Matthew Fox is still alive, and is still an idiot.

Yet another reason why Pope Benedict was right to issue Anglicanorum coetibus.

A priest friend, Fr. GR, alerted me to this, on Virtue Online, a site for "orthodox Anglicanism":

Defrocked Catholic Priest Leads Earth Worship Seminar
Former Dominican Turned Episcopalian Praises Gaia, ‘Goddess’

Jeff Walton

May 5, 2010

An Episcopal priest and "theologian"  [and we use that term loosely] who popularized the rave-like "Techno Cosmic Mass" and advocated goddess worship [Sounds like my seminary days.] recently led a seminar on mysticism and Earth spirituality to coincide with Earth Day.

Warning that environmental degradation caused by raging against "Gaia" had to cease, the Rev. Matthew Fox [Remember him?!?] made frequent references to "the Goddess" and the divine feminine during his environmentally-themed lecture and workshop, "Earth Spirituality and the Mystical Tradition." The event was held in April at the Unitarian Universalist Church in the Washington suburb of Rockville, Maryland, and sponsored by the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation.

Episcopal Priest and Theologian Matthew Fox has authored 28 books, many addressing the mysticism and spirituality of Earth worship. (Image Courtesy of Friends of Creation Spirituality) Fox’s seminar was a melding of Celtic spirituality, goddess worship, panentheism (which posits that God interpenetrates every part of nature, but also transcends nature), environmental activism, and a political rejection of American "empire," peppered sporadically [Wait for it!] with digs against the Vatican.

Making references to Christian mystics like Hildegard of Bingen alongside pagan deities and the animal world, Fox comfortably oscillated between threats to polar bears and the oppression patriarchy when expressing his views on the natural world.

The solution offered by the former Roman Catholic priest [whack job] was an embrace of ancient spiritual practices, recast in modern language and setting.

"This is how you change consciousness the fastest – through rituals, not [academic] degrees," Fox said, explaining the various practices he has either rediscovered or pioneered in mapping out "creation spirituality."

Creation Spirituality

Fox’s views have long sparked controversy, although he did not start out in unorthodox surroundings. A member of the Dominican Order for 34 years, Fox refused to respond to a summons to discuss his writings with his superiors in the Roman Catholic Church. This disobedience led to his expulsion from the order in 1993. Due to his denial of the doctrine of original sin, Fox had already been forbidden by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) from teaching theology in 1988. [Not a moment too soon.  The Domincan’s themselves should have taken care of this nut.  Who was at the head of the Dominicans in those days?]

Following his departure from Roman Catholicism, Fox has served as a priest in the San Francisco-based Episcopal Diocese of California [Where else?] since 1994, working with the group Friends of Creation Spirituality and the now-shuttered University of Creation Spirituality. At the center of his work has been something called "the cosmic mass" – a religious ceremony that Fox adapted from the creation spiritual tradition.

"Creation spirituality begins with the concept of original blessing instead of original sin," [Apparently defying God is a good thing.] Fox explained in a 2005 documentary. "You came into the world as a real expression of divinity and as something beautiful and yearning to connect with others, including the creator. [That’s the problem, isn’t it.  Our first parents excluded the Creator.] The ‘cosmic Christ’ theology is also a big part of our cosmic mass. It teaches that the Christ – that is the image of God – is present in every being in the universe. This allows you a much broader canvas in which to paint your worship." [Your non-Christian worship.]

That worship has included the "Techno Cosmic Mass" – an event that attempts to combine the religious ritual of the Eucharist with non-Christian religious rituals and the energy of techno music and rave parties. Mixing dance, techno music, contemporary art and the western liturgical tradition, the post-modern form of worship eschews traditional images of church, along with rejecting traditional Christian teachings.

Fox partly justifies creation spirituality by saying that Jesus Christ did not get his wisdom from books. [And he knows this… how?  Did Christ not read Scripture in the synagogue?]

"He was probably illiterate," [the Eternal Word] Fox claimed, explaining that Jesus’ purportedly illegitimate birth would have exiled him from the rabbinical schools. Instead, Fox posits that the young Jesus spent more time learning from nature. References to lilies, vines, and mustard seeds in Jesus’ teachings back this view, according to Fox. [Nut case!]

