Fr. Kennedy of Brisbane: See ya!

You know about the weird dissident Fr. Kennedy in Brisbane, who baptizes invalidly and doesn’t believe in the resurrection of Christ.

Now this.

Finally… finally…

Priest fired for unholy communion
Cosima Marriner
February 20, 2009
 
THE first Australian priest to be sacked from his parish for being "not in communion" with Rome has defied the Catholic hierarchy by promising to conduct Mass as usual this weekend.

In a decision that is likely to reverberate throughout the Catholic community, the Archbishop of Brisbane yesterday fired Father Peter Kennedy for unorthodox practices["fired" and "sacked" … well …. translated into secular terms.]

Father Kennedy, of St Mary’s in South Brisbane, allows women to preach, blesses gay couples, denies the Virgin birth and claims the Church is dysfunctional.

It is the first time a priest has been sacked in Australia for breaking ranks with Rome and follows secret filming of unorthodox liturgies at St Mary’s and complaints to the Vatican by arch-conservative Catholics. [You can tell what side the writer is on.]

In his decree, the archbishop said Father Kennedy had "caused harm to ecclesiastical communion in spite of frequent requests from me to do otherwise". And in a statement he said: "This decision brings me no satisfaction as division within the Church is contrary to all that Christ taught."

Father Kennedy said he felt betrayed by the archbishop [incredible!  After the patience he has been shown.] but conceded that the parish he has led for 28 years was out of line with the teachings of the Church. "We have broken liturgical rules," he said yesterday. "We have treated people as adults, we have embraced gay and lesbian people, we have women coming into our community to preach."  [And preached pure heresy, as well.]

He said his liturgies were still valid. [except for those that aren’t] "We celebrate in a way that is relevant to Australian Catholics, rather than toeing the line in Rome."

Father Ken Howell will take over St Mary’s tomorrow as an administrator and has said he wants to work towards healing.

Father Kennedy will not go quietly. He plans to say Mass at 9am on Sunday and expects 1000 people to turn up. But he has backed away from threats that he would form a breakaway church. "I don’t wish to do that. We argue but we are very much within the Catholic tradition."

Instead he will formally appeal the archbishop’s decision, and until the matter is resolved he will continue attending St Mary’s.

Father Kennedy’s supporters were distraught at his sacking and predicted it would destroy the good work he had done.   [One can only hope.]

"People see this as the end of the community as we know it," a spokeswoman for the parish, Karyn Walsh, said.

"The decision about St Mary’s sends a message across all Catholic communities that you cannot have any diversity in relation to liturgy."

The church establishment has tired of Father Kennedy’s questioning of the "single
truths" of Catholicism. He airs conundrums of the faith that many followers wrestle with in private, describes the Virgin birth as "nonsense" and believes there should be a Vatican III to address doctrine for the 21st century.

Bye!

So loooooong!

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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36 Comments

  1. Jeff M says:

    “Father Kennedy, of St Mary’s in South Brisbane, allows women to preach, blesses gay couples, denies the Virgin birth and claims the Church is dysfunctional.”

    He’s right about that last part… And the Church is dysfunctional because of priests who allow women to preach, bless gay couples, etc…

  2. don Jeffry says:

    Don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out!

  3. Father,

    If he celebrates Mass, as he has said he would do, even though he has been stripped of that privilege in South Brisbane, does that not take things a step further?

    I’ve made several updates on this over the past week or so.

    Parishioners are gearing up for a fight and he’s labeled the new priest a “scab”

    Cardinal Pell has spoken…

    Rogue Australian priest vows not to go down quietly

  4. Peggy says:

    I love the Aussie use of the word “sacked”. During one of my business trips there in the late (19)90s the “wharfies” were on strike and risked being “sacked.”

    Good on the bishop!

  5. Chris says:

    “The decision about St Mary’s sends a message across all Catholic communities that you cannot have any diversity in relation to liturgy.”

    God willing!

  6. Charivari Rob says:

    \”…allows women to preach…\”

    \”…we have women coming into our community to preach.\”

    Nice red herring they put in there.

    The issue is allowing anyone other than a priest or deacon to \’preach\’ (in the Mass) other than in certain very specific circumstances. Whether it is a man or a woman has nothing to do with it.

  7. John Lacroix says:

    In some respects, this is a hard one.

    I am a traditional Catholic who has the privlege of assisting at Mass in the EF in Denver, under the auspices of the FSSP.

    It is much too common for Catholics in Parishes to become attached to a particular Priest. What is uncommon, in my opinion, is for significant numbers in a Parish to become attached to revealed Catholic Truth. I pray that it were otherwise.

