Last October, the situation in the Diocese of Rochester received national attention when it was covered by Catholic World Report magazine in a four-page article entitled “The Barren Fig Tree.” With permission from the author, Jeff Ziegler, you can read the entire article here at Cleansing Fire. Be sure to check it out and subscribe to CWR if you have not already done so.
This week, another national Catholic periodical has picked up on the Diocese of Rochester situation. “Women-Run Church Is Becoming A Reality” is an article penned by Paul Likoudis which graces the front page of the latest edition of The Wanderer. See screenshot below:
In this excellent piece, Mr. Likoudis focuses on Bishop Clark’s efforts to place laywomen in various positions of power within the Diocese of Rochester, often blurring the distinction between priest and laity. He covers many of the major issues we face including the exorbitant number of lay administrators directing pastoral care, the illicit roles given by the bishop to laypersons, and the presence of so many women’s ordination promoters in parish leadership. The author includes first-hand accounts from Bishop Clark concerning his vision for the Church as found in the pastoral letter, Fire in the Thornbush, and the bishop’s lecture at Boston College on the Church women want.
I encourage all of our readers to purchase this issue of The Wanderer, if not buy a subscription. It is a fine publication covering all things Catholic from an orthodox perspective. You can view the article for free in the online edition if you register for an account here. The article begins on the front page and spans much of page six. Again, please show your supp0rt and purchase the issue.
Go, read it now!
Tags: Bishop Clark, Keeping the Spirit Alive, News and Media, Orthodoxy at Work
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An excellent summary of our plight. How chilling it is to read. I’m really impressed with the online viewer – it’s pretty slick.
The final 2 sentences:
I believe I will follow that advice.
Ben beat me to it. Send a copy of the Wanderer to the nuncio. And place bets on how long it will take the usual suspects to chime in with, “The Vatican hasn’t done anything. They must approve!” But, if they do do something, bet on how long before we hear, “Why is the Vatican hung up on this issue when there are so many other pressing issues?” 🙂
Wouldn’t surprise me. He must have some friends over there from his days at North American College.
It might earn you a solid coadjutor.
How much money is Bishop Clark sending to the Vatican?
Under the New York State non profit corporation law, does a parishioner who is a registered member of the Diocese of Rochester, have the legal right to request documentation showing how much money is being sent to the Vatican?
Will Bishop Clark give this information to a parishioner or does the New York State Attorney General’s Office have to be notified so they can force Bishop Clark to release the financial information?
Friends–
Get over it- Matthew Clark has been in power for 30 years without question from Rome. Send Rome all the documentation you want– they already have rooms and rooms of articles, video and pictures.
ROME DOES NOT CARE!!!!!!!!!
In the old days, an article like this that exposes Bishop Clark would have exposure to Wanderer subscribers and maybe a few others. This post is a good example of how Cleansing Fire takes this information and exposes his false theology to an ever wider audience. Regardless of what Rome does, at least he is exposed and he can’t operate undercover anymore. This must be driving him and his band of heretics crazy!
ROME DOES NOT CARE!!!!!!!!!
Dang! No one offered to bet.
I don’t know whether they care or not, but it doesn’t show that they do.
I’d say 3 bishops removed this year is a promising start.
Anonymous-132136 is correct— its too late. All over the country the faithful are leaving day after day because of lack of leadership on many levels. If the church were a business, they would have closed decades ago.
The nonsense continues to this day as the US bishops conference just released a study today blaming the sexual culture of the 60’s and 70’s for the sex scandal in the church. These guys are so out of touch its embarrassing to be a catholic.
Face it friends— its over b.c nobody cares. And those who do are powerless.
This article seems to draw two different emotions depending on the reader: hope and despair. In me it drew the latter-mostly out of frustration with years of abuse. But after sitting with it for a day and reading these comments I say which response is a Catholic response and which is a deadly response? Most of us who’ve endured Bishop Clark’s reign have a right to be worn out and it makes us want to throw in the towel. But that is just what the enemy wants.
Pray for our diocese. Pray to our Blessed Mother, especially this month, that she plead to Jesus for our deliverance. If anyone hates liturgical abuse and lack of respect for the Eucharists and the belittling of priests it’s our Blessed Mother. Take up mortifications and fasting. Write letters. Don’t give up. There is a spiritual battle going on and the good news is that we are on the winning side. Even if things get worse and we have no diocese left at all, we will still be victorious. For if God is with us, who can be against us?
And when you’re really down on the situation, just scroll to the bottom of the page for a chuckle on the CF sign.
Also, I know this comment is cheesy but maybe it will help.
Alas, the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church, but along the way they might be catching a soul or two!
Anonymous-8617,
Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against his Church, but he gave no such assurance regarding individual dioceses. Did you know that the Church has well over 2,000 titular sees? At one time most of these were functioning dioceses, complete with churches, clergy and lay people, but the gates of hell or some other factor managed to prevail against them and they now exist in name only.
You can find a list of the Church’s titular sees here.
Mary, your comment isn’t cheesy, it’s hopeful. You are well-named! Mike, despair not. The gates of hell don’t move to take us on – we all just need to stay away from them. (Just because some of our bishops are trying to push us towards them doesn’t mean we need to go along with them. Dig in those heels! St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle…) Anyway, you’ve read the book; in the end, we win!