Wednesday, July 09, 2014

More on the North Quabbin Catholic Community and its discrimination against Catholics faithful to the Magisterium


In my last post, I noted how the North Quabbin Catholic Community has responded to my fraternal correction with Facebook posts which reveal a level of hatred and animosity which cannot be reconciled with Catholic Christian faith.


From the North Quabbin Catholic Community Facebook page:
    Well how disheartening, I just found this real ........ Anthony... Paul Melanson who has a blog and has nothing better to do than to slam Fr. Kris Korcz every chance he gets. The horrid , hateful things he said were disgusting. Well I stuck up for our Pastor and let this........ have it. I wonder why he thinks he is so perfect??? I want to go punch him, but I won't , I will try to be the better person. What is the matter with people???? Claiming to be so Christian and say horrible things about people. Praying for him to see the error of his ways. See More



    Several years before his death, Pope John Paul II made a point out of reminding Catholics that there is room for constructive criticism in the Church. His words were lost on some however. Among those who reject this idea are those who seek to ingratiate themselves with their pastor. For such people, their pastor can do no wrong. Even if he's molesting innocent children or promoting dissent from Church teaching. In their zeal to defend and shield their pastor from any criticism (no matter how constructive or charitably put), these Catholics succumb to a prejudice which obscures objective judgment and which greatly reduces their intellectual horizon. To put it simply, such people become narrow-minded in an eminent sense.

    Very often haughtiness is a factor in the rejection of constructive criticism. The haughty person (or the group which believes itself to be "above any criticism") will, in the words of Dr. Dietrich von Hildebrand, "find it intolerable to feel dependent on other persons, to serve others, to subordinate himself to an alien will, and above all, to suffer ever so slight a humiliation. He is unable to admit before others of having been in the wrong, even if he knows it in his heart; much less could he prevail on himself to ask anybody's forgiveness. He is stricken with a crabbed anxiousness about preserving his dignity..."

    In his Encyclical Letter Christifidelis laici, No. 37, Pope John Paul II wrote, "The dignity of the person constitutes the foundation of the equality of all people among themselves. As a result, all forms of discrimination are totally unacceptable."
    Authentic Christian love (which is often very difficult to find in some parishes) rejects the discrimination which faith finds unacceptable. Vatican II teaches us that:

    "The disposition of a human person toward God the Father and his or her disposition toward fellow human beings are so connected that Scripture says: 'Whoever does not love does not know God' (1 Jn 4:8). The foundation therefore is taken away from any theory or practice which leads to discrimination, between one person and another or between one nation and another, with respect to human dignity and the rights flowing from it" (Nostra Aetate, No. 5).

    Therefore, as Gaudium et Spes of Vatican II says, love requires avoiding "every form - whether social or cultural - of discrimination with respect to the fundamental rights of persons, whether on the basis of sex, race, color, social condition, language, or religion" (No. 29). Of course, this is not an exhaustive list. There are many other factors which are often used to rationalize discrimination or injustices: such as nationality, wealth, health, physical or mental capacity, age, and even one's personal appearance.

    The Church has a responsibility, a moral duty, to reach out to everyone. And any unjust discrimination must be avoided since such is incompatible with an authentic Catholic faith.

    Many Catholics are treated with scorn at their parish - or simply ignored - because they accept, promote and defend the Church's Magisterial teaching. Often those at the parish level forget that loving everyone in Jesus with the same Christian love means acknowledging the same human dignity shared by all who are called to be God's children and avoiding all discrimination with respect to every basic human right.

    This same love must extend to each individual person's entire being, including all his or her diverse gifts and particular potentialities. St. Paul addresses this point in 1 Corinthians 13. And, in Chapter 12, he explains how communion should exist in Jesus' one body, which is the Church, among members who possess diverse and complementary gifts which pertain to their personal vocations:

    "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good...

    For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and we were all made to drink of one Spirit." (1 Cor. 12:4-7; 12-13).

    This point has been lost on the North Quabbin Catholic Community. They have adopted an attitude which Jesus explicitly rejects in the Gospels:

    "John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us." Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us." (Mk. 9: 38-40).

    Rather than viewing those of us who fully adhere to the Church's Magisterial teaching with respect and treating us with dignity, the North Quabbin Catholic Community has succumbed to a progressive "Catholicism" (which is counterfeit in nature) which is imbued with hatred and violence and which seeks to exclude rather than to unite.


    10 comments:

    1. Andrew11:44 AM

      This Progen comes across as disturbed. Her comment on Facebook is not only uncharitable but downright hostile and confrontational.

      The fact that your charitable post which aimed at fraternal correction resulted in your being banned but her hate-rant is not only tolerated but encouraged by the Church leaders says it all.

      These people are not committed to the Lord Jesus. Sad.

      ReplyDelete
    2. Marie Tremblay12:27 PM

      Progen's Facebook profile indicates that she is interested in men and women.

      This would seem to suggest that she is bisexual. Facebook asks this question so that others may know your sexual orientation.

      If she is bisexual, this would explain her hatred for you. Your record of defending the Church's teaching on marriage is well known around the world.

      ReplyDelete
    3. Samantha1:33 PM

      And she serves in parish ministry? What the heck?

      ReplyDelete
    4. Anonymous4:12 AM

      I agree that the time has come for Deacon Scott to be removed from ministry. His behavior is an embarrassment to OLI and the Diocese.

      ReplyDelete
    5. BeaconStreetCatholic5:24 AM

      Faithful Catholics, stop giving to OLI. Send your tithes to faithful Catholic organizations like EWTN or directly to another diocese.

      If Colley and his ilk want to ban others, let them support the Church. Don't support their hate.

      ReplyDelete
    6. John S.8:52 AM

      The diocese, in my opinion, has a moral responsibility to ensure that it's clerics, and this certainly includes deacons, possess sufficient maturity, intellectual ability, and holiness of life to serve the People of God.

      Scott Colley has not exhibited these traits as far as I am concerned. And he should be replaced.

      ReplyDelete
    7. John,

      I have received comments from an anonymous person every time I have written about Our Lady Immaculate Parish. These comments have been laced with profanity and have made frequent use of the F word. They began last September when I first wrote about Deacon Colley.

      If these comments are being left by the Deacon, and let's pray such is not the case, this is most serious.

      ReplyDelete
    8. BeaconStreetCatholic7:33 PM

      How can the haters at OLI respect others when they don't respect themselves?

      They can't see the damage they are doing. I doubt they ever will.

      ReplyDelete
    9. John S.4:09 PM

      Kathy Progen needs to confess her calumny before receiving Eucharist. I would like to see the "hateful" and disgusting" comments you were supposed to have made.

      Come on Progen, don't chicken out now. Produce your evidence.

      If I were you, I would consider a suit against this woman for libel.

      ReplyDelete
    10. Cyn M.3:14 PM

      Dear God in heaven, how uncharitable! I am so sorry you have had to endure this kind of shunning and trial in your diocese, brother Paul. I will keep the deacon, and all in the diocese in prayer. Keep speaking the truth in love and especially with quiet charity...you don't have to please anyone but God.

      ReplyDelete