The gift that keeps on giving. So the question is, does Abp. Weakland still live in Milwaukee? I thought he was living in New Jersey in a monastery there. Maybe that was to write his new book A Pilgrim in a Pilgrims Church and get good press. Wikipedia says: The "disgraced" Weakland continues to reside in Milwaukee and his living expenses continue to be covered by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
Okay, I found an article that says:
Archbishop Weakland said he had been told that the school was in the middle of a fund-raising campaign and that there was concern from lay people on its board about his retiring at the abbey.Ya think?
I see Fr. Ken Knippel, also signed right next to his. Have fun with that Brookfield.
UPDATE: ALL of the other signatures are priests of the Milwaukee Archdiocese.
29 comments:
I don't know if you are aware or not, being from LaCrosse, but EVERY person on this sheet is a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
LOL, nope didn't realize the all were. Maybe at a MAPA meeting then?
Sigh.
I'm not defending Weakland, but who cares if the other priests signed the recall?
Well there is the whole protecting human life thing and we have a governor who will do that. Recalling him would leave us with a gov who clearly won't do that. I would hope this trumps public employee collective bargaining privileges for any priest.
Then there is the fact that these were probably signed at the same event implying Weakland still associates with and perhaps influences this group. Maybe a leap...maybe not.
Archbishop Weakland is on the board of directors for the Wisconsin Catholic Conference (who remained neutral on a birth control/abortion pill mandate mandate in 2007).
http://www.wisconsincatholic.org/board_of_directors.cfm
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/no_opposition_from_wisconsin_catholic_conference_re_emergency_contraception_bill/
Be glad Obama attacks the Church at a time when the episcopacy has been recovered.
And your point is?
Bishops and priest should not support the efforts of abortionists.
Speaking of recalls... remember when you had to turn on comment moderation? The good old days.
That is, I think, quite an oversimplification. The reasons why clergy might sign the above recall petition are undoubtedly theologically and morally nuanced. I don't live in Wisconsin, but it is, from a Catholic perspective, quite troubling to have the governor limit union activity in the way that he is. The efforts of those behind the petition cannot be simplified as being the efforts of "abortionists." That really is an incredible oversimplification.
On another note, I find the manner of this blog post problematic because of the way you characterize Archbishop Weakland. I certainly don't approve of the actions that led to his resignation, but there's a level of condescension exhibited here that is disrespectful.
Might you not possibly consider that, when an ex-bishop and a bunch of priests are signing the above petition, it is you who are actually on the fringes of the church?
You're right. I'll delete my blog now. Thank you for clearing that up for me. Obviously us simpletons up here with our cows, guns and tractors shouldn't really be permitted to write publicly. Seamless garment, I forgot about that.
Wikipedia called the archbishop "disgraced" not I.
Posting a persons political convictions isn't "disrespectful." We have a right to know how the money we give to dioceses in this state is spent.
Hey, I live among cows, guns, and tractors in Kentucky :). And I'm more than interested in reading the perspectives of peers, even when I may disagree.
I simply wanted to point out, respectfully, that the way you characterize Archbishop Weakland's signature on the petition is both, in my humble opinion, overly simplistic and somewhat disrespectful. It may have been Wikipedia that called him disgraced, it was you who copied it.
Virginia, I too as a blogger am headstrong, but I do not know you nearly well enough to call you any kind of name. I thought I was simply, and respectfully, pointing out what I thought were some problems with the post, and to suggest that much of the church, including those in the clergy, do not view issues as black and white as is articulated on this blog. I certainly didn't want to cause offense. I was more interested in dialogue. But it does not appear that you are.
I am, like you, a Catholic. So we are bound by the Spirit given in baptism and in and through the body of Christ given to us in the Eucharist. I trust you don't mind being united to, in your words, an 'ass'.
