Post by pianistclare on Mar 22, 2017 14:24:31 GMT
A very similar thing happened when our old beloved Monsignor died some years back at a previous parish. He was left in that parish for 30 years. He accumulated junk, frankly. Every time a parish up North closed, he'd offer to take their old statues. Many of them were garish, all of them damaged and never cared for and we in desperate need of repair. But he didn't repair or restore them. He just plunked them into any open spot in our small church. So we had a very garishly colored Pieta, those Jesus paintings with the eyes that follow you, ropes from deceased monks just hung on the walls like artifacts of sorts.....you get the idea.
So....after he passed, the Archbishop gave the NEW pastor a long laundry list of things he wanted done.
1) get rid of the "stuff"
2) paint the interior
3) take out the swinging doors and wall up the wall behind the high altar
4) remove all the "pictures" from the Sanctuary
5) throw away all broken statues
6) get rid of the animals (Monsignor had a virtual Noah's Ark" at the rectory. 8 Irish wolfhounds, guinea fowl, rabbits of every variety, a donkey, a shetland pony, dozens of cats, ducks, and peacocks. Some of them showed up at MAss. The parishioners thought it charming, the Bishop, not so much.)
7) get rid of the grid thing hanging from the ceiling above the altar
So...this made the congregation furious. They felt the new pastor disrespected Monsignor, and had thrown out their history. They began putting monopoly money in the collection envelopes with notes that read "When you send us a real priest, I'll resume giving real money". I kid. you. not.
Pastor called the Bishop and called a town hall meeting. Bishop appeased the people, did not say outright that the priest was following his very explicit orders (I was able to view the list and accompanying letter, so I KNOW it existed) and basically threw the pastor under the bus.
The new priest asked to be released from this Archdiocese, and went on to become a Military Chaplain at a large base in California.
Collections went back up, and the Bishop was happy.
The missing items magically returned, the interior of the church got painted AGAIN, and the parishioners were happy.
You're right. It's the leadership. The people have no idea what goes on behind the scenes and the politics involved.
Yes. Politics. Those who must be content or else everyone suffers.
It's the elephant in the room.
Meanwhile, the faithful suffer in bewilderment.
Pray. Pray and try to be helpful. Try to get a feel for what is really going on and be an instrument of POSITIVE change, and encourage the leadership to just be transparent. That's all anyone wants. Just level with us. Give it to us straight. Don't think that laypersons or Joe Q. Parishioner can't possibly understand. Just tell the truth, even if it's hard to hear. Keeping secrets always get the church into trouble.
So....after he passed, the Archbishop gave the NEW pastor a long laundry list of things he wanted done.
1) get rid of the "stuff"
2) paint the interior
3) take out the swinging doors and wall up the wall behind the high altar
4) remove all the "pictures" from the Sanctuary
5) throw away all broken statues
6) get rid of the animals (Monsignor had a virtual Noah's Ark" at the rectory. 8 Irish wolfhounds, guinea fowl, rabbits of every variety, a donkey, a shetland pony, dozens of cats, ducks, and peacocks. Some of them showed up at MAss. The parishioners thought it charming, the Bishop, not so much.)
7) get rid of the grid thing hanging from the ceiling above the altar
So...this made the congregation furious. They felt the new pastor disrespected Monsignor, and had thrown out their history. They began putting monopoly money in the collection envelopes with notes that read "When you send us a real priest, I'll resume giving real money". I kid. you. not.
Pastor called the Bishop and called a town hall meeting. Bishop appeased the people, did not say outright that the priest was following his very explicit orders (I was able to view the list and accompanying letter, so I KNOW it existed) and basically threw the pastor under the bus.
The new priest asked to be released from this Archdiocese, and went on to become a Military Chaplain at a large base in California.
Collections went back up, and the Bishop was happy.
The missing items magically returned, the interior of the church got painted AGAIN, and the parishioners were happy.
You're right. It's the leadership. The people have no idea what goes on behind the scenes and the politics involved.
Yes. Politics. Those who must be content or else everyone suffers.
It's the elephant in the room.
Meanwhile, the faithful suffer in bewilderment.
Pray. Pray and try to be helpful. Try to get a feel for what is really going on and be an instrument of POSITIVE change, and encourage the leadership to just be transparent. That's all anyone wants. Just level with us. Give it to us straight. Don't think that laypersons or Joe Q. Parishioner can't possibly understand. Just tell the truth, even if it's hard to hear. Keeping secrets always get the church into trouble.