is the title of this piece in NCR.I'm not a parishioner there, and don't know any of the principals involved. I do know of St. Joe's reputation as a peace and justice church--people speak reverently of that dynamic and committed community. Especially sad in this light is the apparent marginalization of the Latino members of the congregation (or at least of the Latino organizations within the congregation, which may not be the same thing.)To be fair--it's hard to be the new pastor when a loved pastor emeritus is still around. In some churches, pastors are required to leave the community when a successor arrives, in order to prevent factions from forming, etc. Clearly a conflict of pastoral approaches is partly the issue here. However, it's also hard to see how summarily evicting a 75-year old man from the rectory is a healing move. Moreover, it strains credibility that the allegations of sacramental malfeasance against him are as grave as they are said to be--the man had been ministering there for 30 years. Surely if he was running roughshod over the sacraments, it wouldn't take 30 years to have problems come to light. And I cannot imagine that Bishop Cordileone means to impugn the governance of his predecessor, Alan Vigneron, now Archbishop of Detroit, in this regard...I anticipate many of the current members of St. Joe's will vote with their feet, alas. The pastor's hardball ecclesiastical tactics might win the battle--clearly already have. What a sad day when the police are called to empty a church! I am sorry for the damage done to a real landmark of social justice on the local scene.

Lisa Fullam is professor of moral theology at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. She is the author of The Virtue of Humility: A Thomistic Apologetic (Edwin Mellen Press).

Also by this author
© 2024 Commonweal Magazine. All rights reserved. Design by Point Five. Site by Deck Fifty.