The former Catholic "theologian" did not explain how Christ was so familiar with rabbinical teachings if he was illiterate, or how he read from the scrolls at Capernum or wrote on the ground while confronting the accusers of the woman caught in adultery.

In addition to creating his own theology independent of Scripture, Fox waded into science, authoring his own physical laws for the universe. [!]

"Matter is frozen light," Fox asserted, also adding that plants and animals had souls, as they share the properties of being "living, sensory and intelligent." [Some of you readers who are young might not know what sort of rubbish was floating around in the 80’s.  Sounds funny now, doesn’t it?]

Fox conducted elements of the "cosmic mass" during the seminar. Among them was a grieving ritual, which Fox equated with confession during the traditional mass. In preparation for the ritual, Fox invited participants to place their feet, knees, hands and forehead in direct contact with the floor, in order to increase connection with the earth below. Seminar participants then were instructed to release their grief into the earth in three stages: anger, sorrow, and concluding with "bottoming out". [Or, perhaps, botttoming up!]

As the "grief work" began, animal-like barking and growls punctuated guttural wails and whimpering that filled the church sanctuary, rising to a crescendo and then concluding. Fox pronounced the "grief work" as authentic, saying that which came from the gut was correctly in line with the third chakra, a point of spiritual power located along the body in yoga. [Nut case!]

The clergyman also prescribed another practice of grieving: "Find a rock, dig a hole, ask the rock if it is willing to do this, [Yep… sounding more and more like seminary…] and then you get a bandanna or some piece of cloth that means something to you, and you put your grief into that rock and wrap it, wrap the bandanna around it and bury it, and then cover it up. The Earth is so generous and large that she can absorb our grief for us."  [I know… I know… but you keep on reading anyway….]

Despite Fox’s efforts to correlate portions of the cosmic mass with the traditional mass, such as having a modified communion service, he seemed eager to jettison the theme of the Eucharist. [What a surprise!]

"We’ve been told by bad preachers that Jesus died on the cross for your sins," Fox said. In the place of sacrificial atonement, the Episcopal priest argued that liturgy and worship was about the Universe itself, "veneration of the sacred."

Animosity toward the Vatican

Despite his focus upon creation spirituality, Fox could not resist inserting occasional digs at the leadership of the church he left over 15 years ago.

As if to validate concerns that led to his expulsion from the Dominican order, Fox referred to Mary as "the Goddess" whom he worshipped. Fox also criticized the "patriarchy" of Rome. [He is a the ideal "theologian" for that relic of the 80’s, the S.N.A.G., the "sensitive new-age guy".]

"Anyone who doesn’t think that Christianity needs reinventing has not been listening to the news for the past six weeks," Fox said, referring to the clergy sex abuse scandals. "The Vatican needs reinventing, it needs a burial with a good ritual – all good Catholics can put their imaginations to work now on what a post-Vatican Catholicism would look like."

Fox also protested against the Pope’s ban on the use of the feminine pronoun at the altar to describe God.

"One of the objections by Cardinal Ratzinger to my theology was that I call God ‘mother’," [One of the objections?  Here’s my objection…. How about the objection that someone this loony shouldn’t be allowed ever to speak in public or write?] Fox said. "I think he should have spent more time with these mystics and less time chasing down theologians."

Expressing frustration with the investigations of unorthodox theology by the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, Fox hypothetically asked of the bishops: "Who’s investigating you? We’d be glad to." [He doesn’t sound bitter.  No.  Not a bit.]

"Enough of the injustice, enough of the lies, enough of the Vatican, enough of patriarchy, enough is enough," Fox said. "Enough of the empire."  [Enough is right.]


About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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66 Comments

  1. jeffmcl says:

    “animal-like barking and growls punctuated guttural wails and whimpering”… Sounds kind of like a charismatic Mass. Sad thing is, for every one of these guys who is “defrocked”, there are a hundred more who are active priests pushing their new age theology without sanction. E.g., the LA religious education conference.

