St. Mary's in Brisbane has sadly strayed not only on the liturgy, but on Catholic doctrine.
Archbishop John Bathersby of the Archdiocese of Brisbane has been trying to correct the problems for 6 months. From an article with ABC in Australia
The Archbishop of Brisbane, John Bathersby, previously warned Father Peter Kennedy to stop flouting church rules or face the sack.
In a letter received on Friday, Archbishop Bathersby said Father Kennedy and "the community have not budged an inch".
It says Father Kennedy’s appointment will be terminated on February 21, unless he resigns first.
Father Kennedy says he is considering his options.
"I’ve been here 28 years and I know this community is solidly behind me, and so we could go elsewhere," he said.
In the letter, Archbishop Bathersby says parishioners cannot be stopped from breaking away but has warned them they will not be in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
In this video you get an idea that this is not your run-of-the-mill liturgical abuse. There is much more under the surface. What I think is even more sad, is that it took video footage captured by other Catholics, sent to the Vatican and the Archbishop to get things moving. This has all been going on for many years. One wonders, how many people have been led into grave scandal through the actions of this disoriented priest over the roughly 6 year period that other Catholics had been protesting the happenings at this parish. What I'm not clear on is whether any of those lodging complaints are from St. Mary's (a disaffected group), or if they are strictly from a neighboring community. Either way, it is good that it has all come to light because people cannot continue to be exposed to this parish as a Catholic parish, in communion with Rome.
Here in my neck of the woods there a parish every other mile. I don't know how many other parishes there are in South Brisbane, and how far people would have to commute without St. Mary's.
Will Fr. Kennedy leave the church building behind if he is ousted, or will he and his parishioners try to take the property?
Fr. Z has a podcast in in this post in which the dissident priest says he does not believe there is a heaven or a hell. There are many other such conflicts with Catholic teaching throughout the interview.
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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!
3 Comments:
This is really, really sad.
I assume that the TV report is biased against the Church. They show what's good about the parish, and I can see that there is SO much good about the parish, but they don't show the serious level of dissent that is there too.
For anyone out there who is sympathetic to St. Mary's, let me ask a few questions. St. Mary's it seems makes up the prayers of consecration, makes up theology. (no heaven, no hell, etc.) What the priest at St. Mary's is asking for is freedom of conscience. Well, would you want all parishes to make up their theology too? What sort of Church would that result in? What if your local priest decided to preach the gospel as its known by the Jehovah's Witnesses or of Scientology?
I'm not upset my people sitting on the floor, or the lack of vestments. Those are outer trappings. But does a Church have the right to ask an employee, like Fr. Kennedy, to teach what the group as a whole believes?
Also, couldn't it be said that Fr. Kennedy is being just as fixated in breaking all the rules as he claims the diocese is hung up on the rules? For example, if he wants the people of the parish to speak, why not do it right after the Mass while everyone is still there? I know that one thing that's really got them in trouble are the baptisms done in the "name of the Creator, Redeemer and Spirtit", the so-called gender neutral blessing. Supporters say that words can't encapsulate the deity and that God is not male. Fair enough. But of words are not that important, and are always less than what God is, then why not use the traditional "Father, Son and Holy Spirit?"
People can err by being too rigid but also by being too confrontational. Why would Fr. Kennedy risk his parish just to cling to his own ideas?
What I'm trying to show is that the dissent at this parish goes well beyond liturgical differences. My guess is that Fr. Kennedy is preaching a very different Jesus than the Church does. I'm really sorry for all involved.
Fr Kennedy has been permitted to remain in the parish for 28 years and in that time a cult of personality has built up. Fr Kennedy, in one of his many media interviews, said that he and his followers would be relocating to the local Trades Hall but now he has changed his mind and said that when the administrator takes over he will not be 'leading the Eucharist' but he will be in the audience/congregation when the administrator 'leads the Eucharist'. The archbishop, who let this situation develop even though he had many reports of the irregularities at St Mary's over the years, is caught in a no-win situation. He can either use the police to remove Fr Kennedy or he can leave Fr Kennedy to nullify any effect the administrator might have. In either case it will be grist for the mill for the media and Fr Kennedy.
Fr Kennedy has said in yet another media interview, I don't know if that was the one with his dog in front of the tabernacle, that he doesn't believe in the Virgin Birth.
Peter Kennedy is now going to sleep in the church to avoid having the locks changed I imagine.
The aborigines with whom Kennedy signed a treaty are thinking of establishing a tent embassy in the church grounds and resisting any attempt to remove Peter Kennedy.
The priest, AWOL from his diocese, who was at the parish with Peter Kennedy hasn't been mentioned lately.
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