Monsignor Sweeny
Posted on 12/31/2001 8:19:55 AM PST by marshmallow
Our Lady of Peace Church, just over Highway 101 from Intel Corp.'s headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., is one of the more remarkable Catholic churches that I have attended in America since coming here from Britain too many decades ago.
It is distinguished not by its architecture (from the 1960s) or by its location (opposite an amusement park) but by the man who has run it for years: Msgr. John Sweeny, a priest of great holiness and charisma. He has been there since 1969, soon after the parish was set down amid the pear orchards of the future Silicon Valley. Alas, the new bishop of the diocese seems eager for him to retire.
Peter Robinson, a Hoover Institution fellow who often visits the church, notes that Msgr. Sweeny is "one of those rare priests who has about him an air of actual sanctity." The Rev. Paul Marx, a former leader of the pro-life movement, says that in his travels through 85 countries he has "never seen a parish like Our Lady of Peace." An airline executive, visiting from Utah, found tears welling up as he realized he had at last found "a spiritual oasis."
Over the past 15 years, I have been to Mass many times at Our Lady of Peace. It is orthodox above all. The altar rail is intact; communicants must kneel. The confessionals, constantly manned, have lines of waiting penitents, a rare sight today. There are candlelight processions, all-night vigils, perpetual adoration and rosaries. "Prayer is the most important duty of the priest," Msgr. Sweeny says. The church is open 24 hours a day, with worshipers always present. On Sundays, it's packed. Several thousand people attend Mass and may drive far to do so.
Most strikingly, the congregation is ethnically diverse--Vietnamese, Mexicans, Filipinos, Chinese, Indians and even a sprinkling of Anglos. Msgr. Sweeny has attracted, it seems, the janitors, drivers and service employees of Silicon Valley. Management is less noticeably in the pews, although you may well see BMWs and the odd Mercedes in the parking lot.
Outside the church, visible from the freeway, is a 32-foot stainless-steel statue of Our Lady. Msgr. Sweeny raised the money for it and, more recently, $2 million for a family-life center. He has never found fund raising hard, he says, and the lesson here is simple: The faithful will readily give to those who keep the faith.
Msgr. Sweeny's sermons never stray far from the central Christian message: the salvation of souls. He says Mass at varying times on Sundays but officiates at 7:30 p.m. every Wednesday, and those who have never been to Our Lady may want to go then. Perhaps they should go soon. Msgr. Sweeny is 77, and although he is in good health and looks 10 years younger, the bishop of San Jose, Patrick J. McGrath, appears determined to force him out. Numerous signed petitions and phone calls to Bishop McGrath's office have been unavailing.
Priests are asked to submit a letter of retirement at age 75, but the shortage of priests is such that they are regularly asked to stay on. What happened here?
It's hard to say, precisely. Last summer, some confirmation candidates from Our Lady of Peace avoided attending a diocesan ceremony in a San Jose arena that resembled a rock show, with Aztec ritual elements. More recently, someone in the pews complained to the bishop about a sermon that mentioned, if you can believe it, sin and hell. Finally, a disabled woman, whose bid to teach religion at Our Lady was turned down, e-mailed the diocese, threatening to sue under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Msgr. Sweeny's supporters note that the Catholic Women's Network is in Bishop McGrath's diocese. The cartoon on CWN's homepage, titled "Wholly Mother Church," suggests that its vision is not exactly Father Sweeny's. Indeed, his traditionalist approach may be at odds with the spirit of the more affluent members of the diocese, if not the times. At this point, Msgr. Sweeny would like to be able to retire to his room in the rectory and be available to hear confessions. He will say only that the bishop is a good man who has stressed the importance of prayer. But there is concern that Bishop McGrath will bow to pressure and shunt Msgr. Sweeny off to a retirement home. Possibly, however, prayerful reflection will counsel prudence.
Mr. Bethell is a senior editor of The American Spectator.
Mother Teresa was universally admired while she was still alive, although she had a few politically-correct detractors; but Padre Pio was a much more typical instance of how the Church, or rather its failing members, are likely to treat saints. (No, Padre Pio hasn't yet been canonized, but I am willing to place a bet that he will be. Meantime, Catholics can have private opinions about him.)
Let's hope the bishop of Silicon Valley can be embarrassed into into keeping Monsignor Sweeny in his parish as long as he is physically and mentally fit and loved by his parishioners, which he obviously is at this time.
Currently, I'm attending a Methodist church, although my actual beliefs are probably leaning toward an evangelical/Wesleyan approach.
I guess thats one of the things that you have to get used to in certain denominations. But seing a priest/pastor/rabbi removed from any house of worship against his will, and the will of those who attend that church just seems very unnatural to me. (Same goes with appointing religious leaders to such positions.)
Does Mgsr. Sweeney celebrate the Tridentine Rite?
If so, this could be the main source of his problems. The liberals still hate the old liturgy and I'm wondering if his bishop has given him the OK to do it?
And another one.
The fact that the OLP page contained a link to the Latin Mass page made me wonder if Mgsr. Sweeney celebrates the Tridentine Rite.
The fact that the OLP page contained a link to the Latin Mass page made me wonder if Mgsr. Sweeney celebrates the Tridentine Rite.
You know, that might not be too bad of a system. The Church is constantly on guard against charlatans and those who would create a "cult of personality". Just because an individual is popular and has a following, doesn't make them a saint. What is holy will endure and will be a light to future generations, and true prophets will often have to go without honor in their own time.
None of this should be construed as an attack on the priest, but just support for the Church's use of caution.
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