I'm glad you can enjoy the fresh air then. :)
Folks have been calling the pro-life movement overly simplistic for some time. This comes back to Cardinal Bernardin's "seamless garment" argument. That is not Church teaching. Even if Democrats in this state are 100% right about the union negotiations, Catholics in good faith cannot vote for them.
Archbishop spent a half million dollars of diocesan funds to shut up a male ex-lover. He also shuffled around pedophile priests. He defied Pope John Paul II on a number of occasions. His record shows he made poor choices. What other word should be used to describe his legacy?
Calling the former Archbishop a "disgrace" is about the nicest thing that can be said about him. "Pathetic and possibly criminal", thats getting closer. Bankrupted the diocese, protected pedophiles...yeah, I can think of much harsher words as can most people. He may have been an Archbishop but its clear now he should have never been one. He has not earned and does not deserve my respect.
"Theologically and morally nuanced" decisions from petition signers....spare me. I think their decisions went more like this, "we're lefty priests and and he's a solid conservative, where do I sign?"
If you grew up in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee I think it would be fair to shout DISGRACE from every roof top! He will be accountable for all the disGRACEful things he did including being responsible for the mislead flock he was to shepard. And then there is the Cathedral I it could use a match or at least some spray paint over that portrait for starters!!!
Caritas in Veritate
Greg,
If you were FROM Wisconsin and were defending Archbishop Weakland I would say you deserve at least a good nooggy.
Since you're from Kentucky I can understand that you may not be aware of the backstory of Weakland as well as someone who gets exposed to news outlets such as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Weakland reminds me of Gollum in Lord of the Rings. To do what he did, then he resigns and now we get to watch Cardinal Dolan and Archbishop Listecki take the heat from SNAP, all the while Weakland gets lauds and honors from the "progressive Catholics". If you want to know what it means to hunger and thirst for justice Weakland's story will give it to you.
I sincerely hope he makes a sincere and contrite repentence before he dies because Satan is cooking up a very special spot for Weakland if he doesn't repent.
Kudos to Greg for taking the high road. No matter what you think of Weakland or the recall, as Christians we should at the very least be charitable toward one another.
I certainly appreciate the frustration expressed in the comments regarding Archbishop Weakland's actions, and I absolutely don't condone what he did. But I know that I am myself quite imperfect. My sins are not as openly public as were Archbishop Weakland, nor am I someone with a public persona. But I do sin. As such, as a fallible person, I simply cannot view Archbishop Weakland with anything but sympathy and empathy. What he did was abhorrent, particularly in terms of the misuse of finances. But I've no doubt that God's mercy is greater than his sin, and I've no doubt that God's selfless love extends to him and to all. Moreover, while Weakland is often picked on by a certain facet of the American Catholic population (rightly or wrongly, I won't say), I don't think that the ideas he put forward when he was Archbishop, particularly in terms of peace and the economy, can be dismissed simply because of his moral failings. I guess that's all I really wanted to put forward.
That said, I'll submit to the nooggy if I have to :).
We all sin, and the Church is full of forgiveness, but here's my long-standing question about the ex-Archbishop... If you don't walk-the-Catholic-walk or talk-the-Catholic-talk, are you really a Catholic? I think not; the old feller is a Protestant with a Catholic hat.
I have found many other Clergy of Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist and Jewish faiths that have signed the Scott Walker petition. While they have a right to do so but as men and women of the cloth that is irresponsible and they should be ashamed. They are not practicing the Golden Rule as they preach to others.
It is very disturbing that Catholic priests would support the recall of Governor Walker--the Catholic archdiocese has a school system of their own in Milwaukee. Support the worker? What about their own workers?
They do not pay their own teachers even close to the amount that public school teachers get or give them the same fantastic benefits that the teachers union helped provide to their members. How hypocritical is that?
I hope the parishoners in Brookfield see what their pastor is up to--shocking.
It is reported that former Archbishop Rembert Weakland celebrated Easter Mass at the Cathedral in Milwaukee. This is reported on the Mark Belling Show & WTMJ 4(the video has since been removed. The link can be found on Google.).
