Bp. Paprocki in a hostile crowd tells it like it is

There is a useful RSS feed widget on the side bar of this blog which reveals what the Cardinal Newman Society is up to these days.  Check it out.

Using that feed, I found their article on what happened in Phoenix when Bp. Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, found himself in a hostile crowd.

Here is the first part.

Bishop Paprocki Faces Hostile Jesuit Alumni Group at Talk

Springfield, Ill. Bishop Thomas Paprocki faced a hostile Jesuit alumni group during a May talk on the Church’s teachings on homosexuality, reports LifeSiteNews. Two thousand members of the Jesuit Alumni in Arizona – graduates of 28 Jesuit universities and 47 Jesuit high schools, now living in Arizona – sponsored the event at Phoenix’s Shadow Rock United Church of Christ. [Gosh!  Hard to imagine that people educated by modern Jesuits would wind up reviling their Catholic Faith.  Gosh!] It featured talks by Bishop Paprocki and dissenting New Ways Ministry leader Sister Jeannine Gramick. [One of the infamous NUNS GONE WILD!] Bishop Paprocki defended the Church’s teachings on homosexuality before a hostile crowd, and shared that his own secretary had been murdered by a homosexual activist.

During his talk, which argued in favor of traditional marriage, Bishop Paprocki received heckling and insults from the crowd.

While the event was titled “Two Catholic Views on Marriage,” Bishop Paprocki corrected that error.

“There is only one authentic Catholic view,” said Bishop Paprocki. “There are two views being presented here tonight by two people who are baptized Catholics, but only one of those views, the one I will present, is consistent with Catholic teaching, while the other view clearly dissents from Catholic teaching.”

Bishop Paprocki began by telling the crowd how his secretary, a mother of four, had been murdered by a homosexual man after she suggested that he change his lifestyle.

Said Bishop Paprocki:

[…]

Check out the rest over there.

UPDATE

I am reminded of Dr. Maturin’s comments on Jesuits.  HERE

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39 Comments

  1. HyacinthClare says:

    Shadow Rock United Church of Christ? Is that where the Jesuits meet?

  2. tjg says:

    May God Bless Bp Paprocki. Viva Cristo Rey!

  3. NBW says:

    Shadow Rock United Church of Christ, is that a Protestant place? Kudos for Bishop Paprocki; may God Bless him always.

  4. wmeyer says:

    Bp. Paprocki is lucky, after telling the true story of his secretary, that no one charged him with a hate crime.

  5. Congratulations, Springfield! You have an epic bishop! (“Shadow Rock” reminds me of Eliot’s Wasteland.)

  6. LiteratureAddict says: (“Shadow Rock” reminds me of Eliot’s Wasteland.)

    I had not thought that Jesuit education had undone so many.

  7. Darren says:

    Having graduated from a Jesuit HS in 1987, I am constantly shocked by all I see that has come from Jesuit education. While I do not think that my HS was super-orthodox, I don’t recall being taught anything clearly dissenting from authentic Catholic teaching. Sure, it was watered down and focused too much on things social and “community”, but all of this still confounds me.

    Yet, there is a Jesuit university in the same city (with the same saint’s name) which I believe is far more liberal than my HS. But, since the priests at my HS no longer live there (they reside at that university or over in NYC), will it deteriorate? This reminds me of a mass in Jersey City at a big, beautiful old church, St. Aedan’s… on a weekday at the end of April, and the old Jesuit priest who was the celebrant used his homily to praise Pope Francis (for all the wrong misunderstanding reasons, just because he is Jesuit) and made fun of Pope Benedict XVI… why? For all his traditional things, red shoes, etc…

    Kudos to Bishop Paprocki! We need more and more like him.

  8. Pingback: Sacred Heart of Jesus - BigPulpit.com

  9. Johnno says:

    Dissenting Students? What a surprise! Sounds like your average Catholic High School, never mind colleges or universities.

  10. frjim4321 says:

    I read this story yesterday, also quite a bit of commentary.

    I don’t know how this will work for the bishop; seems like he’s likening advocates of marriage rights to psychopathic axe murderers, and that could possibly backfire.

    Seems like there’s a lot of facts to line up side by side in order to do a thorough analysis, and not being in possession of all the facts I hesitate to offer my critique of the bishop’s attempt for the time being.

  11. PA mom says:

    “I hesitate to offer my critique of the bishop…”. Good.

    May I suggest putting more effort into your critique of Sr. Gramick’s attempt, instead? Why does a consecrated woman go around trying to lead people away from the teachings of the Church?

  12. markomalley says:

    PA mom:

    Why does a consecrated woman go around trying to lead people away from the teachings of the Church?