  2. Timbot2000 says:

    I hope the comedy cheered you a bit Father!

  3. The Egyptian says:

    “Enough of the injustice, enough of the lies, enough of the Vatican, enough of patriarchy, enough is enough,” Fox said. “Enough of the empire.
    ————————————————–
    as he boards the mother ship we hear;(deep raspy breathing)
    Matthew, I am your father, please, leave the dark side to me, you are too loony and giving me a bad name

  4. AnAmericanMother says:

    Wow.

    This guy is nutty as a whole wall of cuckoo clocks.

    He’s loonier than any loony Episcopalian I ever met, and I’ve known a few. Only in San Fran . . . .

  5. nhaggin says:

    It was a sad day when Chris Johnson lost the original MCJ, along with his brilliant snarky film-noir detective story involving Matthew Fox. That story is the best possible response to his ranting. :)

  6. Athelstan says:

    It teaches that the Christ – that is the image of God – is present in every being in the universe. This allows you a much broader canvas in which to paint your worship.”

    More importantly, it allows you to worship yourself.

  7. Bryan says:

    Wow. See, kids, what abusing drugs and staying out late will do to however many brain cells you have? Step away from the bong, Matthew.

    Father: calling this whackjob an ‘idiot’ does a disservice to those who would be so classified due to their restricted mental development, and for whom we are called to be compassionate…;) They’re better than to be dragged down to Fox’s level.

  8. Athelstan says:

    nhaggin,

    Yes, I can’t wait to see Johnson’s fisking of this latest Fox detonation.

  9. Athelstan says:

    P.S. Never mind – fisking already done: http://themcj.com/?p=11357

  10. Salvatore_Giuseppe says:

    “‘Matter is frozen light,’ Fox asserted,”

    That sounds almost Manichaean. I suppose it isn’t for nothing that modernism is described as the “synthesis of all heresies”

    also, “‘He was probably illiterate,’ Fox claimed”

    Luke 4:16-17,21
    “And he came to Nazareth, where he was brought up: and he went into the synagogue, according to his custom, on the sabbath day; and he rose up to read. And the book of Isaias the prophet was delivered unto him. And as he unfolded the book, he found the place where it was written:…And he began to say to them: This day is fulfilled this scripture in your ears.”

    so he got up to READ, found the place where it was WRITTEN(indicating he knew what was on the page.) and told the people the scripture was fulfilled in their EARS (indicating the passage was spoken, aka, read).

    I can see how mr. Fox’s conclusions were drawn from that…*eye roll*

  11. Andy Milam says:

    Fr. Z,

    Do you remember when he and “Starchild” were at UST in the lower quad celebrating “The Earth?” It was in the late 1990s, while I was still living with the Boss. It was one of those joint exercises in ecumenism with the Anglicans and Campus Misery (oops, I mean Ministry) at UST, during the Tolaas days….my most vivid memory was the rant that Fr. Altier went on about it…think about how conversation at table went that night when I got home…

    Just wondering if it rang a bell?

    God Bless….

  12. pelerin says:

    Extraordinary! I was curious enough to look him up on Wikipedia and see that he was responsable for developing ‘Techno Cosmic Mass’. This is described as ‘an event that attempts to combine the religious ritual of the Eucharist with evocative and connecting religious rituals and the ecstatic energy of techno music and rave parties.’ My first introduction to techno music was in Paris during the ‘techno parade.’ You could not hear yourself think the so-called music was so loud.

    This gentleman is no longer a Roman Catholic Priest so what he believes now should not really concern us. What worries me far more are views opposing the Church held by those who are still ministering to their flocks.

    I have found a blog written by an English Parish Priest (pastor) who recently referred to the open letter to Bishops of Ireland written by Hans Kung. He wrote ‘In my lowly opinion Kung has done the Church a great service in writing this letter.’ He then quoted another Priest who wrote ‘Fr Kung’s letter is possibly the finest piece of religious writing to appear in the Irish Times in many a day.’ I am not sure if this latter is still a Priest as he was once criticized for celebrating Mass with a Church of Ireland minister.

