Seems uncharitable to speculate and spread rumors rather than waiting for the facts. While I did not always agree with then Bishop Wiesenburger, I believe that his decisions were based on what was best for the faithful. I truly believe he takes that philosophy to Detroit.
The curious thing to me is what the archbishop would think he is achieving by banning retired priests from saying mass and otherwise serving at parishes. In the life of my parish (which has since been handed over to a religious order not governed by the archdiocese), it was the retired priest who was the nuisance trying to undermine our traditional style of worship and make us convert to the swingin' suburban model. One of them told me, "There are a lot of troublemakers at this parish," without acknowledging that he was one of the biggest troublemakers. Complete disrespect for the traditions and worship style of the parish even before the traditional Latin mass was to return. So my image of a retired priest is a baby boomer still rebelling against his parents' generation and maliciously trying to undermine the parish he serves.
I hope none of this is true but my intelligence background tells me to just be ready for the worst. Given the latest actions of Cupich, it seems I smell the smoke of Satan as Pope Leo XIII indicated…
I pray for our Church and Clergy that they follow Jesus and nothing else.
Is it mere coincidence that Detroit was the test bed for the destruction of the civil order and the working middle class in American cities under Democrat radical Marxist Mayor Coleman Young? The Democrat experiment was so successful, and Coleman Young was so instrumental in the decimation of Detroit, that the media has all but erased his tenure in office from the history books. Now we have a Catholic bishop attempting to be the “Coleman Young” of the Diocese of Detroit.
I know nothing about the Archdiocese of Detroit, but the first rumor is beyond plausible. The second is harder to believe. Generally, older clergy are the more liberal these days, and active priests would lose their mind if their weekend and vacation help were taken away. Also, where is the archbishop going to house the retired priests that’s as cost effective as in rectories? He is canonically responsible for them as long as they are priests in good standing after all. The last rumor is also quite believable, but every diocese is going in that direction, because the boomers are dying off.
I have visited many rectories, and there are very few (if any) retired priests currently living in them. Many are living in apartments with at least one other Priest. A lot of the elderly Priests that live in the AOD are not very liberal (I can anecdotally say that is true). The active Priests have been filling in for each other lately, but I have seen at least one retired Priest fill in since I wrote this article, so the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.
I have confirmed that the restructuring is happening, but I have not been able to confirm which parishes are being looked at for closure.
Interesting. In Boston, the old guys are far more liberal, on average, and most able bodied retired priests live in rectories. A significant percentage of rectories have at least one senior priest living there, and the archdiocese pays the parish a nominal amount for their room and board. These things certainly vary from place to place.
Seems uncharitable to speculate and spread rumors rather than waiting for the facts. While I did not always agree with then Bishop Wiesenburger, I believe that his decisions were based on what was best for the faithful. I truly believe he takes that philosophy to Detroit.
I might be inclined to agree with you if he wouldn’t have immediately attacked the TLM entirely unprompted.
The curious thing to me is what the archbishop would think he is achieving by banning retired priests from saying mass and otherwise serving at parishes. In the life of my parish (which has since been handed over to a religious order not governed by the archdiocese), it was the retired priest who was the nuisance trying to undermine our traditional style of worship and make us convert to the swingin' suburban model. One of them told me, "There are a lot of troublemakers at this parish," without acknowledging that he was one of the biggest troublemakers. Complete disrespect for the traditions and worship style of the parish even before the traditional Latin mass was to return. So my image of a retired priest is a baby boomer still rebelling against his parents' generation and maliciously trying to undermine the parish he serves.
I hope none of this is true but my intelligence background tells me to just be ready for the worst. Given the latest actions of Cupich, it seems I smell the smoke of Satan as Pope Leo XIII indicated…
I pray for our Church and Clergy that they follow Jesus and nothing else.
Is it mere coincidence that Detroit was the test bed for the destruction of the civil order and the working middle class in American cities under Democrat radical Marxist Mayor Coleman Young? The Democrat experiment was so successful, and Coleman Young was so instrumental in the decimation of Detroit, that the media has all but erased his tenure in office from the history books. Now we have a Catholic bishop attempting to be the “Coleman Young” of the Diocese of Detroit.
I know nothing about the Archdiocese of Detroit, but the first rumor is beyond plausible. The second is harder to believe. Generally, older clergy are the more liberal these days, and active priests would lose their mind if their weekend and vacation help were taken away. Also, where is the archbishop going to house the retired priests that’s as cost effective as in rectories? He is canonically responsible for them as long as they are priests in good standing after all. The last rumor is also quite believable, but every diocese is going in that direction, because the boomers are dying off.
I have visited many rectories, and there are very few (if any) retired priests currently living in them. Many are living in apartments with at least one other Priest. A lot of the elderly Priests that live in the AOD are not very liberal (I can anecdotally say that is true). The active Priests have been filling in for each other lately, but I have seen at least one retired Priest fill in since I wrote this article, so the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.
I have confirmed that the restructuring is happening, but I have not been able to confirm which parishes are being looked at for closure.
Interesting. In Boston, the old guys are far more liberal, on average, and most able bodied retired priests live in rectories. A significant percentage of rectories have at least one senior priest living there, and the archdiocese pays the parish a nominal amount for their room and board. These things certainly vary from place to place.