    Especially when she has been prohibited by the CDF from doing so:

    Given the failure of the repeated attempts of the Church’s legitimate authorities to resolve the problems presented by the writings and pastoral activities of the two authors, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is obliged to declare for the good of the Catholic faithful that the positions advanced by Sister Jeannine Gramick and Father Robert Nugent regarding the intrinsic evil of homosexual acts and the objective disorder of the homosexual inclination are doctrinally unacceptable because they do not faithfully convey the clear and constant teaching of the Catholic Church in this area. Father Nugent and Sister Gramick have often stated that they seek, in keeping with the Church’s teaching, to treat homosexual persons “with respect, compassion and sensitivity”. However, the promotion of errors and ambiguities is not consistent with a Christian attitude of true respect and compassion: persons who are struggling with homosexuality no less than any others have the right to receive the authentic teaching of the Church from those who minister to them. The ambiguities and errors of the approach of Father Nugent and Sister Gramick have caused confusion among the Catholic people and have harmed the community of the Church. For these reasons, Sister Jeannine Gramick, SSND, and Father Robert Nugent, SDS, are permanently prohibited from any pastoral work involving homosexual persons and are ineligible, for an undetermined period, for any office in their respective religious institutes.

    http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19990531_gramick-nugent-notification_en.html

  13. catherine_126 says:

    I’m looking forward to reading his whole address. If I remember right, Bp. Paprocki was trained and worked as a lawyer prior to becoming a priest. He seems to be a logical thinker and quite brave, too. Thanks for sharing this!

  14. maryh says:

    @frjim4321 I don’t know how this will work for the bishop; seems like he’s likening advocates of marriage rights to psychopathic axe murderers, and that could possibly backfire.

    No. Actually, it seems like he’s comparing two brutal hate crimes: one of which the MSM appears to care about, and one of which almost no one seems to care about. By the way, her murderer apparently didn’t use an axe:

    “The defendant punched and kicked and stabbed the victim until he was tired. He then placed a plastic garbage bag over her head and strangled her. Gutierrez later concealed her body in a crawlspace under the floor.”

    I wonder when someone will propose a “Mary Stachowicz” law?

  15. Ralph says:

    I suspect that the reason that the alumni meeting was held at a protestant church is that the shepherd of the faithful of Phoenix , Bishop Olmsted, would never give permission for “Sister” to speak at a diocese property. In order to hold a “debate” the alumni needed a site that would allow a heretic the freedom to speak. Frankly, I’m not so sure it was a good idea for Bishop Paprocki to participate.

    I am sad to say that I never heard the story of Mrs. Stachowicz. May the beautiful woman rest in peace. May God bless her family left behind.

  16. billy says:

    Too much jesuit bashing…..
    Walter Cizeck , Avery Dulles, Mitch Pacwa, francis Xavier, Ignatius Loyola, jorge bergolio…..these guys are liberals….PULEEEESE

  17. Bob B. says:

    If you go to the Jesuit Alumni site and hover your curser over “Thinking Outside the Box,” you can “read new ideas we feel are imperative in the movement towards a People’s Catholic Church in America.”
    Obviously this is either a Jesuit/United Church of Christ/communist plot (doesn’t it sound like the Chinese government’s Patriotic Catholic Church?) or they’ve been out in the hot (very hot) Phoenix sun (and their brains are scrambled?).

    http://jaazsw.org/

  18. Scott Woltze says:

    Well you can’t accuse the Jesuit alumni of ignoring their studies back in the day…

  19. sirlouis says:

    … seems like he’s likening advocates of marriage rights to psychopathic axe murderers …

    Advocates of “marriage rights”? As well talk about advocates of 2 + 2 = coffee cup. Homosexual union is not marriage.

  20. cheerios in my pocket says:

    THANKS FOR THIS FR. Z.!!!

    Bishop Poprocki is a Hero among U.S. Bishops! I believe he either led or participated in a march on the capitol in Springfield regarding marriage. I also read this quote, “the Church’s teaching on homosexuality and marriage is Catholic because it is true, not true because it is Catholic. ”

    Would that we would hear this same teaching from all U.S. Bishops, United in TRUTH!

  21. The Church should begin investigating a case for canonization of the bishop’s murdered secretary. She was murdered for sticking up for the Faith and defending the Church’s teachings. This sounds like a martyr. Santo Subito!

  22. Will Elliott says:

    There were only 16 Jesuits ordained to the priesthood in the U.S. this year.

    For a diocese or religious order province in the U.S., 16 is a great number these days. That’s more than a lot of dioceses; its even more than several dioceses combined.

  23. Jerry says:

    For those interested, here is the full text of Bp. Paprocki’s speech.

  24. VexillaRegis says:

    I’m interested in reading about the Bishop’s secretary who was murdered. Does anyone know where I can find a good article from a reputable newspaper?

