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In churchy news…
You might have read an account – not entirely responsible – that Fr. Carlos Martins, well-known for his apostolate with relics and for a recent book about exorcism – was accused of something when he was visiting Joliet with the relic of the arm of St. Jude.
It is important that you read this.
Here is the letter Fr. Carlos Martins’ attorneys sent to The Pillar, demanding a retraction of their defamatory article. pic.twitter.com/DMB7CJLbqt
— Lepanto Institute (@LepantoInst) November 25, 2024
In chessy news… HERE
White to move and mate in 2.
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Yesterday Ding took the day. Today Ding and Gukesh drew.
Motus ad lusorem cum militibus albis pertinent. Scaccus mattus, scilicet mors regis, duobus in motis veniat.
[NB: Detineam explicationes in crastinum, ne vestrae interrumpantur commentationes.]
Meanwhile, BryghtLabs spiffy ChessUp 1, an electronic board which you can use to play others remotely, or play on Lichess or chess.com, or simply play its own engine is on massive sale probably because ChessUp 2 is now on the way.
In personal chessy news, yesterday at OTB I completely dominated my opponent. Felt good, since I had split my games last time.
I am grateful for the Pillar. I have supported them monetarily since their first day in business and have increased my donation multiple times after they have reported important news. That said, this is the 3rd or 4th time they’ve reported some terrible piece of news in a “were just reporting the facts” kinda way, and it turns out the real story is much less terrible. I’m not sure if it’s an impulse to be the first to get a story out, or a drive to take down rot in the church from every corner or what, but I hope they can get a handle on it.
I had my suspicions about the story since it implied a lot but was short on information.
I came here knowing that Fr Z would give context.
The entire Fr. Martins situation is ridiculous. Even if the person in question had been a layperson, the “incident” still would have been blown out of proportion. I’ve noticed with young people, especially those under 30, there is an air of paranoia in their presence. They’re scared to date. And if they do date they’re afraid to date someone who is older than or younger than them because they feel like it might be a grooming situation. You can’t make eye contact with them. If you were to pat them on the hand or the arm then the reaction would be the same as this girl’s father’s over reaction. Everything is suspicious or awkward. It’s just nuts.
The lawyers are barking up the wrong tree. The Pillar just reported what was in the news at the time without any “defamation of character”. The tour was canceled by the parish and the local ordinary. That’s all they said. The Pillar did not make any judgements or claims otherwise. Furthermore, no one was willing to talk to the Pillar about the details behind the cancelation. Today, the Pillar has more details.
If there is defamation here, it is on the part of the lawyer against the Pillar and not the other way around.
Was what Father Martins did a crime? Seems most likely that it wasn’t, but that’s for the competent authorities to decide.
Was what he did wise, given all that has happened in the last 25 years and the horrific damage done to the reputation of the Catholic Church, in particular, priests? Absolutely not.
Was how The Pillar reported it sensationalized? Without doubt.
I just can’t understand why an arm of an Apostle needs to be introduced with “chit chat” about “flossing your teeth with your hair.” What happened to dignity and decorum? I can imagine myself sitting in that gathering thinking, “I came to see the relic of a prince of the Church, not you. Could we just have a votive Mass of the Appstles with veneration of the relic afterwards, please?”
Priests in a general sense have a target on their backs. It does not take much of an allegation to bring one down, especially if he is holy as the devil really wants such ones taken out. Those who work in exorcisms have to be doubly careful. If the story is accurate and he touched a lock of hair with many people around, that is not battery or abuse or anything at all. But there is hatred that has been fomented against priests and that ‘outraged father’ may be coming from that angle.
The Pillar quotes the diocese saying they contacted the police. “We immediately contacted the police. A police investigation is still on-going. The priest was confronted with the information. We informed the priest that he must depart from our parish and out of our Diocese. In an abundance of caution, we decided that the remainder of the veneration of the relic and evening mass would be cancelled.”
But according to Martins’ lawyer the father called the police twice insisting they charge him with battery.
The diocese makes it sound like they initiated a police investigation and are thereby actively keeping the kids “safe”.
