Saturday, November 1, 2014

A SHUT SOUL'S HYPOCRISY

Foul whisperings are abroad. Shakespeare

Editor's Note: We've interrupted our fall 2014 mailbag series to bring you this special report on the ordination that took place on Saturday, October 25, 2014, in Lawrence, MA. We'll post mailbag #4 on Nov. 15-16. 

Just when you think bottom-feeding, American sede clergy couldn't go any lower, along comes this story.

In Lawrence, MA, there's a small community devoted to Dominican spirituality. They call themselves the Willing Shepherds of Jesus Christ. They mind their own business and avoid Traddie polemics. Several years ago the group managed to acquire from the scandal-broken Boston archdiocese a disused Catholic church, which they restored. They also supported one of their members to study for the priesthood under a West-Coast priest recommended to them by an aged wandering bishop. Their candidate separated from that priest after several years and then went to "study" for a time at the SW Ohio cult center. In 2012, he was ordained by "One Hand" at the Willing Shepherds' chapel in Massachusetts. After several months, he abandoned the chapel to reside at cult central, leaving the community that had so generously sponsored him without a priest.

The Willing Shepherds made do with visiting clergy until another member of their community could be ordained to the priesthood. This gentleman studied under two priests in New England and was periodically examined by the Most Reverend Andrés Morello, formerly of the SSPX and now a traditional bishop based in Argentina. After careful examination on a number of dimensions including dedication to study, the religious spirit, simplicity, and love of poverty, Bishop Morello found the candidate worthy of promotion to major orders. (His Excellency also scrupulously observed the canonical interstices.)

When norteamericano sede pond scum heard that a distinguished bishop would soon ordain to the priesthood an American on U.S. soil, they decided to play the spoiler, like psychologically disturbed adolescents at the mall at Christmastime who tell small children there's no Santa. They must have been frightened to death at the upcoming ordination: Not only would the beautiful chapel of the Sacred Heart be out of the sedes' grasp forever, but also they would have to compete with a genuinely educated traditional Catholic bishop whose credentials and probity far exceed their own their contemptible mediocrity.

It was all too much for the sede busybodies.

In the weeks before last Saturday's ordination, unsubstantiated, back-alley rumors began to circulate about the ordinand's formation. The situation grew grave enough to prompt Monseñor Morello to issue a lengthy letter to put an end to the hypocritical innuendoes and to set the record straight. Although he learned the identity of the gutter-snipe rumor monger, His Excellency is too decent to expose to the world's ridicule such a despicable windbag. Instead he discreetly notified the laity that
an ecclesiastic of prominent hierarchy (to whom we offer the charity of not naming although he didn't have it when he formed his evaluations) called a trustworthy priest on the phone, asserting that we would be ordaining a candidate who lacks sufficient formation.
What in the world could this nameless gringo "ecclesiastic of prominent hierarchy" have been thinking?

Didn't he remember that in 2012 "One-Hand Dan," the Grand Mufti of Tradistan, "ordained" to the priesthood a man who, like this new priest in Lawrence, had studied independently under two priests and not in a seminary? Didn't he know that Deacon Dan's chobdar, the rector himself, had tacitly endorsed such a non-traditional formation by inviting that same "priest" to accompany him to Germany, Poland, Austria, and Hungary this year? How can it be that, in one case, guided study under two priests is O.K. but in the present case, it's wrong?

The usual double standards of American sede hypocrisy must surely be at work here.

The truth is, the man's formation is unblemished. His community did not have to prod him to study. Never were they forced to mark his books secretly so they could later confirm whether he had at least opened his theology texts. Neither of his tutors ever had cause to deliver a bad report to his ordaining bishop or to the community he will serve. Moreover, the new priest continues to maintain very cordial relations with both the priests who supervised his formation and spiritual direction.

As for the ordaining bishop who examined him, Monseñor Morello possesses educational and social advantages that far surpass the pitiful attainments of Tradistan's sorry, hardscrabble hierarchy. As an Argentine, His Excellency was the beneficiary of a first-class high-school education. The standards and expectations of the Latin-American secondary school he attended are far higher than those of most high-schools in the United States.

When he began his priestly formation in 1974, his archdiocesan seminary boasted internationally renowned professors who had earned doctorates from the Gregorian University in Rome. In addition, since Argentina was at the time a Catholic country, there was no dearth of very bright, accomplished candidates of good family. His archdiocesan seminary could be highly selective in its admissions, quite unlike the vocation-starved American seminaries in the '70s, which took in just about anybody who could fill out the application form.

We personally know that Latin-American seminaries are renowned for their superior teaching staff. As any informed churchman will tell you, the professoriate of these seminaries was and still is far better trained and credentialed than their counterparts in the United States.  We Readers are red-blooded U.S. patriots, but we have to acknowledge this sad fact. English-speaking Catholics were never heirs to a great theological tradition such as we find in Spain, to which Hispanophones have easy access.

