This story has been picked up nationally. It is rippling out in notice to Sandusky, Columbus, Indianapolis, and beyond. Lennon has made a move. In this matter he had been silent since August.
The phrase "breakaway congregation" and/or "breakaway church" has been used in the press. This is inaccurate, and it plays to possible defenders of Lennon's actions. The parish has not broken away. They are meeting elsewhere. The use of their physical church has been denied them. They have a current appeal in Rome to rescind the suppression decree. Until Rome says so, no property of the parish can be disposed of. The parish's continued canonical existence is still open. The parish, as an association of Christians, still exists and meets.
No one in the congregation of the Parish of Saint Peter, in Cleveland, has publicly proclaimed any heterodox opinions. Certain defenders of Lennon, who see themselves as arbiters of catholic orthodoxy, have compared them to heretics such as Luther, Swaggart, Calvin, et cetera. These 'hard liners' are wrong, as is their wont.
It is not easy, or possible, to defend the judgment, or many other qualities, of Richard Lennon, other than his authority. Authority has limits, not everyone wishes to see this.
A question of schism, separation by division, is ultimately conceivable. This 'breakaway' appellation is premature. The parish was evicted. Now they meet elsewhere. They have not separated from the Catholic Church. A priest and other Catholics are celebrating the Sacraments. Their ordinary disapproves, and speaks of vague threats. At one time, his spokesman at least, Bob Tayek said the bishop was willing to speak with these Catholics. Apparently, this is his manner of speech.
Further Lennon accuses Fr. Marrone of "scandal" and "corruption". Now the world knows, Lennon knew of real corruption and scandal in Boston. He vouched for a paramount villain. Lennon's use and facility of language has always been questionable. A priest who buggered children, in Lennon's statement was "in good standing and enjoyed the faculties of the Archdiocese of Boston". Lennon may win the definition of terms, and still look ridiculous and odious to the world.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Squirrel Day
Crasher Squirrel visits Matthew Brady
Squirrel on Triskett Avenue, Cleveland
Yesterday, I was out with a camera. As i walked out of the car, i see squirrels. They are photogenic, and often skittish. A telephoto zoom is helpful.
A couple of days before, i was trying to remember what images were lost form my computer over two years. I remembered Crasher Squirrel. The inquisitive rodent intruded on a foto a couple was snapping on their vacation in Banff, Canada.
They submitted to National Geographic and interest exploded. People would remove the squirrel and place him in other photos. Locales and situations surprising: he was in a moon landing; looking appropriate on the Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's album; he travelled in time to a federal army camp, and to fit in, wearing a stove pipe hat.
Squirrels have a charismatic, and often, humorous presence. The croats have a children's rhyme with a squirrel with an umbrella in a rainstorm.
To-day i read, that, it is squirrel appreciation day. Ten years ago a wildlife worker designated it such, so as to have people feed the creatures, in the coldest part of winter.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Symbols of life and death
A friend called me last night, and told me, that, I had to go to St. Vladimir's and photograph the ice cross. The Ukrainian Orthodox follow the Julian calendar, and their Christmas is two weeks later. In the Christmas season, Jesus' baptism in the Jordan, and Epiphany are celebrated. Now is the coldest of winter usually. That water, here, is ice. Water is a mineral, and now it is solid. It can be carved like rock. Now they have a man sized eastern cross, in front of the cathedral church on State Road, in Parma for the passing world to see, and possibly consider. Above the triple portals, there is a mosaic of the initial baptism of the Kievan Rus', this also contrasts with the frozen baptismal water of the cross. As the waters of baptism gives men new life in Christ. It is not unusual for a graveyard to be next to a church. Next to this one there is a memorial to the millions of fellow Ukrainians that were starved to death by Stalin and his cohorts and minions in 1932-33. The monument cites 7 million. It is not known the correct number, the bosheviki were not counting. In the last generation the term 'Holodomor' has been applied to this man made famine, this death or murder by starvation.
In the years that communism has fallen, more recognition has been seen. This year, the fourth Saturday of November was commemorated amongst Ukrainian populations of the world, including Parma, Ohio.
