Posted on 12/02/2013 3:51:46 AM PST by markomalley
Two things us Catholics needed. A priest confusing Catholics about the Church's teachings on sexuality. And more namecalling!
Fr. Bill Kenneally, Pastor Emeritus of Saint Gertrude Parish in Chicago, wrote a letter to the editor that appeared in The Chicago Tribune where he not only comes out in support of gay marriage but compared Bishop Paprocki to a Muslim terrorist.
I am a retired pastor of a Catholic church in Edgewater where there are many gay and lesbian couples, many of whom are doing their best to raise children as a family. I admire their constancy and care while they continue to belong to a church that officially seems wrongheaded and bizarre in its resistance to legalization of same-sex marriage.This kind of verbiage does so much damage. The interesting thing is that many people think that this is evidence that the Church is changing. That it's become modern. But so many of these outrageous statements comes from retired priests or nearly retired priests. This kind of stuff, I suspect, is the last gasp of the 60's. Fr. Kenneally was ordained in 1961.
Lobbying and liturgical pyrotechnics are both costly and embarrassing. At times I have wondered why faithful Muslims do not distance themselves publicly from their fellow believers who perpetuate violence. I wish to distance myself publicly from the misguided efforts of Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield and his rite of exorcism. God bless Gov. Pat Quinn and all who are trying to live a life of faithful love.
Rev. Bill Kenneally, Pastor Emeritus, St. Gertrude Parish, Chicago
Inspired by the reforms of Vatican II between 1962 and 1965, he enjoyed his first several years serving in city parishes. "There was this open window that looked out on a church that looked very, very progressive at the time," he said. "For a priest, those were the golden days where all these things that liberal theologians talked about were now part of the agenda of the church."Kinda' makes sense, right?
But during the papacy of John Paul II, Kenneally, then an associate pastor at St. Nicholas Church in Evanston, sensed a new conservatism taking shape, and his frustrations began to fester. "The deck is stacked now. That's what's frustrating for me," he said. "I don't think liberal Catholics are considered anymore by the hierarchy. They're thought of as some kind of pestilence or irrelevant."
Despite his angst, Kenneally remained a priest. When he arrived at St. Gertrude in 1984, he immediately added a contemporary worship service in a gym that featured jazz, dance and other creative expressions--an effort to give lapsed Catholics and seekers an alternative point of entry into the church
*the required monty python bump*
How many parts of the Bible must you ignore in order to be a “liberal Catholic”? How tightly must you embrace worldliness and learn to accept sinful behavior? When a church modernizes, that’s just a deceptive way of saying it moves away from God. The religion becomes humanism.
And another thing, how intellectually dishonest does someone have to be to compare strict adherence to one’s faith with terrorism? To murdering people? It’s either suggesting that devotion is pretty bad or murder is pretty trivial.
He looks CRAZY!! Liberalism IS a MENTAL DISEASE!
This kind of thinking happens sometimes with age. Father Bill Kenneally is cincere, I’m sure; but that doesn’t make what is says viable. He really ought to just keep quiet. That way, nobody would know that his mind is going.
He reminds me of Father Guido Sarducci on Saturday Night Live.
Why do I keep thinking that if we look into his background we will find a child molester.
He’s right, liberal Catholics are a pestilence.
I agree, liberal Catholics are sinful and stupid and ought to follow Christ.
Christ said “Go and sin no more.”
Who was in charge of the archdiocese of Chicago at that time may explain why this guy is still a priest. Parishes which had pastors with traditional views were replaced with radicals like this guy or those parishes had their schools and churches shut down and the property sold or torn down .
But yet, we who do follow Christ was also warned by Him, “he who is without sin, cast the first stone.” So it goes both ways.
However, in this case, Fr Keneally's fault was not secret: he published open slanders against the Church and against his own bishop. And correcting him is not "unnecessary" --- Bishop Paprocki has a right to be defended from Fr. Keneally's falsehoods.
Finally, Fr. Keneally has no good name to save: he has trashed it himself, by his flagrant undermining of Catholic faith and morals.
Telling the truth about somebody is not the same as casting a stone. It is necessary lest others be led astray.
One should be careful how one states it, however; and when; and to whom.
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