Shall I criticize the Pastor? In a word, DUH!
I detest this kind of sacrilege, but, it should have been stopped by the Bishop, and if he doesn't act, someone with standing in that Diocese should file a protest, and the appeals should continue. How long does it take to write a letter? We had good results with Call to Action in St. Petersburg Diocese, and by the will of God we can keep them from meeting in our Churches.
The reverend did not appear in court on June 1, and was ordered to pay the $316.22 by default.
This wasn't smart, why not? By saying Catholic Prayers in a Catholic Church, they would have excellent grounds to say we were protesting a Sacrilege. Then the story about the protest would be in the papers, even if they lost.
This is what I complain about when I say leaving the field to the enemy, in this case Satan working through a misguided Paster, and some hapless monks.
St. Margaret Mary Church is affiliated with the Society of St. Pius X, which does not follow tenets of an edict that transformed the Roman Catholic Church during the 1960s.
This is where the smear is starting. They can paint this as the acts of radicals, and not outraged Catholics. Don't give them a reason to smear you, and you are more effective. We have to fight these people, but here, a wedge is already started. No matter what someone from this group says, guess how the Press will reface the remark?
Freeman believes the society's actions during the concert could be considered a hate crime. His organization is not pursuing any other legal action and is coordinating a visit from another group of Buddhist monks this fall.
The H word! They dropped the H bomb on you!
First this isn't a crime. Nope, no crime at all, except trespassing maybe (big maybe), and if a Priest charges a person who was praying in the Church with trespassing, an enterprising person could really have fun with the Bishop. Now trespassing would be someone hanging around the convent, but a person coming to a public Mass, even if disruptive would be a harder sell.
But wait there is more! From
PDF from the Diocesse we read:
In recent weeks and months, Catholics in the Diocese of Grand Rapids have had at least two occasions to question how the Catholic faith views other Christian and non- Christian faiths.
One event was a musical demonstration by Tibetan monks in the Basilica of St. Adalbert in February. The second event, which has drawn national and international debate, is Mel Gibson’s film, "The Passion of the Christ."
At the core of both events is the relationship of Catholics to people of other faiths. How are Catholics called to view those who are Buddhist? Does the Church ask us to blame the Jewish people for the death of Jesus? During Vatican II, a document called the Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions stated clearly that Roman Catholics "believe and teach that all men and women form one human family, have a common origin in God and share a common destiny in divine providence."
In that document, the Church specifically recognizes that Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Jews and people of other non-Christian faiths should be respected. "The Church’s very foundation was laid among the Jews, as Paul said in the ninth chapter of his Letter to the Romans. The Jews, he said, have been adopted as daughters and sons; they have been given a covenant, have been given a divine law, have been taught to worship God, and indeed, have been given Christ."
The rest of the article dodges the question about the monks in the sanctuary of the Church, or even having any presence at all on Church property. It seems to castigate people for being anti Semitic, and doesn't address the issue. Perhaps they should invite some Christians Evangelizing Catholics people on the campus as well, to promote ecumenicism.
Shall I criticize the Pastor? In a word, DUH!
You got that right! The pastor was in error because he ignored the teaching of Scripture in 2 John 7-11
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.
9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting;
11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds. [NAS95]
And Acts 20:26-31
26 Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.
28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
31 Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. [NAS95]
No one serious about the task of shepherding God's sheep would ever expose them to wolves with a different gospel.
Do you see what I mean about there being a pattern. This is one of the events I was referring to on the SSPX thread last week.