In Cleveland, and certainly elsewhere, the Irish starvation of the 1840s is publicly remembered. Both times of dying were manufactured. Whether it was mass murder or genocide is a semantic argument, and some object to the naked truth of the words. The potato suffered fungus, but foodstuffs from Ireland were exported ship by shipload. It was not a potato famine that killed a million, it was English and British landlords that starved the Irish. The 4 or 6 or 7 or 12 million Ukrainians and others didn't die from poor harvests of wheat. They died from a confiscation of wheat and other foods, and political repression by the communists. As the anglo-american textbooks misdirected the focus of cause for the Irish starving time (an Gorta Mor/the Great Hunger), so did the communists and economic apologists place the foci on the mistakes of collectivisation.
(Голодомор) The Holodomor memorial is shaped as the trident of St. Michael, the symbol of Ukraine.Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Guest Submission 1 -- “Santo subito”
“Santo subito”, or “Sainthood now” was the cry on St Peter’s Square at the April 8, 2005 funeral of the beloved Pope, John Paul II.
The upcoming beatification of the late John Paul II was announced last Friday, January 14, 2011 by the current pope. Benedict XVI in a statement said, cardinals and bishops who served on the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints have approved a miracle credited to John Paul II where a French nun had been cured from a form of Parkinson’s disease. This confirmation of the miracle is the first step to sainthood.
The beatification ceremony will take place in Rome on May 1st and it appears Pope Benedict himself will celebrate the Mass.
John Paul II also known as Karol Wojtyla was perhaps the most revered man of his time. As the leader of the world’s Roman Catholics, he traveled the continents and met with the faithful. He was described by those who knew him as a strong, humble man who listened to his flock.
John Paul felt that the papacy should serve the people and not the other way around. He truly was the servant of the servants of God.
Locally, the memory and the influence of John Paul still are strong, especially in the Polish American parishes. In 1969, as Archbishop of Krakow, the then Karol Wojtyla visited St Casimir, SS Peter and Paul, St Stanislaus, and the Marymount Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa.
At SS Peter and Paul, the former pastor, Father Ted Marszal pointed out in an interview to the media that in the vestibule of Peter and Paul, a plaque on the wall commemorates Wojtyla’s visit.
At the now closed St Casimir church, which is appealing its closure, many of the weekly prayer vigil attendees still remember his visit. He stayed at St Casimir and celebrated Mass. His words, “Be not afraid” have inspired these parishioners to keep fighting to reopen their church. A vigil attendee, said “John Paul died on the eve of Divine Mercy, a devotion he encouraged...and he had a special relationship to Mary, Our Blessed Mother.”
At Immaculate Heart of Mary Church on Lansing Avenue, a local television station dispatched a reporter to the 10:00 AM Sunday Mass to interview people whom had met or personally knew John Paul, either as the Archbishop of Krakow or as Pope, for many of these parishioners were natives of the Krakow Diocese.
Father Andrzej Knapik, Associate Priest at Immaculate Heart and a former member of the adjoining diocese of Tarnow, Poland said he met John Paul in Italy at a papal audience and that in his opinion, “He was a great man, a great Pope, a good priest, warm and open and above all he inspired people”.
Alina Stepien, age 14, studied the life of John Paul in a school project and said “He was a strong willed person who overcame his Parkinson’s disease.” She also observed, “He always had time for young people. He helped them develop spiritually, mentally and even physically for he was an avid sportsman.”
Krystyna Kubis, a native of Kety, Poland, part of the Krakow Diocese, said “When I lived in Poland I saw John Paul at least a dozen times and on some occasions we exchanged greetings. My daughter, Barbara was confirmed by him and I remember him sitting down, talking with the children and laughing with them. He always had a smile; he was very popular with people of all ages.”
Another parishioner, Sylvester Kujawa said “I had been in a few Papal audiences and in his presence (John Paul), you felt he was a man of peace, a man of God. He respected all religions and I think they respected him too.”
The parishioners of Immaculate Heart have a special fondness for John Paul, some knew him but others only knew of him as the Pope of the people. His words still echo today, “Nie Bojcie Sie”, which means “Be not Afraid”.
Across continents, in all societies, the man from the Beskidy Mountains, Wadowice, Poland will be remembered as a citizen of the world. He belongs to all the people.
The people have spoken, “Santo Subito”.