Furthermore, Latin-American middle- and upper-class culture, as a whole, is far more intellectually sophisticated than the commercial vapidity that disfigures the U.S. As His Excellency observed in his letter, even at Écône he did not encounter instructors with as "much depth...in philosophical and [T]homistic erudition" as the scholars under whom he studied in his native country.

Now when a prelate of Bishop Morello's prudence -- a man who has spent 40 years in seminaries, a man superior in every way to the repulsive clerical cockroaches infesting Sedelandia -- judges a candidate worthy of holy orders, then second-rate American clergy should shut up, especially when their own house is so disordered.

But they couldn't, could they?

So with the greatest reluctance, el monseñor in charity rebuked the loathsome scoundrels. All we can say is they're lucky His Excellency and the Willing Shepherds hate scandal and won't reveal any more of what they know. (Perhaps one day the jackals will push the Shepherds too far and they'll call in the dogs, telling how they once solved the mystery of the locked-up Levite. That would be so timely today, what with all the news reports of protested quarantines.)

Sad to say, but this unspeakably vile behavior on the part of gringo sedes was to be expected. In fact, the Readers predicted it privately to others. It's part of the rogue sede clergy's modus operandi before every ordination or consecration that threatens their imagined turf. They don't dare allow better men to provide an example of priestly goodness to the laity: the folks just might have their expectations raised and then stop funding all the divisive nastiness the sewer rats foment.

It's all ridiculous and transparent. A couple years ago, a goofy brown-nosing stooge, acting on behalf of trashy sede clergy, attempted to derail an ordination slated to take place in their backyard. (Everybody had a good laugh at this lay loser's ham-fisted efforts.) Some years before that incident, when one of the under-educated cult priests learned that a layman was serving as an MC at Bishop Morello's consecration in Guadalajara, he clumsily tried to terrify the man's wife by saying her husband could be arrested in anti-clerical Mexico! (She and the rest of the chapel also had a good laugh, too, at this creep's expense. BTW, there were Mexican police at the ceremony -- they were there to stop any possible disruption by Masons. In the U.S., it seems, we need cops at ordinations to prevent disruptions by jealous sede clergy!)

American sede weasels just cannot stop embarrassing themselves by engaging in such villainous antics.

With each failed endeavor, they plummet in the estimation of Catholics around the world. Soon this story will reach Europe, South America, Australia, and Mexico. Catholics in those regions will finally be convinced of what many Americans have known for years: Good Trads should have nothing to do with the unwholesome and un-Catholic clerical mob from Sedelandia U.S.A. 




9 comments:

  1. Continuing my commentary, this is why I have become a conclavist, currently under pope Michael. The "traditionalists" do not appear to have jurisdiction, which comes from a pope. We see these problems cropping up among the warring "independent" factions. The word "Catholic" means "universal"; these groups are not universally united and in that sense not Catholic, and from the conclavist perspective at least materially schismatic.

    There can only be so many solutions to the problem of Vatican 2: sede vacantism, sedeprivationism, conclavism; besides the novus ordo, indult, SSPX, etc.

    All of these contradictory divided camps cannot be correct. Hence, there needs to be a serious evaluation of each of the claims and they should be [charitably and] authoritatively corrected and brought to true unity under one true pope. It has already been over five decades since Vatican 2! We cannot continue to have such confusions and divisions. The time has not been put in to mutual prayer and study in order to fix the problem and arrive at a solution with substance. It is our responsibility to end this tragic in-fighting and other shenanigans. Otherwise, we will continue to suffer in the present, and future generations will do likewise.

    There are talks of schism within the novus ordo. There are other "exotic" positions perhaps not even dreamed of that could spring up in the future if we don't act now to prevent these spiritual "weeds", if you will, from growing. There are those like "Fr." Kramer, who believe that nonpope Benedict the XVI is the pope (or at least this was once expressed). There could be sede vacantists that recognize up to Francis or some other Vatican 2 nonpope. But, again, these positions cannot all be mutually exclusive and contradict one another and be correct. We must find the definitive response to Vatican 2 that is in accordance with God's will.

    And I have not seen this done. I do at present believe that Pope Michael is that seed for the restoration we're looking for. I have not seen sede vacantists address the issue of an election at length. They argue we must wait for a miracle to elect a pope - however there have been "mysticalist" papal claimants since Vatican 2 which the sede vacantists have not addressed, as well as conclaves. If pope Michael's election is held to be invalid, what are traditionalists going to do to help him find the correct position? And, then it should be shown that no conclave can be held, if somehow it were found his conclave was invalid. I am not aware of any past papal election requiring miraculous intervention, and although today it might be difficult to understand how an election should or was conducted, I don't believe that proves no valid election can be held.