    I have seen this in both forms, both in Parishes that offer Mass exclusively in the OF and those that offer Mass in the EF.

    In charity and simple fairness, it may take some time to seperate the wheat from the chaff, in this particular Parish.

    God please give them Wisdom and Strength.

    John Lacroix

  8. RC says:

    Does the Archbishop need to take some action to prevent this priest from attending Mass at the parish and fighting the administrator?

  9. Rancher says:

    Adios Padre…don’t let the door hit you where it hurts on your way out. As we used to say in police work “minor loss, no report needed”.

  10. memoriadei says:

    Yessss. And gee, I hope the door doesn’t (or maybe that it does) hit him in the hiney on the way OUT ! I am SO loving be alive in this day! Praise God and thank you for letting me be here to see this…! Now. Well. Don’t we just know that Pelosi had her last chance. And maybe all Catholic politicians were given the same message at that meeting with Pelosi.

  11. Rob says:

    Again, this whole thing is exactly like the Corpus Christi church situation in the Diocese of Rochester. Fr. Callan was removed, the people formed the “Spring Committee” and protested like crazy, Fr. Callan came back and said Mass at Corpus even after being kicked out, and then finally they started their own breakaway church.

    Please, please Archbishop, step in and do not allow this priest to return! Stop the nonsense before the people follow this wacko off to form their own church. He can’t be allowed to preside over another Mass there.

  12. frv says:

    Deo gratias! Good riddance! Thank you, your Excellency! Kyrie, eleison!

  13. A song

    *Clears Throat, Moistens Pallete*

    Na Na NA NA . Na NA NA NA , Hey Hey yay, GOOODBYE!

    Now, maybe they can start working on some of the whack jobs we have in our own country here.

  14. Don’t forget to pray for this Judas priest’s soul. Have pity on his Guardian Angel too.

  15. JARay says:

    The thing that gets me in all this is that Archbishop Bathesby has let these shenanigans go on for so long. I purchase AD 2000, which is a good solid Catholic monthly periodical, published here in Australia, and month after month there have been letters of complaint in it about St. Mary’s of South Brisbane and Fr. Kennedy.
    AD 2000 is available on-line but one needs to be a subscriber to read all of each edition. If anyone wants to take a look it is http://www.ad2000.com.au and you can sample its flavour.

    JARay

  16. Brendan Downunder says:

    Brisbane is my archdiocese. I’m afraid things aren’t as simple as Father Kennedy being sacked by Archbishop Bathersby and then graciously taking his leave. He is refusing to leave St. Mary’s and every day brings more negative and distorted exposure in the Australian media. This weekend is shaping up as the grat showdown. Please pray for us. Catholics here have suffered for decades. Father Kennedy is really only a symptom of a much wider malaise in the Church here. Again, please pray for us.

  17. Son of Trypho says:

    Fr Kennedy makes an interesting remark in a CathNews (Australian Catholic news site) about some of the members of his parish – apparently they come from all over Brisbane and some from significant distances to attend his masses.

    This is particularly interesting because, according to some public comments critical of the EF, these people wouldn’t constitute a “stable group” of the faithful because they are not from the immediate parish.

  18. Beowulf says:

    Fired or sacked, I thought he was being excommunicated and yet his replacement has said if Kennedy wishes he may concelebrate with him on Sunday.
    There is a certain “formlessness” about Australian Catholicism, certainly in Bishop Bathurst’s diocese.

  19. Sharon says:

    \”Fasten your seatbelts, it\’s going to be a bumpy ride\” at St Mary\’s this weekend. There isn\’t a singing fat lady in sight.

  20. AReader says:

    If this “priest” is showing his discent with the church and is being “expelled” as it were, isnt it the same with “Catholics” like Ms. N. Pelosi who is not changing her pro-abortion stance ?shouldnt she be “expelled” also ?

  21. Jane says:

    Fr Kennedy is clueless. Please pray for him and while we are at it, please pray for Australia especially this Sunday, February 22. It is our national day of mourning for the victims of the recent bushfires in Victoria. There will be speeches and secular stuff, but the dead need prayers in case they are in Purgatory.

    Our Lord dictated the following prayer to St Gertrude the Great to release many souls from Purgatory each time it is said.

    Prayer of St. Gertrude the Great.

    Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.