—by Joseph Feckanin
The upcoming beatification of the late John Paul II was announced last Friday, January 14, 2011 by the current pope. Benedict XVI in a statement said, cardinals and bishops who served on the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints have approved a miracle credited to John Paul II where a French nun had been cured from a form of Parkinson’s disease. This confirmation of the miracle is the first step to sainthood.
The beatification ceremony will take place in Rome on May 1st and it appears Pope Benedict himself will celebrate the Mass.
John Paul II also known as Karol Wojtyla was perhaps the most revered man of his time. As the leader of the world’s Roman Catholics, he traveled the continents and met with the faithful. He was described by those who knew him as a strong, humble man who listened to his flock.
John Paul felt that the papacy should serve the people and not the other way around. He truly was the servant of the servants of God.
Locally, the memory and the influence of John Paul still are strong, especially in the Polish American parishes. In 1969, as Archbishop of Krakow, the then Karol Wojtyla visited St Casimir, SS Peter and Paul, St Stanislaus, and the Marymount Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa.
At SS Peter and Paul, the former pastor, Father Ted Marszal pointed out in an interview to the media that in the vestibule of Peter and Paul, a plaque on the wall commemorates Wojtyla’s visit.
At the now closed St Casimir church, which is appealing its closure, many of the weekly prayer vigil attendees still remember his visit. He stayed at St Casimir and celebrated Mass. His words, “Be not afraid” have inspired these parishioners to keep fighting to reopen their church. A vigil attendee, said “John Paul died on the eve of Divine Mercy, a devotion he encouraged...and he had a special relationship to Mary, Our Blessed Mother.”
At Immaculate Heart of Mary Church on Lansing Avenue, a local television station dispatched a reporter to the 10:00 AM Sunday Mass to interview people whom had met or personally knew John Paul, either as the Archbishop of Krakow or as Pope, for many of these parishioners were natives of the Krakow Diocese.
Father Andrzej Knapik, Associate Priest at Immaculate Heart and a former member of the adjoining diocese of Tarnow, Poland said he met John Paul in Italy at a papal audience and that in his opinion, “He was a great man, a great Pope, a good priest, warm and open and above all he inspired people”.
Alina Stepien, age 14, studied the life of John Paul in a school project and said “He was a strong willed person who overcame his Parkinson’s disease.” She also observed, “He always had time for young people. He helped them develop spiritually, mentally and even physically for he was an avid sportsman.”
Krystyna Kubis, a native of Kety, Poland, part of the Krakow Diocese, said “When I lived in Poland I saw John Paul at least a dozen times and on some occasions we exchanged greetings. My daughter, Barbara was confirmed by him and I remember him sitting down, talking with the children and laughing with them. He always had a smile; he was very popular with people of all ages.”
Another parishioner, Sylvester Kujawa said “I had been in a few Papal audiences and in his presence (John Paul), you felt he was a man of peace, a man of God. He respected all religions and I think they respected him too.”
The parishioners of Immaculate Heart have a special fondness for John Paul, some knew him but others only knew of him as the Pope of the people. His words still echo today, “Nie Bojcie Sie”, which means “Be not Afraid”.
Across continents, in all societies, the man from the Beskidy Mountains, Wadowice, Poland will be remembered as a citizen of the world. He belongs to all the people.
The people have spoken, “Santo Subito”.
—by Joseph Feckanin
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
We Remember...
Parish Souvenirs • Cleveland ·Akron · LorainIn French: (se) souvenir means to remember, from Latin subvenire to come up, come to mind. Je me souviens is the motto of Quebec, it means "I remember". The english canadienes ask, often mockingly, remember what? This sentence is so simple, and so full. I (we) remember all that has passed, the glories, the hardships, the beauty, those who have gone before us, some that we knew. We have not forgotten, we cannot forget, we will not forget.
Now, to lose a few more readers: Marty Haugen (who never was catholic, but has created much current liturgical music) wrote, We Remember. The last words of the refrain (we remember, we celebrate, we believe) are sung as a moving, musical phrase.
In the last five years church closings have hit northeast Ohio. Holy Ghost Byzantine was one, both Broadway and Brooklyn Methodist were others; but by far the most drastic hits were on the western Catholic parishes. There are 58 less of them, currently.
