Father Arsenault finds a new home....

Catholic World News reports:


"A former chancellor of the Manchester, New Hampshire diocese, who last year resigned from his post as president of the St. Luke Institute, has been sentenced to a 4-year prison term after pleading guilty to theft charges.


Msgr. Edward Arsenault admitted to stealing funds from the Manchester diocese, from the estate of a fellow priest, and from a hospital where he had served on the board. Under a plea-bargaining agreement he will serve 4 years in a New Hampshire prison.

As chancellor of the New Hampshire diocese, Msgr. Arsenault was the top aid to Bishop John McCormack at the height of the sex-abuse scandal. Later he become the chief executive of the St. Luke Institute, the Maryland facility that has treated many priests charged with sexual abuse. He resigned from that post when it was made public that he was the focus on an investigation prompted by reports of financial misconduct and an inappropriate relationship with another adult."

See here:


Nearly ten years ago I was warning readers of this Blog about the Saint Luke Institute.  In one post, which may be found here

I wrote: "The more I uncover about the notorious St. Luke Institute in Maryland, the more concerned I become." 

Readers of this Blog know that another employee of the Saint Luke Institute, Father Joseph Bachand, who pretty much torpedoed my vocation with the La Salette Missionaries, accused me of engaging in "evil" for opposing women's ordination.  See here

As I explained in one post back in 2005:

Fr. Joseph Bachand, a La Salette priest who wrote me a hate-filled email denouncing me for questioning the fidelity of the La Salette Missionaries, works at the St. Luke Institute in Maryland. Many priests accused of abusing children are sent to this facility which is located in Maryland. Read the following about this shady institution which is excerpted from the Baltimore Sun:


"When priests arrive at St. Luke, their initial evaluations include a battery of psychological, personality and intelligence tests. They also typically undergo CAT scans of the brain and are attached to a device designed to measure arousal in men when they are shown pornographic photographs.

"’That device, called a penile plethysmograph, is one of the most controversial parts of St. Luke's approach, and some priests subjected to it call the experience humiliating.

"’Dr. Fred S. Berlin, founder of the Baltimore-based National Institute for the Study, Prevention and Treatment of Sexual Trauma, said the arousal measurements, as well as sometimes confrontational counseling sessions, are important components of the program.

"'The idea is not for these guys in treatment to be comfortable,' said Berlin, who worked with St. Luke as it began its sexual offender program in the early 1980s.’

"Fred Berlin is a proponent of Kinsey's discredited sexual theories and another ‘expert’ upon whom the bishops have relied. With the exception of a few orthodox bishops and dioceses, these are the kinds of psychologists who have the ears of our shepherds --- which is one reason that Dr. Judith Reisman has suggested the bishops sue their advisors for malpractice.

"We urge Arlington Catholics to protest to Bishop Loverde about his plan to expose our clergy to Fr. Steve Rosetti and the homosexual propaganda of St. Luke Institute. They are the likely source of the ridiculous statement made recently by our Victim Assistance Coordinator that the sex abuse scandal wasn't about homosexuality, that the abusers weren't homosexual and that ‘children are safer with homosexuals than heterosexuals.’

"I heard that same nonsense spouted by former St. Luke head Fr. Canice Connors when I attended the child abuse seminar back in the 80s. He was introduced by Fr. Rippy and proceeded to tell the hundreds of us gathered in O'Connell High School's Theatre that heterosexuals, not homosexuals, were abusers. I knew at the time he was presenting a false picture -- that the NUMBER of heterosexual abuse cases was greater, but that homosexuals commit a much higher PERCENTAGE of the crimes. In fact, homosexuals commit about 37% of sexual abuse cases while representing only about 2% of the population. So clearly, they are a much greater threat to children. But those meetings offered no opportunity for questions or challenge…."
See here

I was castigated by some for revealing all of this.  Now the truth has finally been revealed.  I won't say I told you so.....ah what the heck - I told you so!


Related reading here.

Let's all give thanks to Our Lady of La Salette

Have you heard the exciting news?  Pope Benedict XVI has named Auxiliary Bishop Peter A. Libasci of Rockville Centre as the 10th Bishop of Manchester.  The appointment was announced on September 19th by Msgr. Jean-Francois Lantheaume, charge d'affaires at the apostolic nunciature in Washington, D.C..  See here.

There are no coincidences in the spiritual life.  I truly believe that.  Which is why I am thanking Our Lady of La Salette for her maternal intercession and the gift of Bishop Libasci to New Hampshire.  Already Bishop Libasci has indicated his desire to listen to the faithful of the Granite State.  This is a far cry from his predecessor, who was overheard screaming at parishioners of St. Patrick's Parish in Jaffrey and who wasn't very pastoral as he transferred abusive priests from parish to parish.

