After I posted the story last week about the Catholic group near Buffalo standing up for freedom to their congresswoman, I sent a message to Jim Havens to see if he truly was the man in the video. He confirmed that it was and alerted me to a public protest happening around the country this March 23rd at noon.
Stand-Up For Religious Freedom
He mentioned that Rochester is not listed in the list of cities and that he would like to see us get involved. He said the Station of the Cross (Catholic Radio) would be happy to support us and promote our involvement if we were to get organized and get involved in this campaign. I certainly think it’s a great idea. If you felt energized by the video (linked in the previous post), then perhaps you’d like to get involved. Unfortunately I don’t currently have the time to lead the organization of such a protest and I won’t be available that day to join in, but I’m certainly willing to help organize in a smaller capacity. If you’d like to take a prominent role in organizing this protest, check out the site and see what’s involved. Also, let me know so I can publicize it here and pass information along to Jim. This is just me speculating, but I believe it would mostly involve contacting as many people as possible to get a presence (including priests, possibly the diocese, etc), perhaps contacting the media to get some coverage, getting the protest on video so we could publish it ourselves outside of traditional media outlets. Jim mentioned what a unifying issue this is. Catholics of all stripes can join and stand together as one. Anyways, let me know if you’re interested.
|
There WILL be a gathering in our Diocese, and it will be in Canandaigua. It will not involve signage, shouting, rallying, or noisy protests. It will be a quiet procession from the corner of North Main St. and Gibson (lawn of St. Mary Canandaigua) down to the courthouse (where Susan B. Anthony was tried for voting.) It will be ecumenical, with each group bringing a cross, rosaries or whatever is most meaningful to their faith and religion being threatened. For more information, and to get involved, please email Deacon Claude Lester at CLester@dor.org
BTW, Susan B. Anthony has been hijacked by feminists to imply that she condoned abortion. She did not; so the destination of the PROCESSION is appropriate. Like other gatherings around the country, it will be held on Friday, March 23, 2012, planned to arrive at the courthouse about noon.
For those who want to stay, during Lent there is a 12:10 Mass at St. Mary on weekdays, with Stations of the Cross afterwards on Wednesday and Friday. That’s all I have right now. Will post more elsewhere later.
I hope to attend the gathering in Buffalo. Canandaigua is a bit of a drive for me, but if another gathering is planned and numbers are needed in Rochester, I’d be more than happy to join my brothers and sisters in Rochester.
Diane, do you know if the Canandaigua march also begins at noon?
My estimate is that it will start between 11:30 and 11:45. The intent is to be at the Courthouse, I think, at noon. It doesn’t take that long to walk (2 blocks)but depending on numbers and police directives, they might want to start a bit early. There are planning meetings coming up in the next few days and I’ll post more of what I learn.
Correction: Starting time for the procession on Mar. 23rd in Canandaigua is 11:15 AM at present.
Address for your GPS is 95 North Main St. Canandaigua 14424
No signage to be carried, but I’ll be posting more on the remaining guidelines soon, as a separate blog.
Here’s an actual homoly on conscience protection and the O’Bama administration. If only more priests would speak like this.
http://youtu.be/ltTd81XpDnc
I’m all for freedom of the church and I appreciated that article. Speaking of freedom and rights, when are parishioners( lay people)going to be treated with rights and as partners with clergy in the Church. I’m not speaking of issues relating to the sacraments, the Mass,or liturgy. I’m speaking of the attitude in which the faithful(lay people) are regarded by the political hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church.It echoes the Medieval Church minus the inquistions, crusades and tortures(at least not the obvious medieval ones.)I know that there are those who have endured sexual abuse and have suffered mental and emotional anguish for years when the Church didn’t move to provide them justice but covered up the crime and reassigned the perpetrators to another location to find fresh victims.Would this have gone on if there was open disclosure and accountability to the faithful? Would this have gone on if there was a board of church members in every church overseeing the conduct of those ministering? From the recent events of the Rochester Diocese , and from the greater hierarchy, one can draw the conclusion that the faithful are treated like uneducated serfs and/or children that don’t need explanations for any decisions made.There are thousands of parishoners who are irrate by unilateral decisions by those in power on Buffalo Road. What is even worse is they don’t have the courage to face those whom they are supposed to be ministering to and explain how they arrived at their conclusions to sell some churches while letting others remain.I know that low collection, low attendance and lack of participation in ministries to the neighborhood were not factors in the selling of St.Andrew Church and the new Annunciation( and in sentencing their parishoners to a fire trap of an old crude wood building.) This is a slap in the face of the many who sacrificed their money and their service. I’ve noted that churches sold recently had just asked their parishoners give generously to upgrade their facilities, ei, become more handicapped accessible, fix the roof, add a gym and put in a new baptismal fountain. Does this sound familiar to anyone?I guess the upgrades made these churches better candidates to sell on the market. Churches in other denominations openly disclose their financial statements to church members and account for every penny spent. They actually have a voice in where the money is going.If I was attending any church in the Rochester Diocese where I was asked to give generously to improve any areas of my church, I’d suspect that my church would be the next one on the block.The lay liaisons to the diocese are devoid of any influence or power to exact change or even to”be in the know” of what is happening. All decisions are clandestine and made behind closed doors in a country which was founded on freedom and as a revolution against taxation without representation.It is little suprise that so many are leaving a Church where they don’t have a voice.
True Faith,
I just want to say that the Crusades were not a tyranical act requested by the Catholic Church. They were an attempt, with contributions from all the European countries, to win back the Holy Land that had been captured by the Moslems. Christians were not allowed to visit these sites. When the Moslems conquered, Christians were forced to convert, many under the pressure of the sword.
The Inquisition was mainly an event of the Spanish throne. There was slight contribution by the Vatican but not as extensive as modern historians have claimed. And it was not thousands who were killed every year. If I have my figures correct, there were under 100 people killed. 100 people killed is trajic but not the numbers claimed today.
I think we have to be careful of revisionist history, especially when it involves the Catholic hurch.