For most of them, one cannot enter again, or not enter as before. A couple (Mary, Christ the King in Akron) still have Liturgies for school children, a chapel-of-ease. One was sold to a drug rehab organisation (Hedwig, Akron). A couple have new protestant congregations (Holy Cross, Sacred Heart in Elyria). One is to house religious statues as a private museum (Hedwig, Lakewood). St. Ladislaus in Lorain has been sold. Rumor has St. Lawrence sold, but the chancery is not talking to the parishioners or the priests of St. Lawrence. One has been razed and replaced by an office building (St. Jude). One has been razed and rumored to be sold as a parking lot (St. Andrew). The City of Euclid has bought St. Robert's. The Community of St. Malachi had no property.
So what do the people have left? Souvenirs and memories. A new website will include images and documents. Some manner of addition will be created. This has not been worked out, yet.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Surprise appearances in churches
Church of the Saviour, United Methodist, in Cleveland Heights is built in french gothic splendour, in limestone and granite. I came across this, after becoming interested in the Cleveland glass artist R(obert) Toland Wright. He was the maker of the great orient window in the church. He died and the other windows were done by other artists. The opposite window, in the west, is the grander. There are 32 medalions in the two tri-lancets of this loft window made by Joseph Reynolds of Boston. The entire window is named Te Deum Laudamus (We praise Thee God). It is interesting, protestants have some tendency to have less in visual arts. This is not universally so. In some denominations there is a continuum, a sliding scale. Now, the windows are a great study. The oak carving about the sanctuary is even better. The lectern, the pulpit, the chair and a 20 foot baptistery cover. This hood for the water is 20 times the height it needs to be. In oak there is carved octagonally, at the base, seven scenes, that are often depicted in windows. Some feet higher are eight trumpetting angels, and the whole rises like a crocketted cathedral spire.
Well, there are a lot of catholic elements in this church. They balance it by having several windows portraying prominent protestants in history. Savonarola and Huss are there too. Girolamo Savonarola is listed to be in one of the medallions of the grand window. He is listed with Stephen the Deacon, who has a great small window in the stairwell, and Elisabeth of Hungary and Thuringia. They are identified in the church's literature (as is usual there are mistakes) as three martyrs. Perhaps the three are witnesses to charity. The four great latin doctors share another medallion. In another window, St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is seen. There are many great elements to focus on. There are people who have attended there for years and have not examined all the beauty. We live in a quick get there, and quick leave there society. I am sure many people would be surprised to see St. Elisabeth in the balcony. In the scene, Stephen is carrying rocks, for he was stoned to death. Elisabeth was a generous woman and an early lay franciscan. Her husband, and his family, did not approve. Miraculously, the bread she was about to deliver, turned to roses. She was married at 14, widowed at 20, and died at 24 in service to the poor.
Now, Savonarola was a dominican, and his portrait was painted by Frà Bartolomeo in 1498. He
was an opponent of the Borg
ia pope, Alexander VI. Some dominicans are promoting his cause for sainthood. In the glass, the figure on the left is not so distinguishable. In the clerestory lancet Savonorola is in a dominican habit, and shaved with a tonsure. The bearded fellow does not have a readily identifiable iconography. Reynolds was the glasier of both.left medallion: somebody, St. Stephen and St. Elisabeth; right: Girolamo Savonarola
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Toxicity of Tucson Tea
Saturday afternoon, in a Tucson shopping center, a man attempted to assassinate a Congressman and then continued to fire his gun till the bullets were spent. Six people are dead, fourteen others wounded. The man was extremely crazed. It is impossible not to believe, that, the atmosphere and environment he was experiencing did not affect his thought and action.
In 1964, Barry Goldwater was a senator and Republican candidate for president. He was the leader of the conservatives. To-day, he would be the most 'liberal' of Republicans. Arizona is a hot bed for Republican insanity.
Joe Arpaio is the sheriff in neighboring Maricopa County. He bills himself as the "toughest sheriff in America". He is an ego driven, headline hungry individual that shares a local fanatic base with Sarah Palin and the teabaggers.
Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz) has made himself a spokesman (minority whip) for his party, and against the Democracy. He was chief in opposition to the ratification of a nuclear arms treaty with Russia. To-day on television he criticised the Pima County sheriff (Clarence Dupnik) for taking note of the political situation. Kyl has been repeatedly unctuous, mendacious and hypocritical.