This is a man that is celebrating a Mass on the Holiest Day in Christianity, in the center of the Archdiocese he has bankrupted, protected pedophile priests
(http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/78431087.html),
paid $450,000 of diocesan funds to a former lover to prevent a lawsuit (http://web.archive.org/web/20070311034132/http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=47750)
The temerity is beyond the pale.
Good for Archbishop Weakland and the priests who signed the recall petition for supporting the Church's stand on social justice and the right of workers to organize -- just like Pope John Paul II supported the trade union movement called Solidarity in his native Poland. Pope John Paul and those trade unionists were the real heroes in the downfall of atheistic communism not Republican president Ronald Reagan. In fact, all the Reagan administration offered to Solidarity was guns, not money for printing presses as they requested. It was the AFL-CIO in this country who came to the aid of Solidarity. Scott Walker and the Republican party want to destroy all union activity in this country as well as our democracy in order to estbalish an oligarchy and turn this country into one big plantation. After the downfall of Communism Pope John Paul cautioned his countrymen about Capitalism (that unbridled capitalism is no better than the communism that had kept them enslaved for so many years.
And what about corrupt unions who push abortion and contraception into the classrooms? Because Pope JP II talked about them as well. Or corrupt unions who seek to selfishly bankrupt a state like good capitalists? Unfortunately, WEAC and other corrupt unions in the state have given us no choice but to support the pro social justice Scott Walker. Once the corruption ends in Wisconsin unions, we can start supporting them again.
Weakland is a Pedophile who should be in Prison. He should be charged with covering up sexaul abuse of minors and of not reporting it to authorities. He should be sent to prison just like any other criminal for his crimes. This just shows the hypocrisy of people like him Signing the petition to recall a pro-life Governor in favor of a Pro-Abortion candidate shows how truly ignorant and out touch this man is. He is an abomination.
Look for some before and after pictures of the Cathedral. Our Cathedral was once so beautiful. Weakland ignored pleas from Catholics in Milwaukee, the local faithful appealed to Rome, the Vatican heard them and responded and Weakland ignored even them. The wishes of both the laity and the hierarchy fell upon deaf ears.
Just noticed that our pastor Fr. Tony Zimmer at St. Anthony On The Lake in Pewaukee has signed the recall petition as well. Looks like he and Fr. Ken Knippel were hanging our with Weakland ????
I don't know what the deal is with Waukesha county, it seems like that is where they send most of the democratic activist priests. Which is fine to an extent, people should have their political beliefs challenged, religion isn't there to be a lackey to this or that political party but then again I can't imagine they'd ever send a 'secure the borders' priest to a heavily Hispanic church. The thing is the Evangelical/Nondenominational churches in that area are full of former Catholics. People who were victims of the sudden changes in the church in the 1960s or the post Vatican II melt-down of religious education People who are solid on the pro-life, pro-marriage stuff and with a great interest in prayer and scripture, people who could see the increasingly militant secularism of liberal activists and the democratic party and were ready to stand strong for the natural law and boldly affirm love for Christ but Sunday after Sunday at Mass ended up getting scolding homilies about gender neutral language, affirmative action, white-guilt, global warming, nuclear treaties, and the Ted Kennedy-esque notion that being a faithful Catholic means hastening the arrival of a cradle to grave welfare state. Then their friends from the mega-church would say, "oh on Sunday our pastor preached about the Resurrection from the Gospel of John and tied it into a lot of the moral decline in society lately and how we as Christians have to stand against it!"
People voted with their feat.
It is an interesting thing that in very liberal areas (think down-town Madison) there tend to be quite a few conservative parishes, like rocks standing against the storm. Then in the broadly "red" areas, the "conservatives" have seen a large percentage of their numbers driven out and those parishes really do become 'the democratic party at prayer.'
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