    The blog does not appear to have many readers yet but one of them wrote ‘We catholics pay very little attention to Rome…. pomp and ceremony disgust us.’ I found it quite distressing reading and am still trying to work out what the Priest means by writing ‘We must really stop using the gospels as scaffolding for the institution.’

  13. Warren says:

    “…animal-like barking and growls punctuated guttural wails and whimpering…” – someone call an exorcist.

    They got Fox; we’re getting truth seeking anglo-catholics. Sounds fair.

  14. bernadette says:

    It seems like once Catholics, especially religious, dive off the deep end they keep going deeper and deeper and deeper….

  15. lacrossecath says:

    LOL, SNAG. We should find some pictures and make posters like the FAIL posters.

  16. lucy says:

    I had to stop reading this article when Fox said that Jesus, the Divine Word, was probably illiterate. May God have mercy on his soul.

  17. Warren: “someone call an exorcist” is right! along with a fire truck full of Holy Water!

    This guy is sickening. Sadly, servant of the devil is probably a fitting term.

  18. beez says:

    I’m curious about a couple things.. First, this guy makes his own claims about the universe, that are completely unscientific, and yet to “scientists” of the media don’t mock him.

    Also, he never said anything about asking the bandana for permission. Is he saying that bandanas are inferior to rocks? Everyone knows that bandanas, because they can change their shape, are at least equal if not superior to rocks, which are permanently in one shape, unless some of their material is removed.

    Finally, what about that poor bandana biodegrading in the ground? Does it get a funeral or something first?

  19. CarpeNoctem says:

    Self-absorbed, bat-sh*t pop-psycho craziness masquerading as religion:

    … a grieving ritual which Fox equated with confession in the traditional Mass,… [that is, getting on all fours and releasing] “animal-like barking and growls punctuated guttural wails and whimpering” –Matthew Fox

    The antidote:

    “The priest is not a priest for himself; he does not give himself absolution; he does not administer the Sacraments to himself. He is not for himself, he is for you. After God, the priest is everything. Leave a parish twenty years without priests; they will worship beasts. If the missionary Father and I were to go away, you would say, “What can we do in this church? there is no Mass; Our Lord is no longer there: we may as well pray at home. ” When people wish to destroy religion, they begin by attacking the priest, because where there is no longer any priest there is no sacrifice, and where there is no longer any sacrifice there is no religion.” –St. Jean Marie Vianney, Cure of Ars

    Attack priests and bishops, use the Sacred Liturgy as a tool of self-expression and self-actualization rather than worship, abandon the faith and one’s vocation, wander around, drunk, in the darkness for a while, what more can we expect? I yet believe that God’s love can even triumph over this. Pray for him.

  20. JayneK says:

    I did RCIA and spent my first few years as a Catholic attending a parish in which we were encouraged to read Fox’s books. He was held up as a model theologian. I thank God that I ended up with an orthodox faith after such a beginning.

  21. timdburke74 says:

    Ah yes…I remember Matthew Fox. When I was in the seminary, the “nun” who was in charge of helping us philosophy students develop our “spirituality” referred to him often. I also think some of my professors at Jesuit run St. Louis University spoke of him as well. Thankfully, the seminary in St. Louis is now in good hands, thanks in part to the work of Cardinal Rigali when he was Archbishop of St. Louis, and, of course, his successors.

  22. Re: “matter is frozen light”

    It’s bad physics, is what it is.

  23. edwardo3 says:

    Now I know why “O Osiris und Isis” from ‘The Magic Flute’ was used as the Communion Hymn for German heritage day in seminary.

  24. PghCath says:

    What a sad and amusing article. I do, however, like the notion that “This is how you change consciousness the fastest – through rituals, not [academic] degrees” – though not in the way Mr. Fox means, of course. Put differently, that sound a lot like “Save the liturgy, save the world!”

  25. Leonius says:

    He’s right about one thing:

    “This is how you change consciousness the fastest – through rituals, not [academic] degrees,”

  26. Random Friar says:

    My understanding is that he is more “post-Christian” than Episcopalian at this point, moving even beyond them.