Among the incendiary Republican congressmen of Arizona is Trent Franks, and now, the idiot son (Ben), of the idiot vice-president (Quayle) under ghwbushsr. McCain (the other Arizona senator) was responsible for bringing Palin into the national political discussion.
The xenophobe, gun promoter, and none-to-bright Republican governor is Jan Brewer. In bordering Nevada, the crazy Republican candidate, Sharron Angle, who lost to Senator Reid, made statements about "second amendment remedies" amongst many wacko statements. In Arizona, there are holsters sold to accesorise motorcycles. There is a culture of incipient violence in the interior west.
In a stunt, the Republicans had parts of the Constitution read in the House of Representatives. Gabrielle Giffords read the first amendment. A follower of the second amendment shot her in the back(?) of her head a few hours later. He then shot a number of other people. Six are dead now. He was going to put in a new magazine of bullets but was stopped.
Palin had a US map made with 20 cross-haired targets on it. One was on Giffords' district. Palin told her followers (minions) to "reload" and "take aim" at Democrats. Only one other (of the 20) Democratic targets 'survived' the election. The Republican candidate, Jesse Kelly, that opposed Congressman Giffords, had a money raising event where one could "get on target for victory in November help remove Gabrielle Giffords shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly". In January Giffords local office was vandalised immediately after the Health Care vote. Giffords was on record cautioning and complaining of the intemperate and dangerous language being used.
In April 2009, the Homeland Security Department released a memorandum warning of the possibility of right wing extremist violence, especially to people opposed to the federal government. Gingrich said that that writer ought to be fired for his smears. Republican mouthfoamers on radio, and elsewhere, raised a stink about bias and lies.
Fox "News" is an employer of many of these Republicans, including Palin. In their "fair and balanced" manner, as soon as a mourner at a vigil for the victims mentioned Palin, they cut away. The thought that individual had was echoed by Sheriff Dupnik, "I think it's the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business and what we see on TV and how our youngsters are being raised..." That is what Kyl criticised Dupnik for saying. The rule is apparent: Republicans can say anything, no one is to contradict them. Allyson Miller, an organiser of the Pima County Tea Party Patriots said, "I think anytime you start suppressing freedom of speech, I think it's wrong. I live here and I didn't hear anything [in the 2010 campaign] that concerned me in terms of inciting violence."
A sane, humane person with a modicum of discernment can not be a Republican. That party has long been filled with worshippers of Mars, and Mammon, and the grossest of hypocrites; not hypocrites in a small sense, but purposely deceptive hypocrites, whose interests were those of the financial establishment and vile intent. Now, in the last few months they have pumped and encouraged insanity in the guise of the teabaggers. They have clothed themselves as patriots. They have, on the one hand, sounded as comical anarchists, while being tools of the ambitiously greedy and power hungry. They, especially Palin, have used the most incendiary of words. The question was never could some great act of violence ensue, but when and how many. We have seen the first in Tucson. The United States must realise, that, the Republican party is a fascist party. They use the arguments, and methods of fascists; now we have seen the fruits of their behavior inside this country. The killer in this situation, may only be a crazy juvenile, but one that drank from the cups brewed, and poured, and drank in southern Arizona.
I say and write unpleasant things about Republicans. They are all true. Anyone mentioning some equivalency between the parties on language is making a false statement. Some will do so to deceive, others in cowardice, so as not to weather Republican or "conservative" attacks
In 1964, Barry Goldwater was a senator and Republican candidate for president. He was the leader of the conservatives. To-day, he would be the most 'liberal' of Republicans. Arizona is a hot bed for Republican insanity.
Joe Arpaio is the sheriff in neighboring Maricopa County. He bills himself as the "toughest sheriff in America". He is an ego driven, headline hungry individual that shares a local fanatic base with Sarah Palin and the teabaggers.
Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz) has made himself a spokesman (minority whip) for his party, and against the Democracy. He was chief in opposition to the ratification of a nuclear arms treaty with Russia. To-day on television he criticised the Pima County sheriff (Clarence Dupnik) for taking note of the political situation. Kyl has been repeatedly unctuous, mendacious and hypocritical.
