WSJIt was heartening to read in Monday’s State Journal that the Madison Catholic Multicultural Center is doing so well helping people in need.
The parishioners of Our Lady Queen of Peace deserve much praise for challenging Bishop Robert Morlino’s abrupt and unreasonable closing of such a valuable community asset that serves so many.
I find it disturbing that the bishop was willing to try to find millions of dollars to rebuild an unneeded cathedral and to turn the University of Wisconsin Catholic Center into a super expensive skyscraper.
Why, I keep asking myself, wasn’t he willing to find the dollars to keep the much-needed center open?
— Frank Ryan, Middleton
While we thank the writer of Friday’s letter “Kudos to parish for challenging bishop” for supporting the Catholic Multicultural Center, we must also take a stand in support of our bishop.WisStateJournal
Our Lady Queen of Peace, since its beginning in 1945, has always supported our bishops and the mission of our Diocese.
The center was closed because of a budget crisis in our Diocese, along with layoffs of a number of people working for the Diocese.
Bishop Robert Morlino has been supportive of our efforts as a parish to reopen the center by not only giving his blessing to us to try to reopen it, but by giving us a lease of a diocesan building for $1 a year and pledging $140,000 this year to help in the ministries at the center. We are grateful for his support.
Our motive as a parish was simple: to do what we could to help those most in need in the Madison area. If we challenged anyone it was ourselves and others to “hear the cry of the poor.”
— Msgr. Ken Fiedler, pastor, Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish; and Andy Russell, director, Catholic Multicultural Center
Soooo the diocese of Madison should not have a Cathedral AND the University should be without a Catholic student center.... Maybe the diocese should sell all the artwork in their churches and give the money to the poor. For some reason I think Mr Ryan would be okay with keeping the modern art and selling all the time tested artwork.
11 comments:
People so quickly forget that the very moment it was apparent that the people of the diocese *could* not contribute the necessary funds for the rebuilding of a diocesan Cathedral, the project was set aside in hopes for better times. (Love how the commenter says "unneeded"--as though it were somehow secondary or some kind of original inception, and not the replacing of a building which was destroyed by ARSON, for Pete's sake...)
It should also be noted that there are a few big-bucks alumni (and other) donors in place for the Saint Paul project. Not a penny has been asked for thus far. OF COURSE the Bishop will put his support behind a project that will impact thousands of students *each year*--who need catechesis, access to the Sacraments, a vibrant community, and a place to live and gather, and preferably done so in a building which is safe, efficient, and worthy of it's purpose. The current "building" certainly keeps the rain out (in most places...), but that's about it.
And most definitely do we hear from our dear Bishop--regularly--about the importance of charity works, both corporal and spiritual, of mercy. The disheartening thing here, really, is not what this person assumes is on the Bishop's heart and in his mind, but what he clearly lacks in information gathering abilities. All of Bishop Morlino's homilies (and many talks outside of Mass) are available to listen to online, and anyone wondering about the possible funding of St. Paul can easily contact the good priests there. These things are not secret.
As for the entire (non)issue surround the Multicultural Center, especially St. Martin House, where the meals are prepared and served, I wonder just how many hours, non-perishable food items, or dollars this person has contributed? You don't have to be wealthy, even by third-world standards, in order to give from the heart.
Huh?
I'm lost here.
Must be a "Madisonkindathing":-)!
God help and keep good Bishop Morlino; Mary intercede for him!
Well yeah.....it kindaisamadisonkindathing--especially considering that many of us refer to it as the "People's Republic of Madison." All the Saints and Angels need to intercede for our dear Bishop (and our holy priests, too!), as he's under attack from a tremendous myriad of angles in a far-less-than-fair city.
laurazim: Prayers...many prayers...really.
This poor Bishop is under attack, no doubt about it.
Wisconsin is a "queer" kindathing (no pun intended!)...I'm an Illinois native; God called me here; no idea why...but, Jesus, mercy!
”I’m an Illinois native…”
“And Nathaniel said to him ‘Can any good thing come from Illinois, er, Nazareth…?’”
Contrary to the general impression in Cheese country, yes, actually. As in: Archbishop Listecki, Bishop Callahan and your good self, Father!
……….:)
Bishop Morlino is perhaps the sole reason I no longer respect the Catholic Church. I attend UW Madison and was a parishioner/school child of Q.P.since I was six years old. I broke away from the Church for personal reasons, but I always loved Fr. Ken. His homilies, services, and general attitudes have always been filled with messages of love for one another, whereas Bishop Morlino's have been filled with condemnation for those who do not fit the conformity of the Church. My worst memory of him is when he made each Church play a 10 minute recording of his personal views on how one should vote in the upcoming election. This must have happened around 5 years ago, as it occurred while I was taking my classes to get confirmed. At Queen of Peace, there were a select minority of people that decided to take a stand against him, and when it was announced that the recording would be played, they either left the Church or stood with their backs faced to the alter. I can only hope that other people made similar stands at other Churches around the dioceses.
