Charity degrades those who receive it and hardens those who dispense it. George Sand
Just as in an old cowboy-and-indians B-movie, the echoing tom-toms in the arid Sheeple's Republic of Tradistan are beating out an ominous warning: multiple, rapacious fundraising campaigns are galloping across the sede desert wasteland.
So circle the wagons and hold on to your wallets, Gerties. There's a triple-threat charity-warparty rushing headlong to scalp you!
The first threat raised its savage head in the "Bishop's (?) Corner" for the week of May 3:
Fr. Cekada has concluded his Seminary teaching trips for this school year, and just in the nick of time. The sanctuary heating/air conditioning unit goes on by itself, as though haunted, ever since it was struck some time ago by lightning. Here the story becomes impossibly complicated, all caught up with big brother regulations and smoke detectors which never worked correctly in the first place, and companies gouging churches for great quantities of wasted money, backed up by the government oversight. Much patience and a cool head is required to navigate these waters.Undoubtedly you'll recall that His Profligacy had earlier been complaining about the sanctuary's heating-and-cooling system. Imprudently he opted to go to Mexico and then replace a perfectly serviceable organ instead of fixing the HVAC unit. Deferred maintenance is always a stupid idea and, evidently, His Spendthriftiness has never heard of a rainy-day fund. (Deacon Dan has no business running any adult enterprise, even the SGG cult: Imitation Catholicism meets inept stewardship.) Mark our words: very soon Dannie'll be asking for donations not only for a new heating/AC unit but also for the non-working smoke detectors.
Before yielding to the temptation to donate, you should remember who was responsible for buying all this junk in the first place. Cheesy and "One Hand" designed and built the ramshackle cult center; they made all the choices. You should ask Dan-O why all that money was used for the lavish Mexico vacation, the new organ, and reprinting a second edition of Cekada's amateurish, error-filled Work of Human Hands when the cult was facing the prospect of a major infrastructure repair/purchase. (Has this man-child ever heard of deferred gratification?)
The cult masters alone are responsible for this mess, so don't allow them to put the blame on the "authorities." Building codes were written to protect innocent citizens from the perils of slipshod construction, incompetent architectural design, and greedy, short-sighted corner-cutting.
Moving on now to the second and third threats, which sharp-elbowed their way into last week's "Corner." The second menaced:
Pray for strength for Fr. Nkamuke. He had just returned from visiting his very sick mother, when his father had a stroke and was paralyzed. The family, of course, look to him for help. Anyone who wishes to give Father something for these extraordinary expenses may simply mark the offering with Father’s name.And the third assault on your bank account followed terrifyingly on the heels of the second:
...Fr. Nkamuke will be covering the remaining courses for Mr. Abraham Chuku [sic], who is now living with him and assisting him. I am now soliciting regular offerings for his supoprt until ordination, called a burse. To help a seminarian, especially one we know and who is so close to ordination, is surely a great grace. Their life is poor indeed, the Nigerian clergy, and they ask only the most basic necessities, as they seek to share “the inestimable riches of Christ” with souls. Your alms deeds let you get in on this blessing.We'll leave the second cup-rattling offensive to your discretion as you evaluate the worthiness of the appeal. (HOLY TOLEDO! Ma sick, and Pa becrippled? And both at the same time? Sheesh, it almost sounds like another Nigerian internet scam, doesn't it?) We'd suggest that, if you are naïve enough ... er, ah,umm ... we mean, uh, .... moved... to contribute, you must demand proof that the funds have been accounted for and transmitted in their entirety. Don't take anybody's word. Give on condition the cult masters allow you to audit the contributions and then personally inspect the money-transfer document.
As you may have noticed, the third case is much more aggressive. "One-Hand Dan" is actively and personally strong-arming the solicitation himself -- for regular offerings, mind you! If you've got any sense at all, you'll conduct a little due diligence before attempting to "get in on this blessing," as Dannie, in his best impersonation of a sleazo car salesman, so crassly put it.