Among the incendiary Republican congressmen of Arizona is Trent Franks, and now, the idiot son (Ben), of the idiot vice-president (Quayle) under ghwbushsr. McCain (the other Arizona senator) was responsible for bringing Palin into the national political discussion.
The xenophobe, gun promoter, and none-to-bright Republican governor is Jan Brewer. In bordering Nevada, the crazy Republican candidate, Sharron Angle, who lost to Senator Reid, made statements about "second amendment remedies" amongst many wacko statements. In Arizona, there are holsters sold to accesorise motorcycles. There is a culture of incipient violence in the interior west.
In a stunt, the Republicans had parts of the Constitution read in the House of Representatives. Gabrielle Giffords read the first amendment. A follower of the second amendment shot her in the back(?) of her head a few hours later. He then shot a number of other people. Six are dead now. He was going to put in a new magazine of bullets but was stopped.
Palin had a US map made with 20 cross-haired targets on it. One was on Giffords' district. Palin told her followers (minions) to "reload" and "take aim" at Democrats. Only one other (of the 20) Democratic targets 'survived' the election. The Republican candidate, Jesse Kelly, that opposed Congressman Giffords, had a money raising event where one could "get on target for victory in November help remove Gabrielle Giffords shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly". In January Giffords local office was vandalised immediately after the Health Care vote. Giffords was on record cautioning and complaining of the intemperate and dangerous language being used.
In April 2009, the Homeland Security Department released a memorandum warning of the possibility of right wing extremist violence, especially to people opposed to the federal government. Gingrich said that that writer ought to be fired for his smears. Republican mouthfoamers on radio, and elsewhere, raised a stink about bias and lies.
Fox "News" is an employer of many of these Republicans, including Palin. In their "fair and balanced" manner, as soon as a mourner at a vigil for the victims mentioned Palin, they cut away. The thought that individual had was echoed by Sheriff Dupnik, "I think it's the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business and what we see on TV and how our youngsters are being raised..." That is what Kyl criticised Dupnik for saying. The rule is apparent: Republicans can say anything, no one is to contradict them. Allyson Miller, an organiser of the Pima County Tea Party Patriots said, "I think anytime you start suppressing freedom of speech, I think it's wrong. I live here and I didn't hear anything [in the 2010 campaign] that concerned me in terms of inciting violence."
A sane, humane person with a modicum of discernment can not be a Republican. That party has long been filled with worshippers of Mars, and Mammon, and the grossest of hypocrites; not hypocrites in a small sense, but purposely deceptive hypocrites, whose interests were those of the financial establishment and vile intent. Now, in the last few months they have pumped and encouraged insanity in the guise of the teabaggers. They have clothed themselves as patriots. They have, on the one hand, sounded as comical anarchists, while being tools of the ambitiously greedy and power hungry. They, especially Palin, have used the most incendiary of words. The question was never could some great act of violence ensue, but when and how many. We have seen the first in Tucson. The United States must realise, that, the Republican party is a fascist party. They use the arguments, and methods of fascists; now we have seen the fruits of their behavior inside this country. The killer in this situation, may only be a crazy juvenile, but one that drank from the cups brewed, and poured, and drank in southern Arizona.
I say and write unpleasant things about Republicans. They are all true. Anyone mentioning some equivalency between the parties on language is making a false statement. Some will do so to deceive, others in cowardice, so as not to weather Republican or "conservative" attacks
Saturday, January 8, 2011
What did not happen at St. Patrick's
Sometimes news is that something did not happen. Cleveland Councilman Martin Keane had scheduled a public meeting for to-day at 10:00 a.m. at St. Patrick's (West Park) social hall [former convent]. A Board of Zoning Appeal hearing had been scheduled for Monday. The Diocese of Cleveland and the pastor of Ascension (now 'Blessed Trinity'), Fr. Doug Koesel, wanted a variance, in order, to establish a 'thrift store' at St. Patrick's.
Save Saint Pat's Committee was planning to demonstrate outside the meeting, and to be present inside. They wanted news outlets to be aware of the zoning appeal, the 'town hall meeting', and their opposition to the proposal. None of these things will happen to-day, or Monday. The Diocese has decided not to request the variance.
