During the 9 AM Mass at Saint Joseph's Parish in Fitchburg, Deacon Jim Couture spoke approvingly of Father John Powell's book entitled "He Touched Me." Father John Powell, S.J., is well-known in liberal circles and published more than 30 books on the subject of love. He is also an admitted sexual predator who, as this article explains, abused "at least six adults...in the late 60's and 70's." Father Powell is also well-known as a priest-abuser as this article makes clear.
I remember reading a couple of his books in the 1980's when he was being heavily promoted on PBS. I was immediately struck by the fact that Fr. Powell was a liberal priest with some very strange ideas. For example, in one book he mocks the Salve Regina as being something of an exercise in morbid spirituality since it refers to life as a "vale of tears." The Salve Regina (Hail, Holy Queen) dates from the eleventh century. It is attributed to various authors and was added to the Liturgy of the Hours by Pope St. Pius V in the sixteenth century. (See Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 966).
Why would Deacon Jim Couture want to cite anything from Father Powell's books? With all the Saints and Doctors and Fathers of the Church, he chooses to promote the work of a predator-priest?
Lord Jesus, Maranatha!
Related reading here.
Paul, your last post said it all. So many today want to be seduced and run to teachers who tell them what they want to hear. This is gravely disturbing.
ReplyDeletePatrice Regnier, one of the plaintiffs in a sexual abuse case filed against Fr. Powell, said Powell was a family friend who sexually abused her when she was 13years old. This man abused his trust as a priest and abused even minors. Deacon Couture needs to find someone else for material. I agree. Sickening.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a parishioner at a parish in Manchester, New Hampshire in the 1980s, the "pastor" used to denigrate a lay-woman who demonstrated a profound reverence for the Holy Eucharist by kneeling to receive. He would actually mock this woman when speaking about her to other parishioners and would sneer at her behind her back.
ReplyDeleteWhere is this lovely woman today? She has stayed in the Church and continues to show reverence for the Holy Eucharist. The priest? He was found guilty of abusing altar boys.
While this devout woman was showing reverence for God, the priest in question was not. He was sexually abusing children created in the Imago Dei - the image and likeness of God.
You see irreverence hates reverence. Those who live in darkness hate the children of light.
Pray for our Church. And especially for those who might persecute you because you stand with Christ and His Church's Magisterium.
Pope Benedict XVI: "You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry. I know that nothing can undo the wrong you have endured. Your trust has been betrayed and your dignity has been violated. Many of you found that, when you were courageous enough to speak of what happened to you, no one would listen. It is understandable you find it hard to forgive or be reconciled with the Church. In her name, I express the shame and remorse that we all feel."
ReplyDeletePope Benedict used his harshest words for the abusers themselves, saying they had betrayed the trust of the faithful, brought shame on the church and now must answer before God and civil authorities, saying, "Conceal nothing...Openly acknowledge your guilt, submit yourselves to the demands of justice, but do not despair of God’s mercy."
There is no room in the priesthood for sexual predators.
My sister told me that Deacon Jim said nothing about his promotion of Fr. Powell at Mass last week. One wonders if this means he unapologetically supports the predator-priest.
ReplyDeleteInteresting condemnation when we are called to be witnesses, not lawyers or judges.
ReplyDelete7 As they persisted with their question, he straightened up and said, 'Let the one among you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone at her.'
John 8:3-11 New Jerusalem Bible
In the words of Dr. Germain Grisez, one of the finest moral theologians of our time, "It might seem to follow that love must accept everyone, even enemies, just as they are, and to affirm them even in the error or sin which is present in them. But the law of love does not require indiscriminate affirmation of everything about other persons (see Saint Thomas Aquinas, S.t., 2-2, q.34, a.3). One's love must be like Jesus'. He loves sinners and brings them into communion with himself in order to overcome their error and sin. When the scribes and pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery to Jesus, he not only saves her from being stoned to death but warns her not to sin again (see John 8:3-11). In a true sense, Jesus is not judgmental, he sets aside the legalistic mentality, readily forgives sinners, does not condemn the world, and points out that those who refuse to acknowledge their sinfulness are self-condemned by the truth they violate (see John 3:16-21). But he realistically recognizes sinners as sinners and never accepts error as truth...
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, if Christians' love of neighbor is genuine, it not only permits but REQUIRES THEM both to 'hold fast to what is good' and to 'hate what is evil' (Romans 12:9)."And again, according to Dr. Grisez, "Vatican II neatly formulates the prohibition against judging others" 'God alone is the judge and searcher of hearts; for that reason, he forbids us to make judgments about the internal guilt of anyone' (Gaudium et Spes, No. 28). This norm, however, does not preclude JUDGMENTS necessary for determining that one should try to dissuade others from committing sins or to encourage them to repent if they have sinned."
And while we're at it, you don't spend much time with Sacred Scripture do you? We are told, "should you not judge those inside the Church"? (1 Corinthians 5:12), and again: "the saints will judge the world and angels" (1 Corinthians 6:2-3), and again: "the spiritual man judges all things" (1 Corinthians 2:15), and again: "Let prophets speak and the others judge" (1 Corinthians 14:29).
ReplyDeleteNot all judging is sinful. This is just common sense. Our legal system is structured in such a way that when a person commits a crime, he or she is tried before a judge and sentenced (judged) if found guilty. Likewise, it is our right (and duty) to judge words, ideas and actions which are not in conformity with the Gospels or which fail to conform to the Magisterial teaching of Christ's Church and to expose these as fallacious and/or sinful. In so doing, we are not rendering a judgment against a person. We are following the teaching of the great Saint Augustine (Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church), who said: "Interficere errorem, diligere errantem" - kill the error, love the one who errs. This killing of what is sinful or erroneous is necessary if our charity - our love of neighbor - is to be genuine. Otherwise, our love is counterfeit. It is a fraud.
Notice how Brian Forbes Colgate has nothing to say about the fact that Fr. John Powell is an admitted sexual abuser and that Deacon Couture promoted him at Holy Mass?
ReplyDeleteI performed a Google search on Brian Colgate and I am not surprised that he supports the homosexual agenda:
http://mcplpaulfranklin.blogspot
.com/2012/03/coming-out-in-kandahar-and-it-can-get.html
View the comments.
Is this why Brian Colgate is defending Deacon Couture? I wonder if they know one another? Or if Colgate supports child abuse?