The first question that comes to mind is:
Who is Abraham Chuku?
And if this man is, indeed, the same MHT "seminarian" Abraham Chukwu about whom he wrote -- the same Abraham Chukwu who appears in this (click here) photograph printed in the February 2013 "MHT Newsletter" -- then you need to ask yourself why he's not still attending the fetid swampland "seminary," particularly since his ordination was "so close."
Why is this strongly independent-minded young fellow now "studying" independently (i.e., privately) under a "priest" who was only recently ordained? Why didn't he -- or why couldn't he -- remain at Most Holy Trinity "Seminary" in Brooksville until ordination. Why would the rector have suffered a pesthouse inmate "so close to ordination" to leave if the only problem was a little bit of tuition money?
If Mr. Chukwu needed funds to complete his formation there, couldn't Li'l Dan Dolan and Big Don Sanborn together have "solicited regular offerings for his support until ordination"? That way, Big Don's cash-strapped "seminary" would have benefited directly from others' charity, as usual, and the young man could have continued his "studies" uninterrupted until his dubious ordination at the hands of "One-Hand Dan."
These are fundamental questions upon which you should ground your giving.
In this post, we've assumed that Chuku = Chukwu. The misspelling must surely be just another example of His Deficiency's clueless insouciance. Dannie, you'll recall, did refer to the man's "remaining courses" and his proximity to ordination. Accordingly, it's not too far a stretch of the imagination to infer he means the courses the man had not yet completed before leaving (or being invited to leave?) the MHT pesthouse.
And that's the biggest part of your problem as a donor.
If you do decide to contribute to Dannie's appeal for Mr. Chukwu, wouldn't you be guilty of supporting another one of those "untrained and un-Tridentine," canonically unfit rascals whom Tony Baloney Cekada vilified in what His Hyperbolicalness described as a "landmark study"? Certainly, if you did contribute to his support, you'd be actively encouraging the willful violation of canon 972.1, which Checkie solemnly quoted in section I, "Canonical Fitness," of his monograph:
“All candidates for sacred orders … are obliged to live a seminaryObserve that the ol' Checkmeister didn't stop there in his insistence on training at a brick-and-mortar institution. Later in the same article, the Cheeseball devoted an entire section (§V) to refuting arguments in favor of private study. Son now, make no mistake about it: studying under a very busy missionary "priest" in a challenging, sometimes hostile territory is actually worse than studying on one's own. Don't forget what Phony Tony, again citing canon law, wrote:
[sic! Insert "in" after "live," Ed.] at least throughout the entire course of their theological studies.”
“The theological course of studies must be taken, not privately, but in schools instituted for this purpose according to the prescribed course of studies laid down in canon 1365.”At least under home-study conditions, the learner can devote many reflective hours each day to careful reading, memorization, review, and painstaking research. How much really can be taught and tested when the "teacher" is preoccupied with so many other cares and duties?
Not a whole lot, that's for sure.
Let's face it: Mr. Chukwu's studies will always come last under the current circumstances, now made intolerably burdensome by the ill health of "Father" Nkamuke's dependent parents.
For the life of us, we wonder how Double-Standard Daniel can ask the Gerties to support someone who will never complete "a seminary academic program which properly tested his knowledge in Latin, Philosophy or Theology according to the mind of the Church as set forth in canon law and papal documents," as His Hypocrisy himself wrote in this nasty gram to the faithful of Chambéry, France, who had inquired about a young Frenchman. Ask yourselves, What makes Mr. Chukwu an exception to Dirtbag Dan's and Phony Tony's hard-and-fast principles, which they have doggedly insisted everyone else honor? (BTW, the same question is still pending for Uneven-Steven McKenna.)
So...before filling Dannie's cute, little "burse," you've got to do some leg work. We first suggest contacting the rector himself (piuspapax@gmail.com) to learn the reason for this candidate's leaving the pesthouse when he was "so close to ordination." Did he exit independently of his own free will or was there some other intervening factor beyond his control?