The Save St. Pat's Committee had brought two major points of objection to the proposal. One is that under church law, canon law, a parish's patrimony (property) cannot be disposed of while its attempted suppression is under appeal. The other point is, that, the Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children & Young People does not allow such activity near children (a school is still operating on St. Patrick's campus).
A, further, third point, is that the building contains a chapel. Now, that chapel is 'sacred space' and had been active at the time of eviction. To have a retail establishment in the same space, is to make it 'profane'. This conversion to 'profane use', so cavalierly, is problematic.
It is not unusual for the chancery to avoid public and media scrutiny. It is unusual for the chancery to abruptly change course. In the these nearly five years of Richard Lennon's episcopal reign, there has been little reticence of the chancery to strictly adhere to canon law, and custom. There is news in this non-event, some still not public.
Save Saint Pat's Committee was planning to demonstrate outside the meeting, and to be present inside. They wanted news outlets to be aware of the zoning appeal, the 'town hall meeting', and their opposition to the proposal. None of these things will happen to-day, or Monday. The Diocese has decided not to request the variance.
The Save St. Pat's Committee had brought two major points of objection to the proposal. One is that under church law, canon law, a parish's patrimony (property) cannot be disposed of while its attempted suppression is under appeal. The other point is, that, the Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children & Young People does not allow such activity near children (a school is still operating on St. Patrick's campus).
A, further, third point, is that the building contains a chapel. Now, that chapel is 'sacred space' and had been active at the time of eviction. To have a retail establishment in the same space, is to make it 'profane'. This conversion to 'profane use', so cavalierly, is problematic.
It is not unusual for the chancery to avoid public and media scrutiny. It is unusual for the chancery to abruptly change course. In the these nearly five years of Richard Lennon's episcopal reign, there has been little reticence of the chancery to strictly adhere to canon law, and custom. There is news in this non-event, some still not public.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Holy Trinity Avon 1833>>?
People move, people die, people are born. Buildings come and go, in the US more than some other places; it is a disposable society. Parishes are to be perpetual. Holy Trinity, Avon, is older than the diocese it is in. It began with bavarian immigrants in 1833. They celebrated their first Mass in 1841 with a visiting priest from Cleveland's only parish. Driving westward (from Cleveland) on Detroit Road, passing from one suburb to another, passing newish developments and buildings, and then a neo-gothic church of local brown gray sandstone, some blackened by age and soot. It can be nothing else. Perhaps, it is not Plato's church [well of course not, it is not greek, but if he was from south Germany. This digression is a reference to the idea of universals, and the existence of prototypical perfect exemplars.] Holy Trinity, Avon is immediately recognisable as 'church' inside and out. The high altar is carved wood with a rood group and crocketted side spires, as fine as any in Cleveland [considering its size].
Holy Trinity is a common name for a catholic church. Its patronage, a triune God, is a chief doctrine of christianity. Shakespeare is buried in Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon. There had been a church there since early in the 8th century, it was confiscated under the anglican takeover, though William remained in heart, and in private a catholic.
supra: old glass, exterior window
These german farmers began their parish and it grew. In 1902 this edifice came [an earlier one burned]. A whirlwind came in 1924 and struck the building. The new stained glass was not installed until the post war boom. Avon is now a suburb with beyond average wealth. That little community is now a large parish, they
could not have known that when Andy Jackson was president, and the bishop was in Cincinnati. A resident priest first came the same month Gettysburg was the current event [July 1863]. Thirty years the parish existed and grew without a priest. Farm land is now prestigious suburban sprawl. The social conditions of the next generation, the next century, cannot be known now. Why should Holy Trinity, Avon not survive then?
Sunday, January 2, 2011
St. Lawrence celebrates Epiphany
The parish met to-day, over one hundred strong. The parish showed it is still alive. It was the second Mass they have had at "the NASH", the nearby Slovenian Home, since the Mass of Eviction. Bishop Pevec said Mass. There was not the stated intention to challenge, but even without a statement, their presence constituted a parish in activity, Eucharistic activity.It is not too much different than what St. Peter's does, they meet every week in new space. St. Emeric has two masses a month at St. Colman's. These displaced parishioners have not access to their property (patrimony). They were ordered to disperse. They are still free to meet, when the spirit is willing. Jesus will be there with them wherever they meet.
Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; They will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee.—Isaiah li. 11. NAB
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