    Fox was called back to his province (he was not from California) under formal precept, and when he refused, he was dismissed from the Order. The head of the Dominicans during much of that time was fr. Damian Byrne, OP.

    Some friars who knew him when he was a young student seemed to think he thought he was smarter than everyone. I fear pride blinded him terribly. Pray for him, and any who follow him into darkness.

  27. JosephMary says:

    Thanks be to God that he is no longer considered a “priest in good standing” going to Catholic parishes to lead souls astray. But he is leading souls astray in other places and venues. May he be converted to the true faith!

  28. janek3615 says:

    Matthew Fox! Whoa Dude! Far out! His “bear” books used to take up space at all the combination spiritual-occult sections of bookstores; and he is guru to many Catholics more attached to Karl Jung than Jesus Christ. When I first read his book on Meister Eckhart back in the early 1980s, I was so appalled at Fox’s fatuousness then, coming from a supposedly orthodox Dominican that I started my own conversion back to the Magisterium of the Church, and away from the John Lennon/Yoko Ono cul de sac of apostasy then raging among many religious orders.

  29. A. J. D. S. says:

    Well, one thing he said stood out to me:

    “This is how you change consciousness the fastest – through rituals.”

    Save the Liturgy, Save the World!

  30. Fr_Sotelo says:

    Fr. Z, to your question about Fox, “Remember him?” I can only say, “barely.” These trips of yours down memory lane of the “stars” of the “1980’s church” are like a trip to another universe.

    It is hard to believe that in those days, all things “Tridentine” used to give priests and seminarians panic attacks, whereas Fox’s creation spirituality did not seem out of the normal at all. It was as if Mother Church were still in the midst of a complete psychotic breakdown, constantly in need of meds, physical restraint, and being institutionalized until she should arrive back at her senses.

    That Matthew Fox now sends shivers down the spine of some posters is a very healthy sign of the return of normality under the glorious reign of Benedict XVI.

  31. LarryD says:

    When I read the headline to this post, I thought “What? Did something happen to that actor who stars on the show ‘Lost’?”

    Then I realized you were writing about Fr. Matthew Fox.

    Who’s still ‘Lost’ by all accounts.

  32. irishgirl says:

    Hoo boy….what a nut job this guy is…

  33. Fr Martin Fox says:

    Not I.

  34. Geometricus says:

    As an American Indian, I used to get white people asking me (back in the late ’80s, early 90’s) if they could participate in any of my “native” ceremonies. I would pretend ignorance, but many of my fellow natives would finally give in to the pestering of the “wanna-bes” and tell them something, anything just to get them off your back.

    I’m pretty sure Fox was a wanna-be Indian and spent a lot of time with “shamans” who would tell him a lot of nonsense (which they probably knew was nonsense) as a form of entertainment. You have to understand the Indian sense of humor, which can have something of a reckless or cruel streak in it, which gets a charge out of telling a white person something completely false and misleading in order to make the white guy look even more foolish than he already does.

    Usually the white guy figures it out, gets embarrased and quits trying to be Indian. But this particular Dominican actually tried to make sense of the nonsense and ended up with “Creation Spirituality”.

  35. TrueLiturgy says:

    One option from now on for the Church: When a priest goes off the deep end, he is taken to a center for people like him. (We don’t just ask them to come nicely) These types of people, while still priests, are bound to Rome. They pray and hopefully receive prayer, treatment, not excluding exorcism. This way, they can not bring others down with them. :-)

  36. robtbrown says:

    “’Matter is frozen light,’ Fox asserted,”
    That sounds almost Manichaean. I suppose it isn’t for nothing that modernism is described as the “synthesis of all heresies”

    Actually, it sounds more like Einstein.

    Within the writings of Fox is a legitimate effort to re-integrate Platonism into Catholic thought. Thus we find the emphasis on light, both physical and metaphysical (as in the early middle ages).

    The foundation of Fox’s problems, however, is that he doesn’t understand the Original Innocence, and thus the ontological component of original sin. Instead, he considers mostly the moral dimension, an approach common to the Scotist-Molina school. Reacting against such an overly pessimistic approach, he adopts a too optimistic approach. It is no surprise that he embraces a gussied up version of pantheism.

