About time
Two Minneapolis priests who have led parishes sympathetic to gay and lesbian rights have announced their resignations.
The Rev. George Wertin, senior priest of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, which has clashed with its archdiocese and some orthodox Catholics in the Twin Cities, announced his retirement Sunday effective July 1. And the Rev. Stephen O'Gara, pastor at the Church of St. Thomas the Apostle, said last week he's leaving March 1.
Both said the timing of their announcements was coincidental, and they assured parishioners that they weren't pressured by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to leave. [Source]
I wonder if they were actually pressured to retire by the the diocese? I guess we will know when they announce the replacements and whether the new pastors will be more of the same or a true improvement. If an orthodox priest is assigned to St. Joan of Arc's he will have a tough road ahead of him. It will be quite a challenge to accurately bring the faith back there when the priest and the congregation have virtually been in schism for some time. It would probably be a good idea to start a chapter of Courage there so that those who were attracted to St. Joan's might find that the Church's true position on homosexuality is not about prejudice or hatred but a call to be chaste, just as all of us are.
Known as 
Dear Jeff,
http://couragerc.net/WWCStatesM-N.html
The Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis has two Faith in Action (what Courage is called in MN) chapters. It also hosted the Courage/Faith in Action conference in 2003.
I live 200 miles from the Twin Cities, in another Diocese, but I would accept an assignment as pastor to SJOA if it were offered to me. I'm not kidding either. Key to working in such a situation is understanding the damaged personalities you have to deal with, not just "laying down the law".
Being from that diocese I could come up with a few good orthodox men for the new pastor at SJOA.
I've long believed that what hamstrings so many people who are put in positions of leadership is the fatal flaw of caring about it when people say harsh things of them. The ideal candidate for the pastorship would be rock-solid orthodox, very willing to listen to and console legitimate sorrows, but able to shut people up in cases of mere ranting and personal abuse. Of course some people from the disaffected party will call him names and gripe about Church teaching and generally try to make his life a burden to him; that's a given. There's no reason to give anyone the job who will be intimidated by that sort of thing, and let it deflect him from doing his duty.
Go Fr. Matthew!
I was shocked when I visited the St. Joan's site a few years ago. Man, that place is a mess. After reading some of Fr. Wertin's homilies I emailed him telling him I found them to be Gnostic, not Catholic.
I wonder if the solution to such a situation is simply to start doing things the normal way. IOW, I suspect that the trouble is caused by priests and parish leaders who actively promote their "sympathy" for gay and lesbian rights. If a priest just came in and started saying mass, preaching on the readings, hearing confessions, and whatnot, I suspect the trouble would die down. I suspect (having absolutely no experience with this sort of thing) that many of the agitators wouldn't stay in such an environment.
Of course they'd leave, they still have a safe home at Pax Christi.
Perhaps I'm naive, but Pax Christi is a Catholic organization, isn't it?
Does the group reject Church teaching on this issue?
Pax Christi is an organizaton that seems to have no understanding of proportionality. They hide their mushy pro-life views under a veil of the seamless garment argument. Like many "faith and justice" organizations they are staffed by people who are not quite obedient to what the Church teaches. Some teachings are amplified into a distorion and others are minimized the same way. For example they teach that the death penalty can never be justified, in contrast to what the Pope sadi or the Cathechism actually says. They have released hundreds of statements on the war and the death penalty but have issued just one statement on aborton (four years ago).
Pax Christi is also a church in the archdiocese of St. Paul and MInneapolis. The church is not as far gone as St. Joan of Arc but many of the parishoners probably would be comfortable there.
Pax Christi parish is getting a little better... they got a new pastor recently, who I guess has been shaking things up a bit. (I have not been there myself, but have heard through friends that things have been toned down there).
The SJA assignment is going to be one of the most watched pastoral assignments in the Archdiocese this year.
Pray that our Archbishop will hear the whisper of the Holy Spirit, telling him who is being called to lead that parish!
My family and I have been attending St. Joan's for the last three years. Prior to that, we attended the Basilica in Minneapolis. There were two key reasons for switching.
The first is lack of good child care/nursery programs at the Basilica. My wife is well-educated in quality care for youngsters and didn't find the offerings as good as they could be. St. Joan's on the other hand had a well-run and well-organized program. Faith formation relies on getting people to Church. Good child care is a key part of that.
The second reason is what I would call a somewhat detached feeling my wife felt with the Basilica. (I grew up in a very traditional Catholic Church. For me, the Basilica was pretty progressive.) I know there are those that will say that it's up to the Catholic to get the most out of a homily, but I think that’s an easy excuse to offer, especially for quite a few parishes in the Twin Cities (again, I believe the Basilica is better than most in this area).
Overall, I think the clergy has to do a better job at crafting homilies that truly speak to people and are engaging. The reason these so-called progressive Catholic churches attract people isn't simply because of their beliefs. If that was the case, the United Church of Christ wouldn't be able to keep up with enrollment. Instead, the priests of these churches deliver homilies (with St. Joan guest homilists included) that fulfill more progressive Catholics (and even mainstream--my father, a devout Catholic, loves the energy and insight in St. Joan's homilies).
Contrary to what people have posted here, what St. Joan's needs is not a priest with a whip to crack, but a priest that can deliver engaging homilies that all parishioners can take home. In many ways, that fact is no different at St. Joan’s than at many other parishes. I think if a priest is put in place at St. Joan’s that has the same commitment to social justice as Fr. Wertin, the exodus will be minimal (but there will be an exodus).
With that said, I will admit that my family is looking at other churches at this point. My main complaint with St. Joan's is not the laid back nature, but that there isn't enough from the priests. Both Fr. Wertin and Fr. Cassidy are very talented homilist and it is my feeling that they ought to provide more.
Difficult issues for sure.