    If you want to learn more about how to help the Holy Souls in Purgatory and about their powerful intercession for their benefactors visit:

    http://missionbell.homestead.com/Afavourgrantedbytheholysouls.html

  22. Laura Lowder says:

    If Fr. Kennedy has been removed from St. Mary’s, is he not also to be required to take up his residence elsewhere? If a pastor emeritus can create tensions and discomforts in his former parish, when he retires to the same community immediately after serving there, how much more damage can Fr. Kennedy do?

    I hope Cardinal Pell, or whomever has direct authority over Brisbane, will send strong people there to re-catechize the parishioners of St. Mary’s. They desperately need re-catechesis after the shenanigans they’ve been subjected to – and accepted as “wonderful” for all these years.

  23. Fr. James says:

    There are few rhetorical habits so puerile as the persistent braying to be “treated like an adult.” Adults understand responsibility and accountability and accept the consequences of their actions. Only a child labors under the delusion that “adults” don’t have anyone to tell them what to do.

  24. Fr. James says:

    above comment in reference to this: “We have broken liturgical rules,” he said yesterday. “We have treated people as adults, we have embraced gay and lesbian people, we have women coming into our community to preach.”

  25. Dion says:

    In some ways I feel sorry for this man. He appears to have a problem and his bristling, aggressive attitude has seen him remain at this parish for far too long. Once again we see the result when gentle episcopal action ten years ago could have prevented the drastic action required now. Of course Fr Kennedy in his pride does not consider the real victims in this matter – the faithful parishioners who have so gradually and insidiously been led astray over the years. How many souls has he put at risk? He is in his seventies so we cannot necessarily discount a creeping medical problem, but perhaps he should reflect on his attitude when he was first ordained. In all seriousness, when the local Raelians come out in support of him, even his damaged alarm bells should start ringing.

  26. chironomo says:

    “The decision about St Mary’s sends a message across all Catholic communities that you cannot have any diversity in relation to liturgy.”

    We have both the Ordinary Form and the Extraordinary Form… how much more diversity could we possibly need? He seems to have created a third form… The Novus Wierdo…

  27. Chris M says:

    It should never have gotten this far. Once heresy is this embedded in a parish it’s incredibly difficult to eliminate without losing souls in the process. These are things that Bishops will have to answer for eventually.

  28. Daniel Latinus says:

    “It is the first time a priest has been sacked in Australia for breaking ranks with Rome and follows secret filming of unorthodox liturgies at St Mary’s and complaints to the Vatican by arch-conservative Catholics.”

    If what these people were doing was so great, why are they annoyed that someone publicized what they are doing?

    “The church establishment has tired of Father Kennedy’s questioning of the “single truths” of Catholicism. He airs conundrums of the faith that many followers wrestle with in private, describes the Virgin birth as “nonsense” and believes there should be a Vatican III to address doctrine for the 21st century.”

    Good luck with that. I suspect Vatican III will anathematize much of what Fr. Kennedy is trying to promote…

  29. Br Pelagius says:

    Dear Pilgrims to Fr Z,

    Sadly Cardinal Pell doesn’t have any jurisdiction over South Brisbane. Here in the Cloister we are amused by media comments about the ultra-orthodox Archbishop of Brisbane – Bathersby. ABJB is a very very weak man and ONLY acted because the Vatican told him to do so. Sadly, complaints went to deaf ears for many years until now.

    Today is only Saturday – we shall see when there is a confrontation tomorrow.

    Br P

  30. Jakob Sprenger says:

    This is the latest sordid event in this saga, it’s gone way beyond a joke:

    http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=755347

    The Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane says Archbishop John Bathersby has been the target of a bomb threat following the controversy surrounding St Mary’s church.

    A police spokesman confirmed a bomb threat had been made.

    “The informant contacted police this morning to report a bomb threat had been received in a letter,” the spokesman said.

    “Details of the threats made in the letter will not be disclosed by police and investigations are continuing.”

    A spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane said the threat was received at the Archbishop’s office on Friday.

    He confirmed that the Archbishop’s residence was the target in the letter.

    “It made mention of St Mary’s, but that’s now in the hands of police,” the spokesman said.

    But the spokesman refused to confirm whether the letter was written by someone who supported rebel 71-year-old priest Father Peter Kennedy, or a supporter of the Catholic Archdiocese.

    St Mary’s has been the centre of controversy in recent months, with Fr Kennedy attracting the stern eye of the Vatican itself.

    The congregation of 700 has a unique ministry in inner-city Brisbane, widely acknowledged as a haven for the poor, the marginalised, indigenous people, homosexuals and broken families.

    Fr Kennedy was sacked from his ministry at St Mary’s parish on Thursday by Brisbane Archbishop Bathersby for breaching church rules.