    Sad that someone who spent so many years in the Dominicans would have so little a grasp of St Thomas.

    also, “’He was probably illiterate,’ Fox claimed”
    Comment by Salvatore_Giuseppe

    He’s not going to let Scripture get in the way of his opinions of Christ.

  37. Jack Hughes says:

    Fr Z

    Was this stuff really going around seminary in the 80’s? You’ve spoken before of seminarians being expelled for possessing a statue of Our Lady but the idea of this stuff being taught in seminaries scares me, how did you survive?

  38. yatzer says:

    That’s what I was thinking, how did you ever survive in seminary?

  39. Martial Artist says:

    Maybe Fox actually lesdyxicdyslexic. He meant to spell Techo Cosmic Mess, but his dyslexia got in the way. If that’s not plausible, I guess I will just have to go with the less charitable assessment of Fr. Z, et alii— whacko nut case! Boy am I glad I am no longer Episcopalian!

    Pax et bonum,
    Keith Töpfer

  40. M. K. says:

    Fr. Z: “The Domincan’s themselves should have taken care of this nut.”

    Random Friar: “Fox was called back to his province (he was not from California) under formal precept, and when he refused, he was dismissed from the Order. The head of the Dominicans during much of that time was fr. Damian Byrne, OP.”

    Random Friar’s report seems to confirm my long-held impression that the Dominicans DID try to take care of Fox but that he refused to cooperate. I’m curious whether there may have been some procedural safeguards (perhaps something in the Order’s constitutions) that would have drawn out the process and prevented Fox from being brought quickly brought to heel. As for Byrne, wasn’t he the one who became Master of the Order after Albert Nolan was elected and refused to serve?

  41. Random Friar says:

    M.K.: Yes, that was Fr. Albert Nolan, OP, who declined and we elected Fr. Damian Byrne, OP.

    To be fair, it took us a while as an Order to get Fr. Fox called back, most likely with some pressure from Rome (not from the OPs, but the Vatican). But yes, we do have some safeguards built into the process so that it is very difficult to simply get thrown out of the Order. Part of this is simply to give the accused time and opportunity to respond (we are human and not immune from the sin of retribution or vengeance for some real or perceived slight, or if he himself is petitioning, to reconsider).

  42. Random Friar is correct. Attempts to discipline Fox had started in the order long before he was on the Sacred Congregation radar screen.

    Fox never received permission to live in (my) Western Province. He came on his own and set up shop in Oakland. We complained about this for years, starting almost immediately after his presence become known to us. By the late 1980s, the Chicago Province began ordering him to return and explain himself. It is my understanding (which seems confirmed by Random Friar) that Fox refused to obey the precept and thus the process to dismiss him began.

    To suggest that the Order only reacted to the Vatican censure distorts historical facts.

  43. TJerome says:

    “Kumbaya my Lord, Kumbaya.” “The answer my friends is blowing in the wind.” Whatever else, this guy is stuck in the 1960s, on stupid.

  44. Rich says:

    I have to give him that at least he’s candid. He’s not trying to sound fair and whimsical while subtly laying premises which lead to heresy, like certain others we know of.

  45. Fr. Andrew says:

    The process of dismissal for Matthew Fox is interesting and of course includes our current Pope responding to other friars defense of his writings. He dressed them down. In any case, I think it would be an interesting read if some of my Brothers in the Province wrote the whole story. The oral history is very interesting and complex. But rest assured, The Central Province leadership did respond and followed Canon Law to the letter, which led to Fox’s dismissal from the Order of Preachers.

  46. muckemdanno says:

    Here’s something Fox says which is absolutely true:

    “This is how you change consciousness the fastest – through rituals, not [academic] degrees”

    I think this concept is easily applied to the liturgical reform.

  47. Dave N. says:

    “Earth Spirituality and the Mystical Tradition.” The event was held in April at the Unitarian Universalist Church in the Washington suburb of Rockville, Maryland, and sponsored by the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation.

    Probably 10 people there, all over the age of 60. Fox has pretty much become the poster child for religious irrelevance.