At the same time, ask Donnie if he approves of priestly formation outside a seminary. (Don't be shy. He may have changed his mind, as the cult masters so often do. Their views are elastic, to say the least. After all, he took Uneven-Steven with him to Europe as his bag boy a short while ago.) Also ask him whether he was aware of what Dannie is doing through his encouragement of essentially private study for the priesthood. Did Daniel ask Donald's permission and, more importantly, did Donald give it?
If Big Don won't answer you, why not ask Lurch or the Forlorn Finn. We bet they know. (And so does Dannie. Just ask him -- and watch him squirm!)
Probably His Forgetfulness and the Blunderer don't remember -- or don't care-- what they wrote, so they can't help you make a decision. Consistency has never been their strong suit. (Self-interested inconstancy seems to be their hallmark.) Besides, their malignant sense of entitlement to your money means they'll ignore your questions anyway and probably kick you out for asking. Therefore, since you won't listen to us, we suggest you be guided by Tony's earlier written advice about the "untrained and un-Tridentine":
First listen to Pius XI: “One well-trained priest is worth more than many trained badly or scarcely at all. For such would be not merely unreliable but a likely source of sorrow to the Church.”Then save the Church from further sorrow by keeping your money in your pocket. Your refusal might turn back the other panhandling raids as well. Then hitch up the horses, load up the tearful womenfolk, toss the bawlin' young'uns into the back of your arrow-pierced Conestoga, and get outta Tradistan pronto.
Wagons, ho!
Just when I thought that SGG would somehow chug along & eventually become top heavy and hopefully disintegrate, or, by the prayers of some & the grace of God, Dolan would humble himself, bit the bullet & finally do the right thing - THIS happens?! It's getting worse & worse. They pontificate on how things need to be done, then a few short years later they're doing the exact same things that they said couldn't and shouldn't be done!! UNBELIEVABLE.
ReplyDeleteReminds you of "Animal Farm," doesn't it? In the end, they become what they rebelled against.
DeleteThis is just another proof that they're not Catholic.
Yes. I was going to add that it looks like that they believe that some animals are more equal than others. And people aren't picking up on this?!
DeleteLet's hope some are.
DeleteInsiders report that there are big problems at SGG. People are getting fed up, and it's showing. Even supposed long time supporters are talking about how they can't stand Dannie but are too afraid to say anything. That won't last too much longer.
How much longer are things not going to last? Eamon Shea was saying back in 2009 that things were falling apart. It's been five and a half years since then, and we're still waiting for his words to be fulfilled. Can you please give us some more specific information on how much longer things are going to last at SGG, or are you another false prophet like he was?
DeleteWe're not a false prophet but we don't have the gift of perfect clairvoyance either. Remember that it takes time for things to collapse completely, especially when there are so many fools who throw away their family treasure keeping Dannie afloat. Still there is good evidence for its approaching demise.
DeleteSince Eamon's prediction, the cult weekly revenues have been cut in two. Membership has been declining, and now attendance at cult events is low. Furthermore, we know that participation in cult activities is lessening, leaving most of the work to a few aging stalwarts. The ascendancy of the Lowturdsky family is a source of rancor, as they take over more and more functions that the people refuse to do. Lately we've learned of several important defections.
Outside SGG, Dannie's influence is eroding. He's not welcome in France, and has only the Baja rogue chapels to service. We suspect that Fr. Siordia is keeping him at arm's length, and he's considered a joke in South America.
So you see, Eamon was not wrong.Things are steadily falling apart, although the cult masters still manage to tread water. However, the financial situation is precarious and any crisis could result in the end game.
We can't say when that will happen, but it is coming, slowly but surely. We used to think that Dannie would retire in a year or two, and Checkie would leave to nurse him. Without an emotional center, the cult would either disappear or survive in a greatly downsized state, much like the other little sede chapels in the area.