    Fr Ken Howell has been appointed to replace Fr Kennedy, and the two recently met face to face.

    At that meeting, Fr Kennedy refused to hand over the keys to the Parish buildings, including the church, and told Fr Howell that he would officiate at all Masses this weekend.

    Fr Howell was also told by the Queensland Police Service not to attend Masses at St Mary’s this weekend for his own safety.

    I’m disgusted that folks who call themselves Catholic can send an Archbishop, what is to all intents and purposes, a death threat. And the replacement pastor has been warned by police not to attend Mass for his own safety!!! Seriously what in Hades is going on?

  31. Charivari Rob says:

    “At that meeting, Fr Kennedy refused to hand over the keys to the Parish buildings, including the church, and told Fr Howell that he would officiate at all Masses this weekend.”

    Sad, but I suppose they shouldn’t be astonished.

    Bring a locksmith. Change all the locks.

    “Fr Howell was also told by the Queensland Police Service not to attend Masses at St Mary’s this weekend for his own safety.”

    This is the instant litmus test of Father Kennedy’s character. No matter how he might cast himself as countercultural or spin his positions on doctrine, liturgy, obedience, his bishop and Rome; no matter what he actually believes about himself; no matter who actually made this threat (one of his supporters, one of his detractors, or a completely unrelated crackpot)… If he heard that a threat had been made, somehow associated with events surrounding him, that resulted in a brother priest being advised to stay away from his assigned post for fear of his own safety and did not immediately issue the harshest public condemnation of such a despicable occurrence… How would he even be able to look at himself in the mirror?

    Has there been any comment from Father Kennedy in response to the threat? The article didn’t really say.

    This is a test of the mettle of the archbishop, too. Will he go to St. Mary’s himself? Will he insist upon police presence, private security, security scanners at the church doors, etc… whatever is necessary to ensure the safety of the faithful and the protection of the property of the Church?

    (from the same article Jakob linked) “Despite the bomb threat made to his residence, Archbishop Bathersby said the Brisbane Catholic Archdioceses’ priority was to ensure the proper transition of the parish to the new administrator.

    “In this difficult situation, I believe a sensible next step would be to have an experienced, independent and eminent mediator meet with the Archdiocese and Fr Kennedy to attempt to achieve a peaceful and dignified outcome,” the Archbishop said.”

  32. irishgirl says:

    A bomb threat against the Archbishop-yikes!

    Well Padre Kennedy, good riddance-don’t let the door whack your buns on the way out!

  33. Michael says:

    Yes a bomb threat!

    http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25089054-3102,00.html

    The Archbishop does nothing effectual in relation to minor complaints for years.

    A whistleblower gathers evidence about Kennedy’s wrongdoing and reports the problem to both the Archbishop and the Vatican.

    Kennedy allegedly assaults the whistleblower and allegedly does wilful damage to his phone/camera.

    The police get a complaint and a recording of the incident where the whistleblower states that Kennedy broke his phone and Kennedy replies “Good! If you don’t get out of here I’ll break you!” That is pretty darn close to a confession if not actually one.

    The police elect to take no action.

    The Archbishop tells Kennedy to shape up in August, 2008. In about December he gives a January deadline.

    Kennedy keeps drawing analogies between himself and Jesus and states in the media that Jesus didn’t start any Church. He indicates that two organisations had offered him a place to worship if he gets booted out from the Church.

    The Archbishop complains that people are gathering at the gates of his residence yelling abuse and telling him he’ll burn in hell.

    In early February the Archbishop gives a late February deadline. Kennedy calls a press conference.

    In late February the Archbishop finally takes action. Kennedy refuses to leave. He states in the media that “Sometimes it’s so embarassing to be a Catholic”. When asked if he and the Archbishop are talking to the same God Kennedy replies. “No. Not at all. In fact I wouldn’t talk to God, really…” He quotes Hindu mystics and the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta – worship not of a deity, but the discovery of self, of oneness with the world”

    Kennedy calls the new priest appointed by the Archbishop a “religious scab”. When that doesn’t seem to work well he back tracks with the weak excuse that he has looked up “scab” in the dictionary and that doesn’t describe the new priest.

    Instead of the Archbishop changing the locks and booting him out with police assistance. The Archbishop gets a bomb threat and the police advise the new priest to stay away. Business as usual with more people and a supportive mass media.

    Now is it just me or is the inaction or slow action by the police and the Archbishop a major contributing problem that is escalating the situation and making it increasingly dangerous.

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