  48. Mark R says:

    Though Dominican acquaintances dismiss him as a lightweight, and he is an outright nutter…still his orders are much more valid than those of the majority of the ministers in his denomination.

  49. Geometricus: Don’t wonder my brother.Having personally read Mr. Fox’s “works” and heard him speak at least once; he does think he is an authoritive interpreter of what Native Americans really believe.

    He’s also done Meister Eckhart no favors.

    However, his views of original blessings rather than original sin is a bewitching concept to those of a certain ilk. You know: the usual suspects.

    Father: Your fisk had me rollin’!

  50. Jack Hughes says:

    muckemdanno

    Too true, evena a broken watch is right twice a day

  51. Peggy R says:

    But Father, Father! He is really good on LOST! [I promise I’m kidding.]

  52. This bloke is going the way of bell-bottoms, psycholedic-whathavewho’s, “groovy”, and “cool, man”…he’s a lost cause.
    Jesus, Mercy, give him repentance before he dies.
    He’s, so, been-there-done-that…

  53. Mrs doyle says:

    Sorry but all I could do while reading is ROFL.

    This guy is so far gone, it’s impossible to even waste an iota of time thinking about what he says.

  54. JMJ2in1 says:

    I thought his witch companion’s name was “Star Hawk”? A bookstore I worked in back in the 70’s carried his books. I used to hide them in drawers or behind stacks. When I confessed it the Priest just laughed and wanted to know if I had any sins to confess.

  55. JMJin1: Good for you.
    That priest need a good whap.
    Sorry. It’s been a bad day:<)!
    I’d give him an “F” in my Sacrament of Penance Practicum. Jesus, mercy!

  56. MargaretMN says:

    I had friends in grad school who were super into him and I went to one of his talks. It was held at a protestant church and there was a banner on the stage (altar) that had a photograph of the earth on it. It was the weirdest thing I’d ever seen. A bunch of new age platitudes and self congratulation. The people I went with were all raving about him and I was like, huh? I had a ticket to go to a retreat with him the next day and I gave it away to one of his adoring fans.

  57. Fr. Richard says:

    I kept reading to the end because the article was so interesting with the comments in red. Great job, Father.

  58. MichaelKavanagh says:

    Pray for Matthew Fox. At this rate he will be a spiral dancing, circle casting Witch in no time.

  59. TonyLayne says:

    I was gonna say I liked him on Family Ties ….

    A priest from a church in which belief in the truth of Scripture isn’t necessary, preaching in a church where belief in God isn’t necessary—and may even be a bit of a hindrance—is eminently fitting. I’m actually surprised he hasn’t started his own cult and moved to Guyana. (Kool-Aid, anyone?) Seriously, though, why isn’t this man under a doctor’s care? He sounds like he’s dropped a lot of acid.

  60. Perhaps we can describe him as the head of the neo-Baal movement. Pray for this person of darkness.

  61. Does Matthew Fox care at all what Hildegard of Bingen wrote concerning, say, homosexual congress or masturbation?

  62. Nan says:

    JMJ2in1, it’s actually Starhawk.

    MichaelKavanaugh, you’re a couple decades too late to prevent that one. Unitarian churches are where witches get married.

  63. PhilipNeri says:

    A quick correction: the Master of the Order who expelled Fox was Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP not Fr. Damien Byrne, OP.

    Fr. Philip, OP

  64. nhaggin,

    Thanks for the kind words. By the way, that CJ:AI installment starring Matt wasn’t completely lost. Someone saved copies of them and e-mailed them to me so I’ve been rerunning old ones from time to time. That one’s next up.

    By the way, if you enjoy pedal-to-the-metal, completely unhinged, shrieking, hysterical meltdowns, here’s the old coot’s reaction to the election of Benedict XVI:

    http://www.matthewfox.org/sys-tmpl/htmlpage10/

  65. Christopher Johnson,

    I have two words for that nut: ANATHEMA SIT! He is so virulently crazy and anti-Catholic it’s beyond ridiculous. Why does he even bother calling himself ‘Father’? He might as well forget it.

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