magic three Hail Marys before retiring. In themselves these are admirable, but they can become a way of certainty, of earning salvation, a substitute for authentic faith, another attempt to control my life and the kind of legalism which Jesus consistently decried. They stand in the way of the surrendering faith that risks all as Jesus did." Sister Katherine Marie Dyckman, L. P. Carroll, "Inviting the Mystic, Supporting the Prophet"
That said, to hear of others, priests and ministers, using tradition as a means of offering Presence while bringing their own flesh and blood to your home to relate and connect, sounds like a wonderful combination of lived and received goodness.
MamaM, We're not worthy.
Diluting the faith is saying things like you don't have to go to church on Sunday. Or that sometimes it is ok for an abortion. That kind of stuff.
The kind of stuff you hear from lapsed Catholics all day long and twice on Sundays. From the people who only show up when there is a Christening or Wedding or a Funeral. But expect the congregation to keep the church going until they need it.
Those kind of people.
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