I’ve been suspicious of The Pillar since they decided to “investigate” the Catholic Identity Conference in Pittsburgh and went to the Bishop asking if he knew they were in Pittsburgh? Is the diocese supporting it? Aren’t they (the CIC) controversial? Shouldn’t people be discouraged from going? They tried to dig up dirt where there was none. Sounds like they’re at it again.
Don’t forget they decided to get involved in the Gordon Bros dispute, even though at the beginning of the article they usually don’t get involved in issues like this… BUT…
Smells like a father of a child is seeing dollar signs. Just my opinion. And my further opinion that the wrong Fr. Martin is getting the bums rush…
Satan is busy. And strategic.
Not only did he attack and impugn the integrity of one of his front line adversaries, Exorcist Fr Martins, he halted the tour of the Relic of St Jude.
Thanks Fr. Z for all the updates. I admire Fr. Martins; I have learned a lot from him. This is just a hard story all around. On one hand, young people do deserve respect. I mean you wouldn’t walk up to a judge or a police officer and start playing with their hair. It used to be very common for adults to speak diminutively to young people, and I’m glad we’re having an opportunity to re-think that kind of thing. On the other hand we live in crazy times where one cringe-worthy moment can make it around the world twice in a heartbeat. I feel for everyone involved.
Much Ado About Nothing.
I greatly appreciate The Pillar for their Sgt. Friday “just the facts” reporting. Having read their original report (https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/relic-priest-responds-to-incident) and their follow-up, (https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/relic-priest-responds-to-incident) it is abundantly clear that Fr. Martins’ attorneys are much more attached to hyperbole and less attached to the facts than The Pillar’s staff.
I can think of a reason for the father to call the police, though it would not reflect well on him. What I do not understand is why the parish administration would contact civil or diocesan authorities except paranoia.
Let us hope this is the end of this nonsense.
Release a book. Devil is pissed.
This is the third article I know of where The Pillar did not do due diligence in reporting and defamed or implied wrongdoing on the part of a priest that turned out to be completely wrong.
I had a long back and forth with one of the editors on their poor investigation because I knew well not only the priest unjustly sullied, but one of the young men in a group that made unfounded and ludicrous accusations. I actually paid for a short term subscription to stand up for the priest in the comment section because you can’t comment if you don’t pay.
IMHO, anyone who reads this rag of yellow journalism needs to take whatever is reported with a bunch of salt and skepticism. Personally, I don’t read it. I put The Pillar in the same category of accuracy as MSNBC.
Sigh. I can’t get over this. Are priests not to interact with people? These attacks on the priesthood make it so priests are so scared to be human. We desperately need our priests. How are they supposed to be Jesus for people when they can’t even interact without fear? God have mercy! (Praying extra for Fr. Martins. He’s a good man! I’ve seen him multiple times at the Treasures of the Church and St. Maria Goretti’s and St. Jude’s relics. He only been good and priestly. Hang in there, Father. Praying to all of the saints for you, especially to St. Maria Goretti.)
monstrance nailed it.
The priest, Fr. Michael Lane, was quick to make an incident about all this and reports went public and it looked like Fr. Martens was guilty of a sexual assault. Yet that priest (Fr. Lane) is shown with hands on both shoulders of a child while looking at a relic! His was the more akin to “battery” (which it wasn’t, nor was touching a lock of hair by Fr. Martens). Yes, the demon riles people up and surely delights in taking down an exorcist priest. Apologies need to follow this as this is a blight on Father’s reputation and will make other parishes hesitant to host the relics tour. Of course, right now he is sidelined.
Seems like there must be more to this story. That’s an awful lot of people overreacting to what most of us realize is no big deal causing no discernable harm.
The only people overreacting are the father, the parish and the diocese. Martins lawyers are trying to save his reputation (an almost impossible task in this world now).
Not “battery”… MOONBATTERY!
From my side of the pond, this seems blown out of proportions. I don’t have any problem with Fr. Martins making self deprecating jokes about his baldness (I make them myself all the time), but I think he should have left it at that. What, allegedly, followed was, in my opinion, a bit indecorous, in poor taste, and imprudent, but did it warrant the reactions of the father, the parish, and the diocese? I think not at all. This could have been handled much differently, without damaging Fr. Martins’ reputation. In the end, it doesn’t look like he harmed anyone, but the actions of those mentioned above certainly caused him harm.