Cleansing Fire

Defending Truth and Tradition in the Roman Catholic Church

“We Have a New Priestess”

August 25th, 2009, Promulgated by Gen

So did an email in my inbox start off. Evidently, the infallible master’s degrees of St. Bernard’s have enabled yet another lady to become a “pastoral minister.” Seriously, if a degree from St. Bernard’s is your Imprimatur to start a Renaissance of unwanted reform, you have some issues.

You can see the bulletin and read the news for yourself here.

I can’t wait till the installation Mass. Funny, I don’t recall an installation Mass for any priests taking over parishes . . .

Then again, when a diocesan priest says, “We (priests) know that if one of us and ‘Julie’ get into a fight, the bishop will choose ‘Julie.’ So much for the priesthood being the greatest fraternal society in the world,” you can’t expect anything else from our unpleasant reality.

Pray for the bishop. Pray for the new administrator. They will both have to bear an unbelievable burden. It’s somewhat vague what her duties may entail, but when a lay woman (yes, I know, redundant) gets involved with a relatively stable parish, little good can come of it. Of course, patterns may change, but look at the DoR track record.


(Folks, get your cameras ready. I can only pray that this “minister” will act with humility and liturgical correctness in her new assignment. It is possible, you know. Anyways, as I said, have your cameras ready.)

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12 Responses to ““We Have a New Priestess””

  1. Anonymous says:

    As long as she doesn't give a homily I can deal with it until 2012.

  2. Gen says:

    It sounds like this is more of a potential stepping-stone than anything.

    Still . . . a deacon could do the same things. And we have an overabundance of those! Thank God for these fine fellows and for pious sisters in our cloisters!

  3. Anonymous says:

    For the love of all that is holy, our next bishop should give considerable thought to shutting down the French Rd factory of heresy and lay pastoral leadership. Wait a minute, it's a no brainer. This should be his first task in office. So much money is being wasted on teaching lay people heresy and molding future priestesses. This money could be spent on Catholic education.

  4. Anonymous says:

    For the love of all that is holy, our next bishop should give considerable thought to shutting down the French Rd factory of heresy and lay pastoral leadership. Wait a minute, it's a no brainer. This should be his first task in office. So much money is being wasted on teaching lay people heresy and molding future priestesses. This money could be spent on Catholic education for our children.

  5. Anonymous says:

    The bulletin article said pastoral minister not pastoral administrator.
    Though, maybe, facts don't matter to you commentors.

  6. Anonymous says:

    "Though, maybe, facts don't matter to you commentors."

    Jerk.

  7. The bulletin article said pastoral minister not pastoral administrator.
    Though, maybe, facts don't matter to you commentors
    [sic].

    That makes it worse, actually — from Christifideles Laici, Pope John Paul II's exhortation on the proper vocation of the latity:

    In the same Synod Assembly, however, a critical judgment was voiced along with these positive elements, about a too-indiscriminate use of the word "ministry", the confusion and the equating of the common priesthood and the ministerial priesthood, the lack of observance of ecclesiastical laws and norms, the arbitrary interpretation of the concept of "supply", the tendency towards a "clericalization" of the lay faithful and the risk of creating, in reality, an ecclesial structure of parallel service to that founded on the Sacrament of Orders.

  8. Anonymous says:

    I agree with Rich that it's worse. I just happened to be struck by the fact that blogger and commentators misread the article.

  9. Anonymous says:

    "I just happened to be struck by the fact that blogger and commentators misread the article."

    Don't jump off a bridge over it, just calm down. The article said that this is what the e-mail the author received stated in it. Geez, chill already.

  10. Anonymous says:

    Someone should post a list of all the female Pastoral Administrators and Pastoral Ministers in the Diocese of Rochester and the parishes where they work.

    By the way, how much are these administrators and ministers being paid?

    One other question, why do we need a Secretary for Religious Education at so many parishes? We already have a parish secretary and a Youth Minister.

    Another question………What is a Youth "Minister". Is that a Priest or a Deacon?

  11. Dr. K says:

    "Someone should post a list of all the female Pastoral Administrators and Pastoral Ministers in the Diocese of Rochester and the parishes where they work."

    Though most are women, there are some men who serve in these roles. Regardless of gender, the role these laity are taking in pastoral matters and their job title is of dubious legality.

    "how much are these administrators and ministers being paid"

    Hopefully no more (and preferably less) than a priest pastor. That's a good question, especially when it comes to all the youth ministers, and DRE's, etc.

    "What is a Youth "Minister". Is that a Priest or a Deacon?

    Not in the DoR it isn't. I've noticed that in a number of area bulletins, the Youth Minister is listed above the priest pastor on the list of staff members. Why? In a few instanced, the Youth Minister is the first name listed! (i.e- Church of the Transfiguration)

    Good questions, Anon. Sadly I do not yet have the answers for them. Hopefully someone can contribute an answer or two.

    ~Dr. K

  12. Gen says:

    We didn't misread the article. Thank you for your concern.

    I spoke with friends from that parish, and they have been told at least three variants on her title. While she may be one thing in name, she may be entirely different thing in practice.

    Rich is 100% correct. I've been criticized (you know by whom) for being too negative, too harping, too nit-picking. I decided, therefore, to take the candy-paved path towards vagueness which so many people have traveled. But now you see (you know to whom I speak) that my approach of Traditional precision is more accurate than this. 😉

    Whatever her title, we know what will happen. That's the whole point.

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