Deregistration
A couple who withheld a donation to their church and instead left a note protesting the closure of a Roman Catholic high school were suspended by the pastor.
“You raise your hand to strike at the parish that has nourished your faith through the years. That says volumes,” The Rev. Thomas Cappelloni of Our Lady of Grace church in Hazleton wrote in a letter to the couple. He said the parishioners should have talked to him if they were concerned about the closure of Bishop Hafey High School.
Cappelloni said he was temporarily suspending the couple’s registration at the parish “as long as you willfully seek to harm Our Lady of Grace by your nonsupport” and the termination would be permanent if the decision were not reconsidered. He added in a postscript that theirs was the only envelope out of 960 mailed out in which such a stand was taken.
The woman who sent the note told the Standard-Speaker of Hazleton that she was disappointed by the pastor’s response.
[Via The World IMHO]
Regardless of the prudence of the couples act (which I don't agree with), I would think that the pastor is wrong in was he has done. First off the whole issue of registration is that it is an administrative invention and is something nowhere stated in Canon Law. It is a useful administrative tool to help give the parish and the bishop an idea of how many people attend a Church and is usually something a parish requires before someone can receive sacraments such as baptism and confirmation. Fr. Tucker had a good post on this subject before.
So exactly what does this pastor mean by a revoking of registration? If this meant that the couple was no longer allowed to attend that parish or to participate in Mass, then that is something just not possible for him to do. For this to happen there would have to be, I believe, an interdict against entering the church or a particular personal interdict. Though these types of interdicts can only be inflicted by the local bishop, not the pastor. Of course what they have done does not come close to being so grave as to require an ecclesial penalty in the first place.
“This is a matter between a pastor and a parishioner,” diocese spokesman Bill Genello said. “The pastor intends to discuss this with the parishioner.”
Translation: This is rather messy and we really don't want to get involved regardless of the rights of the couple.
Known as 
Big deal. They can go to Mass where they want.
The pastor is an idiot. He has probably permanently ticked off the couple who may have calmed down with time if he hadn't been so officious.
You aren't in this diocese. (Scranton) The media actually ran stories before this happened about doing things like this. (TV news)
They've showed people with their fingers in the face of priests screaming at them, accusing them of all sorts of nasty things, girls hyperventilating and having screaming fits, and the whole while the priests just stand there and take it.
I feel way worse for the priests in this area who have to deal with this daily now.
Sigh. This is just discouraging, period. These stories end up in the newspaper all too often. We've had this problem where I live--when people don't get what they request (or demand) they bring their complaints right to the newspaper. Imagine if we did that at home? Imagine "Bobby, didn't I tell you to clean up your room? No video games for you for the rest of the week." So Bobby calls the local newspaper?
This situation may be more complex than it sounds, but most of them could be resolved with mutual respect and rational discussion. And faith. And charity.
Suspend your registration?
What's that mean? They stop sending you donation envelopes as of March?
I don't understand why the parish didn't either ignore this, or refrain from doing _silly_ discipline. Better no discipline than something empty.
Been there done that. This has happened more than once in the diocese of Fresno Ca. Bishops will tend to protect their men no matter home many lies they tell the bishop.
I don't think de-registration is trivial. It's more than not getting envelopes. In order to be married in your parish or have your child baptized or catechized, etc, you must be registered.
This still sounds like a juvenile fight. "I don't like what you did, so I'm not supporting you."
"Fine. Leave. Don't come back."
Oh boy. As a society it seems we haven't learned much about forgiveness and reconciliation. But you'd think that within our Church, we'd know better.Every side says "I want" or "I want you to..."
My boyfriend's younger sister attends High School at Bishop Hafey High School...her parents (wonderful Traditional Catholics, the parents to 7 children) are very saddened by the closing.
I think it's awful that so many Catholic schools are being closed down. Where will children get a good Catholic education?
Or the translation might be:
"We've told the pastor to get back with the parishioners and find a way to solve the problem. It's okay if he wants to wait a little until tempers cool, but h can't really just "deregister" people because they withhold a contribution."
Did the pastor close the school? Generally, there is a reason for a school closing and isn't it the decision of the bishop? So how did it even make sense to protest the closing of the school in such a manner? From the info given it does sound, no matter how innocently defensive the messenger is now, that the empty envelope msg was defiant and misdirected.(of course if there's some back story that reveals some ulterior motive in support of the school closing on the part of the pastor, that might lend some credence to the protest, but otherwise?)
This is off topic, but I have a question for Central Valley Catholic: where is this happening in the Fresno diocese? I don't live there currently, but I am probably moving there soon and I do go to mass there probably about half the time, so I'm just wondering what's going on in the diocese.
It's ironic that the bishops won't prevent abortion-loving politicians from receiving holy Communion, but they have no problem with de-registering a couple because they object to a high school being closed. There's something wrong with this picture.