Sun Apr 29, 2012, 06:33 PM

47of74 (6,661 posts)

Bishop Morlino vs. Platteville Catholics

Bishop Morlino of Madison, Wisconsin is throwing his weight around with Platteville area Catholics;

Madison Catholic Bishop Robert Morlino has moved to quell a backlash against a group of conservative priests in Platteville by warning parishioners they risk formal church censure unless they stop spreading "rumors and gossip."

The action by Morlino, which two Catholic scholars called highly unusual, appears to include the possibility of offenders being prohibited from taking part in church sacraments such as communion, confession and burial.

The warning came in a five-page letter Wednesday from Morlino to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Platteville. The congregation has been roiled by opposition to the traditionalist priests, who began serving the parish in June 2010.

Within months, church donations fell by more than half, and about 40 percent of the church’s 1,200 members signed a petition seeking the priests’ ouster. The church’s 77-year-old school is set to close June 1, a loss many parishioners tie directly to the collapse of donations.

14 replies, 1877 views

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14 replies	Author	Time	Post
Bishop Morlino vs. Platteville Catholics (Original post)	47of74	Apr 2012	OP
He can't bar a Catholic from Confession.	rug	Apr 2012	#1
He'd probably love to try	47of74	Apr 2012	#2
It's probably sloppy reporting.	rug	Apr 2012	#3
It seems these days that Bozo is in the job description...	47of74	Apr 2012	#4
Hmmm...... one parish has decided to let their wallets do the talking and it's a national story...	hedgehog	Apr 2012	#5
The Bishops would really be marking their laundry then.	47of74	Apr 2012	#6
Imbalanced reporting	Syte	May 2012	#7
Welcome to DU. If you have issues with 60%-40%, tell me about these statistics...	uppityperson	May 2012	#8
Don't bother waiting for an answer	47of74	May 2012	#9
It's also reported in NCR	Matilda	May 2012	#10
Priests in the US consider the Second Rite to be ilicit and don't offer it!	hedgehog	May 2012	#12
It's certainly frowned upon by the Vatican,	Matilda	May 2012	#13
Instead of taking the Church forward they are taking it backwards.	demosincebirth	May 2012	#11
Feeneyism: the heresy of right-wing "Catholics"	meow2u3	May 2012	#14

Response to 47of74 (Original post)

Sun Apr 29, 2012, 07:59 PM

rug (47,305 posts)

1. He can't bar a Catholic from Confession.

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Response to rug (Reply #1)

Sun Apr 29, 2012, 08:09 PM

47of74 (6,661 posts)

2. He'd probably love to try

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Response to 47of74 (Reply #2)

Sun Apr 29, 2012, 08:17 PM

rug (47,305 posts)

3. It's probably sloppy reporting.

He's likely talking about an excommunication or an interdict that only the bishop or Pope can lift, but that's not Confession.

Can you imagine a bishop withholding absolution, not to mention barring a Catholic from entering the confessional?

What a bozo.

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Response to rug (Reply #3)

Sun Apr 29, 2012, 08:53 PM

47of74 (6,661 posts)

4. It seems these days that Bozo is in the job description...

...for a Bishop.

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Response to 47of74 (Original post)

Mon Apr 30, 2012, 02:16 PM

hedgehog (30,420 posts)

5. Hmmm...... one parish has decided to let their wallets do the talking and it's a national story...

what if 2 parishes let their wallets do the talking?

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Response to hedgehog (Reply #5)

Mon Apr 30, 2012, 05:59 PM

47of74 (6,661 posts)

6. The Bishops would really be marking their laundry then.

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Response to 47of74 (Original post)

Wed May 2, 2012, 05:06 PM

Syte (1 post)

7. Imbalanced reporting

It's from the Wisconsin State Journal and it's imbalanced reporting.
A better perspective : http://sytereitz.com/2012/04/wisconsin-state-journal-inflames-parish-conflict-with-imbalanced-reporting/

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Response to Syte (Reply #7)

Wed May 2, 2012, 05:18 PM

uppityperson (74,213 posts)

8. Welcome to DU. If you have issues with 60%-40%, tell me about these statistics...

"America is mostly conservative (Gallup 2012: 40% Conservative, 30% moderate, and 21% liberal)."

Does 40% = "mostly conservative"? Is this balanced or imbalanced reporting? I am curious as to your opinion. Thank you.

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Response to uppityperson (Reply #8)

Wed May 2, 2012, 07:21 PM

47of74 (6,661 posts)

9. Don't bother waiting for an answer

He's already had a meeting with a member of MIRT...

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Response to 47of74 (Original post)

Thu May 3, 2012, 12:01 AM

Matilda (5,592 posts)

10. It's also reported in NCR

Link here: http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/wisconsin-bishop-threatens-denial-sacraments-rumors-and-gossip

If it's correct, it's very disturbing - to even think about excommunicating somebody for speaking their mind is an abuse of power. Excommunication is a terrible thing to threaten anybody with, and should only be used for the most serious offences, and then only when all mediation has failed. I don't think Christ was ever in a hurry to cut people off from God.

There is a move - and it comes from Rome - to bar altar girls and even lay Ministers of the Eucharist, except in cases where there is no alternative. Similarly, the Second Rite of Reconciliation is frowned on. In our church, all three are the norm (although we have few young altar servers of either sex these days - I guess it isn't cool), but I know of other parishes where the laity play a very passive role. I really can't see how anybody is harmed by having girls serve at the altar, or the laity giving communion. And I find it much more productive to sit down with a priest and discuss a problem face to face in an honest way rather than kneeling in a confessional and reciting a list of sins by rote. These things should be a matter of style and left up to the parishes to decide.

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Response to Matilda (Reply #10)

Thu May 3, 2012, 09:44 AM

hedgehog (30,420 posts)

12. Priests in the US consider the Second Rite to be ilicit and don't offer it!

Last edited Thu May 3, 2012, 09:46 AM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

I think mainly because they didn't read the memo!

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Response to hedgehog (Reply #12)

Thu May 3, 2012, 09:07 PM

Matilda (5,592 posts)

13. It's certainly frowned upon by the Vatican,

except in "emergency" situations, whatever they may be. Our priests offer it at Easter and Christmas. We still have the First Rite weekly on Saturday afternoons, but the old confessionals are now used for closets (which I find just a little bit sad).

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Response to 47of74 (Original post)

Thu May 3, 2012, 09:26 AM

demosincebirth (8,890 posts)

11. Instead of taking the Church forward they are taking it backwards.

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Response to 47of74 (Original post)

Sun May 6, 2012, 05:19 PM

meow2u3 (13,880 posts)

14. Feeneyism: the heresy of right-wing "Catholics"

Last edited Sun May 6, 2012, 05:19 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeneyism

Fr. Leonard Feeney
Main article: Leonard Feeney

Fr. Feeney had originally been a Roman Catholic priest and a member of the Jesuits. The Jesuit order dismissed Fr. Feeney in 1949 on account of disobedience, and on 4 February 1953 the Holy Office (now the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) declared him excommunicated "on account of grave disobedience to Church Authority, being unmoved by repeated warnings". He was reconciled to the Church in 1972. Fr. Feeney co-founded the group known as the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

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