  25. VexillaRegis says:

    Thanks Midwest St. Michael!

  26. disco says:

    I went to Jesuit high school and college. It isn’t so much that they teach error, but they see error as a valid subject for debate and not the cancer it is. I’m paraphrasing the pope of Christian unity there.

    I also felt that there was a high tendancy to discuss fairly high level theology with students who knew absolutely nothing about the Catholic faith and then to accept their comments on equal footing with faithful students. Building ones house on shifting sands, as it were.

    There is a tendency among students and alumni who are poorly catechized to see a distinction or even a conflict between Catholic spirituality and Jesuit spirituality. Saying “I went to Jesuit school, not Catholic school” should be an insult to the SJ, but no one seems to get that.

  27. Please can we have a Jesuit reform now?
    Pleeeeeease?

  28. Cincinnati Priest says:

    Jerry: Thanks for posting the full text of +Paprocki’s address.

    To all priest readers: This is an excellent concise and cogent summary of the philosophical basis of the Church’s teaching on marriage and the impossibility of recognizing same-sex “marriage.” Please read and study this and work it into your homilies. This is a critical time to properly catechize our people.

  29. One of those TNCs says:

    “Ralph” said: “…In order to hold a “debate” the alumni needed a site that would allow a heretic the freedom to speak. Frankly, I’m not so sure it was a good idea for Bishop Paprocki to participate.”

    But then how would actual Catholic teaching have been presented? The audience would have heard only Sr. Gramick’s opinion.

    In order for the truth to be preached, we must engage the enemy. If we don’t, the enemy wins and souls are lost. “Be not afraid!”

  30. One of those TNCs says:

    If you’re wondering what kind of flak the Bishop took after his address, you won’t be surprised that you can read some of it here:

    http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/illinois-bishop-faces-challenging-audience-talk-same-sex-marriage

    Apparently, many in the audience believe emotion should trump truth…even when the truth comes from God, Himself.

    And it’ll come as no surprise that many believe that Church teaching (and therefore Christ’s teaching) should fluctuate depending on the latest poll results.

  31. Chrysologus says:

    What will the Jesuits try to do next! Become Pope?

  32. Eraser says:

    Oh dear… I clicked the Fishwrap link to read the story & made the mistake of skimming some of the comments. Increasingly I’m wondering why all the dissident Catholics stay in the Church. Do they really think that if they scream long enough that it will miraculously change just to suit them? There are plenty of Protestant denominations that offer what they want and would be very happy to have them. I don’t know any more – maybe it’s just spite?

    It’s not just the Jesuit schools either. I went to a Spiritan university that shared the same general malaise, only tamer on the surface (for example, it successfully resisted pressure from certain factions within to invite Obama to speak at commencement when he was first campaigning). There were a number of diocesan seminarians among my classmates but also a few other guys looking to join one of the other orders. I knew one who was headed to the Jesuits and probably would have fitted in perfectly, i.e. not in a good way. Hopefully he changed and became one of the good ones.

    God bless His Eminence for his courage, especially in recounting the horrible story of his former secretary. I can’t imagine, as awful as they are, how the MSM outlets could succeed in burying it for so long. However, what happens much more often and that also goes mostly unreported are violent crimes committed by homosexuals against each other. The murder of Gianni Versace made headlines only because of his fame.

  33. BLB Oregon says:

    –“I went to Jesuit high school and college. It isn’t so much that they teach error, but they see error as a valid subject for debate and not the cancer it is.”–

    Yes. My first thought when I read this was that you don’t know what a Jesuit thinks just because he is a Jesuit any more than you know what an American Catholic thinks just because he is an American Catholic. You can have some vague idea of their sense of identity–IOW, that it includes words like “Catholic”, but not how the words are defined–and you know they have been around a lot of opinions and expect themselves to have plenty of them themselves, but beyond that it is kind of hard to predict. The resulting ambiguities and clashes over what part of objective reality is up for debate has to be just as frustrating among the Jesuits as among American Catholics.

  34. Bill Foley says:

    This whole episode reveals the absolute necessity for the Holy See to purify the priesthood by making sure that those men with same-sex-attraction disorder are not allowed to enter seminaries or to be ordained.

  35. Pingback: Score One for the Holy Goalie: Bishop Thomas Paprocki Stands Up to Hostile Crowd « A Converted Heart

  36. The more I learn about Bishop Paprocki, the more I like him. Faith and Courage. May God grant him strength and perseverance.

  37. Venerator Sti Lot says:

    With regard to the article which One of those TNCs links, how reliable is Michael Clancy of The Arizona Republic? He presents Bishop Paprocki as saying things in answer to questions after the talks that seem diametrically opposed to the text of his talk linked by Jerry!

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