Thursday, February 27, 2003

John M. from the comments below wanted to know my thoughts on Fr. Papa, who was caught checking out porn sites on his computer, and the debate about whether some of the sites were child porn. Fr. Papa was encouraging parishioners to join the Voice of the Faithful, until he was removed for his perverted activities. Fr. Papa seems like the typical screwed up, 70's type priest we have had to put up with on Long Island for many years. I do remember attending a lecture on Liturgicum Authenticum and hearing a woman tell the priest-lecturer that he should check out the parish in Sound Beach because there were some weird things going on there in the Liturgy. I have mentioned before how "conservative" Catholics, including a writer for the Wanderer, complained about Msgr. Ribaudo and his liturgical abuses years before he was finally removed when he turned out to be a child molester. It sometimes seems that these priests who shun all tradition, who can't stand criticism from "conservatives", who are popular usually because they smile and don't tell people anything that would upset them, or challenge them, are fearful and dismissive of good old fashioned Catholicism precisely because they fail to live it in their personal lives. (See Weakland, Ribaudo, Shanley, Papa, Cauwcutt, Huels, etc..) What is it about priests today that make them think they can do whatever they please in the Liturgy or elsewhere???

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