It sounds like they are trying hard to please everyone instead of preaching the Gospel - or at least have it confused. Also, I noticed a poll on there supporting the church or the Vatican. So far support for the church is ahead on it. I like the way the bishop worded the letter is it the Church to shut them down or will they separate themselves from the Church.

...The church - where women can preach, homosexual couples can be blessed and social justice is championed - has a congregation of about 700 that would be the envy of many parishes.

About 300 church members at Sunday morning's Mass listened stunned as Fr Kennedy read out excerpts from Archbishop Bathersby's ultimatum.

"The question for me," the Archbishop wrote, "is not so much whether St Mary's should be closed down, but whether St Mary's will close itself down by practices that separate it from communion with the Roman Catholic Church."

He cited a number of issues including allegedly unorthodox masses being practised and the hierarchical authority of the Church not being respected.

If the church were forced to close by the Brisbane Archdiocese it would be a first for the Catholic Church in Australia.

"In reality St Mary's South Brisbane has taken a Roman Catholic parish and established its own brand of religion," he said. "Undoubtedly it does good, it promotes a strong sense of community, opens its doors to all who wish to come, but its own style of worship and sacramental practice can hardly be described as Roman Catholic."

In 2004 St Mary's incurred the Archbishop's ire after a disaffected person reported baptismal liturgies were being changed slightly.

The Archbishop's intervention this time was sparked by complaints made directly to The Vatican by a conservative parishioner who raised several issues, including the Buddhist monk statue.

The little figure - which has since been stolen from the church and smashed - was provided for a Buddhist meditation group which meets weekly in St Mary's...

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24233391-952,00.html

Interesting that the photo of the pastor there , allegedly reading the letter to his congregation shows a man , casually dressed captioned



Surely , if he weren't actually celebrating Mass he would be in clerical attire if reading something as important as that letter .


hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

And having read the PDF copy of the Archbishop's letter there are many areas of concern there.

I'm confused...same sex relationships being blessed, making changes in the Baptismal service, lay persons preaching...but it wasn't until the placed a statue that looked Bhuddist that the hierachry drew a line?

David it looks like that until you read the Archbishop's letter .

It seems there have been many problems

So the Archbishop of Brisbane has written in his letter. I could not agree more. Now will someone please tell the same thing to the Latin hierarchy in India? A Father Amalorpavadass somehow became the liturgical dictator there (cf. The Paganization of the Church in India and became notorious for installing various non-Christian symbols in Catholic Churches, particularly in his chapel for the national "liturgical center". Catholic protests were of no effect, but finally the Hindus took him to court - and won - on the ground that he was profaning their sacred symbols!

Another such character who is unfortunately a Catholic priest in India does semi-nude ritual dances, regularly and in public, as part of what he alleges to be Catholic worship (this has no precedent in any Catholic worship with which I am familiar). Still another openly worships "Ganapathi", a bizarre "deity" which seems to consist of a hybrid between an elephant and a human being (so such creature exists, of course, but that does not prevent this "priest" from worshiping him, her, or it).

Amalorpavadass (the Indian liturgical guru) was able to act with impunity, at least partly because his brother was a Cardinal at the Roman Curia (he, unlike Amalor, was still alive when last I looked), who himself displayed in his office one or more Hindu "deities", and actually had the nerve to invite people to come and join him in celebrating some Hindu "feast of light".

Words are too weak.

Fr. Serge

IT seems the Catholic CHurch, and mny other Churhces, need to take stock. THe reaos for the decline of Christendom in Europe and most of theowlrd is because of this sort of behaviour, which negates the Gospel and makes the Curhc useless. The reason Evangelical Chruhces flourish is te oposite of this, because they teach only their doctirne. As error filled as it is, they stand by what they teahc, and their conviction wns coverts.

We shoudl be midnful fo this lesson, and the Cahtolic Churhc shoudl take it to heart.

I guess this all goes to Pope Benedicts vision of a smaller, but more faithful Church. Scripture speaks of times when men will do what ever tickles there fancy and makes them feel good (so called).
It is truly a sad state of affairs when man is putting their own - in place of God.

Fr Kennedy's age gives away who this stuff appeals to: people who grew up when churchgoing was expected/required and are still nominally RC for ethnic/sentimental reasons but are going with the liberal-Protestant flow, an anachronism really: the old Protestant denominations had clout when they were kids. (Younger people who lose their faith like this just stop going.) They're taking much of the wrong teaching they've been hearing for 40 years to a logical conclusion.

Pani,

For some reason I can't get the link to work. Others have apparently reached this article. Is there another link?

CDL