Viewing St. Cronan's through the Lens of Its Website

There are two items on the St. Cronan parish website today that speak to the mindset of those of that parish who support the agenda of dissent from Church teaching and disobedience to their Archbishop.

First, the front page of the site contains a letter written from the Birmingham jail by Martin Luther King, Jr., to fellow clergymen. Of course, the letter is written to commemorate the upcoming King holiday next Monday. But if the reader wants to identify the schism and defiance of some of those at St. Cronan with the civil rights movement in general, or King specifically, so much the better. Below is an excerpt from the letter, posted at the front page of the St. Cronan site:

...You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling, for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.

The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation...

It seems highly useful as a means to interpret how the band of dissenters (at least those who believe they act in good faith) see themselves and their actions. Disobedience to lawful authority of the Church established by Christ, you see, isn't wrong! They MUST protest the "injustice" of an all-male hierarchy. They see the priesthood as some sort of patronage job doled out by the world's most powerful political boss, and they must act to distribute the wealth. They must foist a French Revolution-type of egalitarianism upon a Church Christ designed. This is the sixties mindset: if we light candles and hold hands and invite the local press to cover our poor plight, then the Man will have to talk to us!

Christ's design for His Church isn't good enough, see? Jesus was all about looooooooove. The supporters of the dissenters at St. Cronan respond in comboxes, on TV and radio, and in the letters to the editor that they really live the Gospel, and that the loving Jesus they know would never act as the Archbishop has. These people may believe what they say, but they haven't a clue about the nature of the Church or the mandate of Christ to preach the Gospel to all nations.

Jesus wasn't satisfied in feeding the temporal hunger of the multitude, he insisted on proclaiming the truth about the Real Presence in the Eucharist. I invite the supporters of Sister Louise Lears to read the sixth chapter of the Gospel of St. John. Jesus insisted that His Flesh was real food and that His Blood was real drink. He offered them this teaching "in Spirit and in Truth" for their salvation. And what did they do? They left Him. And though "Catholic" dissenters won't leave the physical structure of parishes, chanceries, religious communities, etc., their actions place themselves outside of Catholic truth. This is the outer darkness of which our Lord warned us-- where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth.

All of the temporal assistance in the world, if divorced from the truth of Catholicism, will not give people what they really need: conversion, forgiveness, sanctifying grace and eternal life. All of the protests, the friendly media coverage, and the angst are merely the wailing and gnashing of teeth.

The second item giving a window into the mindset of St. Cronan's parish is their currently running prayer vigil.

The vigil is for the St. Cronan "community" and "our sister, Louise". Now, there is certainly nothing wrong with prayer, and nothing wrong about praying for Sister Louise as she is summoned to answer for her public positions contrary to the faith. But I get the idea this isn't what they have in mind.

The vigil calls for hour-by-hour intentions: some appear ironical, such as "for Sister Louise and her faithfulness", or for Sister Louise as a faithful Catholic". There are also intentions for the Archbishop. However, it becomes obvious that these prayers aren't for Sister Lears to convert and adhere to Church teaching, or to obey her Archbishop. That is to say, they appear inconsistent with some of the other intentions, such as "for Sister Louise and her dream for peace" or "for Sister Louise in her struggle for justice" or "for Sister Louise as a voice crying out in the wilderness".

The last prayer intention, at 10 am today, is "for Sister Louise as she meets regarding her summons". I encourage all of us to pray for her and for the Archbishop at that time, even though our prayers might differ in their object from those of the St. Cronan's prayer vigil.

More news later as it comes.