    Having a pope would help put an end to these warring groups, if not totally eradicate the problem. I remember when I first got in to this "traditionalist" mess a couple years ago and I wondered who the traditionalists' pope was, and I assumed something like the Traditio network was unified as one group under one pope. Every business has its head, its CEO. Every group has its leader. The Church as a holy society has the pope as its head. I think that conclavism will grow its numbers soon among "traditional Catholics" and I hope it's the definitive solution to the Vatican 2 crisis. Wandering "bishops" and "priests" are only going to be able to do so for so long. The "bishops" of different trad groups have acted as if they are mini-popes of their groups anyway, so I'm not sure why conclavism has not been researched at greater length. We certainly have the technology to link these groups up and hold elections in the future.

    I hope to provide more information on this soon (I have been left pray feverishly and work on this on my own). If any readers would like to have a conclavist discussion, here's a throwaway email: onconclavism@hushmail.com

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    1. Thanks your for thoughts, and we look forward to your providing more information.

      We're afraid it's too much to expect that Tradistan will offer the reasoned response you describe. These men haven't the education or the intellect to produce anything of worth, even if it's a refutation of conclavism. For that you need men formed at real seminaries, who have done graduate work in real institutions of higher learning and who are active participants in the community of legitimately recognized scholars.

      Traddies will have to make their decisions without any help from their third-rate, lumpen clergy. As we've shown with Checkie's Work of Human Hands and his defense of "One Hand's": orders, these clerics are incapable of work that can be taken seriously.

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    2. "They won't be able to provide a refutation of conclavism". I agree, I'm on my own, so bear with me here. I have to critique it myself, and then try to argue against the critiques!

      Another reminder is that none of these "independent" priests can be written off as innocent, there are probably infiltrators, maybe all of SGG is that if there are repeated deliberate offenses.

      See the comment on the bottom of the link speculating on "Fr." Cekada's possible family masonic connections. http://thelaypulpit.blogspot.com/2013/10/dr-fr-droleskey-whos-in-his-hidey-hole.html

      Who knows.

      Pistrina I think the only people who will be able to offer intellectual criticisms will have to be independent scholars of some kind of brand because all the schools have been compromised. Presumably, "pope" Francis must have a doctorate, or other "cardinals" do, and look at the apostasy they produce! There are no Catholic education establishments of higher learning immune from these kinds of poor leadership that I'm aware of. So, we're forced to deal with the muddle of all this learning in an independent fashion. Is this fair to conclude that this is the situation that necessity dictates? We could study things like Latin in a classical setting, maybe, but it's still not going to be around Catholics, so there will be a danger to the faith by association, etc.

      Anyway, persevere in prayer and study and keep brainstorming. At least if you know you're of good will, you can make some progress and avoid the errors that are widespread, multiplying, or otherwise not being addressed.

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    3. All very good thoughts.

      Surprisingly, there are some formally trained Novus Ordites who think and believe as we do. Contrary to what Tradistan preaches, some of the old Roman Catholic rigor and ethos as well as content has survived intact. It hasn't "all disappeared," as the cult kings would have you imagine.

      There is already a new group of scholars who are re-evaluating all the conciliar claims and coming to the conclusion that something went terribly wrong. Granted, their numbers aren't overwhelming, but they are a growing influence. The old theology may have been suppressed but it was never completely eradicated from Catholic institutions of higher learning. And remember, it only takes 10 years of assiduous, concentrated study to become a disciplinary expert. Moreover, Google Books and other providers have put many of the old texts online, so it doesn't matter if some of the libraries got rid of the pre-Vatican II works. If you want to read them, they are available. Plus used book sites on the web make it possible to own many of these volumes in hard copy.

      This new wave of academics has been immersed in the study of classical theology and the liturgy, and they will prove a powerful force in leading us all back to tradition. As the curial resistance to Francis gains strength, we will see more and more of the fruits of these neo-traditionalists. (Not all the Sacred College are whacko liberals; many conservatives have been hiding in the closet for decades.)

      We wager that very soon, Traddies will be able to ignore all the sloppy, unreliable ramblings of the under-educated Cekada and Sanborn and replace them with books and articles written by these genuinely trained academics.

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  2. The locked up Levite? What on earth is that? Did someone lock up a priest?

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    1. Well, no, not really.

      At the time of the story, the one locked up in his quarters wasn't a priest, and it's fairly certain that no one was really locked up. At least there was documentary evidence to show that on the days of the alleged confinement, the guy was out and about. However, the man claimed he was interned.

      It's a delicious story, but we'll leave the full telling to others, for the time being. If the vicious troublemakers want to escape exposure, perhaps there'll be some peace for the Shepherds, who just want to be left alone and avoid all these Traddie squabbles.

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  3. I, too, want to know the story of the Locked up Levite. How long ago did this happen?

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    1. We don't have the exact year, but a good guess is sometime between 2007 and 2011. The most we can relate of the story at this time can be found in our comment above, 11/6, 6:31 p.m.

      The "mystery" is just one of many revealing anecdotes that may come out into the open if mischief-makers persist in causing trouble out East.

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  4. Is Bishop Morello in the Thuc line?

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