Now, we're not so sure that Dannie will retire soon. He may have to remain for another 5 years or so. (The principal, as we've explained, cannot allow him to go, otherwise he'll be next on the list.)
Those additional 5 years will see major declines in the cult, as more and more people walk away or give less. You must realize that many of the people who remain do not like him, and they no longer believe that SGG is a Catholic oasis. They remain out of inertia or fear of change. However, their good will is gone.
SGG may still be there today, and it may still be there in 5 years. But its physical presence is not the point. It is a thoroughly demoralized place and a mere shadow of its former self. Like a patient with a slowly progressing terminal disease, it still wheezes and coughs in its wheelchair. Nevertheless, the painful end is inevitable.
I say this as someone who respects your work. Is the point of this blog to chronicle the errors of individual ill-formed clergy like Dolan and cekada? Is it to point out the errors of the post Vatican 2 traditionalist reaction which led to situations like SGG? Is it to stand as a warning sign to confused Catholics looking for priests and then realizing that all which glitters is not gold? Might it be a combination of all of the above and more?
DeleteThe reason I pose the question is that the sooner or later SGG will collapse. After such collaspe what then for the blog or will your work will be then seemingly be finished? Again please understand I am being respectful of the blog's purpose and the good which I know it has accomplished.
First, all of the above -- and MORE.
DeleteWe take your last question in the generous spirit in which you put it, for it deserves an answer. When SGG collapses, the Readers will focus exclusively on MHT until it goes away (i.e., if it doesn't disappear at the same time as SGG.) After that, we will create a new blog dedicated to promoting and supporting -- in a very positive way -- lay governance and *aliquid pravism" as the means of avoiding all the evils that have befallen traditional Catholics of all stripes. Never again should the faithful be victimized by the clergy, and they won't be if they learn how to govern their own chapels and stop fighting with other Catholics who believe that something is wrong with conciliar Rome. Only the laity can save the traditional movement, and we want to help.
But before we can do that...SGG and MHT must close up shop.
Would it help if Dolan humbled himself & got his consecration straightened out or is the dislike too far gone and for many more other reasons now?
ReplyDeleteYes. If Dolan did humble himself, get conditional priestly and episcopal orders, and kick out Cekada, he indeed might stand a chance of survival. People always are willing to forgive when someone confesses his errors and converts. Sincere repentance and reparation would not be rejected by most decent people. Of course, he would need to be supervised for the rest of his life, lest he return to his old ways.
DeleteBut Checkie and the principal will never allow him to do what he needs to save himself. Sanborn should advise this approach, but he's not swift enough to see the merit in so Catholic a solution.
Accordingly, the relentless march to an ignominious end will continue.
Checkie & the principal? I thought it was the principal that had Checkie & Dolan under his thumb. Where would Checkie go if he left? Start yet another independent chapel?
ReplyDeleteBoth Checkie and the principal have their own reasons to keep Dannie from repenting. Any conversion on Dan's part would necessitate getting rid of both the Cheeseball and Murky.
ReplyDeleteWe think the Checkmeister would have a problem starting an independent chapel. Our best bet is that he would try to find refuge at the MHT pesthouse. But that could prove difficult. If Dannie got rid of Tony, Big Don wouldn't dare take him in for fear of losing any donations that "One Hand" might throw his way.
That's why the Bonehead will tag team with the principal to keep Wee Dan unrepentant.
All this time I thought that Dolan & Cekada were buddies. So I guess that it's really a case of each man for himself to further his own agenda? They can team up for some things, but are willing to stab anyone in the back if necessary? What a Christian brotherhood! What a tangled web!
ReplyDeleteSure, they're pals, but the cult kingpins are always looking out for Number One. That why Checkie will never permit Dannie to repent. The Cheeseball would be like a guppy in a shark tank as everyone would demand that Dannie give him the boot. The layman who in 2009 told Dannie to throw Checkie under the bus is back at SGG, and he's growing disgusted again.
ReplyDelete