Let us all pray that Bishop Libasci will listen to Our Lady of La Salette: Reconciler of Sinners, and lead the Diocese on the sure road of penance.  Most of us are aware that sin destroys our relationship with God and that it also undermines our relationships with family members, friends and others with whom we come into contact. Reconciliation refers to that precise effect of Christ's redemption of the human race by His sacrificial death on the Cross which restores our relationship with God and breaks down the barriers of sin which prevent us from engaging in authentic relationships with others.


In the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "Conversion is accomplished in daily life by gestures of reconciliation, concern for the poor, the exercise and defense of justice and right, by the admission of faults to one's brethren, fraternal correction, revision of life, examination of conscience, spiritual direction, acceptance of suffering, endurance of persecution for the sake of righteousness. Taking up one's cross each day and following Jesus is the surest way of penance." (1435).

In other words, our transformation in Christ, our daily conversion, is made manifest by such gestures of reconciliation by which we demonstrate our commitment toward the theological virtue of charity "by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God" (CCC, 1822). We are told in Sacred Scripture that a faith without works is dead (James 2:14-19). An authentic reconciliation, therefore, will show itself in a charity which embraces both God and neighbor.

As Jean Jaouen so eloquently puts it, "..Christian compassion cannot be a cerebral, fleshless reality. It is completely impossible for one who loves people coldly to dissociate eternal salvation from the temporal well-being of a human person. A person is a whole. Time is eternity already begun yet still not completely visible. The conflict will be resolved if Christian apostles learn to live with their people while remaining present to the Lady who, with her Son, weeps over both the death of souls and the death of little children. 'Lady of heaven, empress of earth.' Through the Virgin Mediator and Queen, apostles will find a balance between the demands of heaven and those of earth." (Jean Jaouen, m.s., "A Grace Called La Salette: a story for the world," pp. 327-328, grassroots publishing international, Enfield, New Hampshire, English edition 1991).

A balance between the demands of heaven and those of earth. Do we maintain such a balance in our own lives? Or are we so caught up in the affairs of this world that we neglect our personal conversion? It's no secret why there is no real peace in our world. Peace is more than the mere absence of conflict. Peace is the tranquility of order which results from people and other realities being as they ought to be. As Pope Paul VI reminded us in his Christmas message of 1966: "Peace is not a primary good, but a resultant and derivative good that infers and requires a prior good. This prior good is precisely order, justice, the harmony of things."

I know Our Lady of La Salette has a special plan for the 10th Bishop of Manchester.  And I pray she will cover His Excellency with her mantle.







To put it simply: we will never be at peace with others if we are not at peace with ourselves. And how can we be at peace with ourselves unless we are living an authentic prayer life and confessing our sins before the Lord Jesus?

Vatican: Lefebvrites "do not exercise legitimate ministries in the Church."

Neither does the "Saint Benedict Center" in Richmond, New Hampshire. In a letter written by Fr. Edward Arsenault, Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, to Mrs. Terri O'Rorke, Father Arsenault makes this clear:

"I write to you in reply to your letter dated May 24, 2007. I share your concern about the ongoing controversy and difficulties with the Saint Benedict Center. As you know, the Saint Benedict Center has no permission or authority to exercise any Ministry on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church in New Hampshire. Bishop McCormack has and will continue to do all that he can to encourage people to refrain from participating in any of the spiritual exercises at the Saint Benedict Center.

For my part, I will continue to make it clear that Saint Benedict Center has no affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church in any way. Please know that I will continue to pray for you and all those who are affected by difficulties that have been created by the Saint Benedict Center."

Related reading here, here and here.

Saint Benedict Center New Hampshire: Engaging in deception?

"I am not and never have been involved with SBC's 'Catholic America Tour'. That website page is misleading." -Fr. Brian Harrison, O.S., in a comment left at this Blog pertaining to a website page of the SBC cult in Richmond, New Hampshire which listed him as part of its "Catholic" America Tour.

Why would the SBC cult list Fr. Harrison as a participant in its "Catholic" America Tour? According to Fr. Harrison, he is not and never has been involved with that project. And the website page has since been removed. Was this an attempt by SBC cultists to achieve some legitimacy?* Were they intentionally engaging in deception?


* The "Saint Benedict Center" is not a Catholic organization. The following letter written by Fr. Edward Arsenault, Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Manchester to Mrs. Terri O'Rorke, makes that fact abundantly clear:

"I write to you in reply to your letter dated May 24, 2007. I share your concern about the ongoing controversy and difficulties with the Saint Benedict Center. As you know, the Saint Benedict Center has no permission or authority to exercise any Ministry on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church in New Hampshire. Bishop McCormack has and will continue to do all that he can to encourage people to refrain from participating in any of the spiritual exercises at the Saint Benedict Center.

For my part, I will continue to make it clear that Saint Benedict Center has no affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church in any way. Please know that I will continue to pray for you and all those who are affected by difficulties that have been created by the Saint Benedict Center."

Related reading here and here.

Louis Villarrubia, known by his followers as "Brother" Andre Marie, was questioned about the Holocaust. That interview is recounted here.