Although I am no more qualified than any of you to answer this question, my opinion is that the Center is much more important that renovating a Church. Although renovations would be welcome there, I am sure, it is not a burned out shell with only a roof like the above author stated. The statement that the "Church would impact many students *each year*" is false. It's not like its this Church or nothing. There are other Churches in the area and there are many Bible Study/Catholic groups for any students here that want them. It would be much better to spend this money on those that truly, for whatever reason, do not have another option. I believe the Center benefits those who truly need it because they cannot provide for themselves.
I guess I've been rambling a little bit, but my point is this; although I no longer consider myself an active member of the Catholic Church, my respect for the Church as a whole has continually diminished due to power-addicted people like Bishop Morlino. The only light I still see in the Catholic Church is Our Lady Queen of Peace and Fr. Ken, and I still so fondly remember him that I decided to google his name, which lead me here.
Anon, I think that is slightly untrue since really you no longer respect the Church because you no longer respect the teachings of the Church. Bishop Morlino must do what he thinks is right, but his goal isn't to make people happy, it's to do the right thing. The fact that 25 preborn children are aborted every day in WI motivates Morlino to inform Catholics they cannot be both for abortion and Catholic, just as a person cannot be racist and be a Catholic.
The student population in 2008 at UW was 42,000 students.... It seems clear to me that no parish could handle these kinds of numbers.
I would think that Fr. Ken's support for Bishop Morlino would at least allow you to respect the bishop, even if you don't agree with his methods.
Badger Catholic- First of all, I do not believe that neither Father Ken nor the majority of the queen of peace congregation support the choices of the bishop. I believe Father Ken must have the illusion of support to insure a peaceful dioceses and to not come under further scrutiny by Bishop Morlino.I have formed these beliefs from the many things I have heard Father Ken say as well as from what people close to Father Ken have said. I do not believe it is any little secret about what the Queen of Peace congregation as a whole, specifically Father Ken, thought about what I consider the most flagrant violation by the bishop, the playing of his recording.
You are true in saying the student population is 42,000, and not, quite obviously no parish could support that many students. But obviously you are not short-sighted enough to believe that there are that many Catholic students that regularly attend mass. From my personal experience of living on campus, I can say that within my dorm of all the people I know about 2% of them attend mass on a regular basis (four of the 6 I know are from the same hometown, are extremely traditional in their beliefs, and go to a parish that is 30 minutes away). Now I know the fanatic side of you will simply refuse to believe these numbers, or believe that I am misreporting them, or say that I just am not around religious students. But even if I am wrong, I can personally guarantee that a MAXIMUM of 10% of the UW student body attends Church on a regular basis. And the parishes downtown certainly have enough capacity for 4200 students. My point of the Church Renovation was this; why spend your surplus budget on (not unwelcome but) unneeded Church renovations when it is obvious that the money could be put to a better use?
The recording he played, as you may or may not know, told his personal beliefs on stem cell research, the death penalty, and a proposition allowing same-sex partners to be covered under one another's insurance policies. And I agree with you, Bishop Morlino must do what he thinks is right, and I'm sure he does a lot of good trying to teach people that abortion is wrong. And although I disagree with his beliefs on abortion, that wasn't what I had a problem with. It was his statements on homosexuality that really bothered me. Now I have never had a problems with gay people. Although it is a lifestyle that I would never engage in nor particularly care to observe, I believe that every person has a right to live their life as they see fit as long as it's legal, and there are many different lifestyles that make me feel that way (Evangelicals and Extremely Orthodox Catholics to name two that I'm sure you will be bothered with). Even though I don't agree, even the Church states that being homosexual isn't a sin, it is acting on homosexual desires that is the sin. When Bishop Morlino spoke in his recording, it was with disdain of the homosexual community. You previously said a person cannot be racist and be a Catholic. This was clearly not the case even as recent as 50 years ago, and a believe being racist is just as bad as being homophobic and treating the gay community with hate and disgust, like so many members of all Christian religions do today.
I have absolutely no idea what you are trying to say in your first sentence, but I have to end my arguments with something like this: it is completely possible to respect an institution without respecting or agreeing with what it teaches. I disagree with what Hindus believe, but I have respect for their institution as a whole. Similarly, I do not believe major parts of Catholic teachings but I agreed with their message of peace, forgiveness, and unity as a whole. It is people like Bishop Morlino, whose teachings not of acceptance but of disdain and disgust make me lose my respect for the Church. Bishop Morlino must do what he thinks is right, but when that is he message I must follow my conscious and no longer give me respect for an organization that he is a part of.
Bishop Morlino is trash.
ZZzzzzzzzzzzzz
LOL. Where DO you get these people, Matt?
I like Anon #1. He has some math issues, so clearly his time at UW didn't really help much. Even if 2% of his dorm (and let's assume it's representative of the whole) went regularly to Mass, that's still 840 students of the general population (42,000) going regularly. That's a fairly significant number if you consider that, according to studies, only a quarter of Catholics attend Mass regularly. Many, many of the parishes in the diocese have fewer people in them.
Why, oh, why, if these people hate the Church so much, do they bother to spend their time reading blogs about her and spewing out their ill-informed vitriol on her? Perhaps their conscience is trying to say something to them...
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