The altar is burned literally, the congregation is burned figuratively and the priest's priesthood is burned literally and figuratively; he will not ever return to priestly ministry. But the damage goes on unabated. Only by the grace of God does the Church remain holy. Can we say that all the things that afflict priests and the priesthood and the damage done to children by a small minority is worse than what happened on this altar (or is it) be attributed to the "world, the flesh and the devil?"
Archbishop Aymond reconsecrates church, altar; calls priest’s acts ‘demonic’
- Christine Bordelon Oct 13, 2020
New Orleans Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond uses incense to reconsecrate Sts. Peter and Paul Church and the church's altar in Pearl River, La., Oct. 10, 2020. (Credit: Christine Bordelon/Clarion Herald via CNS.)
PEARL RIVER, Louisiana — In an act of solidarity with the 350 parishioners of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Pearl River, a visibly upset New Orleans Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond celebrated Mass Oct. 10 for a second consecutive week for the parish and reconsecrated its church and its new altar.
The parish had learned a week before that its 13th pastor appointed in July 2019, Father Travis Clark, was arrested Sept. 30 for alleged obscenity with two women in their church.
Before he began celebrating Mass, Aymond reiterated to those present his shock and anger over what happened — calling Clark’s behavior inside the church obscene. He said he knew the Sts. Peter and Paul parishioners were shocked and angry, too.
“The desecration of this church and altar is demonic, demonic,” he said. “Let me be clear, there is no excuse for what took place here. It is sinful, and it is totally unacceptable. Travis has been unfaithful to his vocation; he’s violated his commitment to celibacy; and also, he was using that which was holy to do demonic things. He will not be able to serve in priestly ministry, and he will not be able to serve as a priest anytime in the future.”
Aymond encouraged parishioners to move forward and said God will move forward with them. He asked them not to judge the church or priesthood by the actions of a few priests.
“Let us continue to focus on the Lord Jesus and his mission and ministry here,” he said, and then introduced them to Spiritan Father Carol Schirima, who was in residence at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Slidell, Louisiana, as the new shepherd and administrator of the parish.
Just the week before on Oct. 3, Aymond celebrated Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul and heard the feelings of disappointment, anger and surprise from parishioners who never expected their pastor — whom several said was personable and involved in the church — would let them down as he did.
“I came last week and asked for God’s spirit to be in all the parishioners and in this place of worship, the church,” Aymond said. “However, after hearing the details about what had happened, it was clear that there was desecration. In that case, the church requires that we consecrate the church and the altar.”
Clark, 37, was booked Oct. 1 on obscenity charges, and the archdiocese removed him as pastor the same day. He is accused of engaging in sex acts with two women on a church altar, which is “clearly visible from the street,” the police report said. The two women, identified as Melissa Cheng, 23, and Mindy Dixon, 41,were booked on the same count as the priest.
Also on Oct. 1, Father Patrick Wattigny, 52, disclosed his sexual abuse of a minor in 2013. The New Orleans Archdiocese immediately removed him as pastor of St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church in Slidell. Archdiocesan officials said law enforcement had been notified and the priest’s name will be added to the archdiocese’s clergy abuse report.
The previous wooden altar at of Sts. Peter and Paul Church was removed and burned Oct. 9 and replaced with a wooden altar from St. Francis de Sales Church in New Orleans, which closed in 2008.
At the Oct. 10 Mass, Aymond blessed the people and the church with holy water. He used chrism oil and incense to bless the new altar and place a relic of Sts. Peter and Paul inside the altar, representing the risen Christ in our midst.
“The church is a very holy place and when a church has been used for unholy things and has been desecrated, we must drive away the evil spirit … and doing so we reconsecrate it to Christ,” Aymond said.
Reconsecrating a church and altar signifies that the church and altar are set apart from any other building.
“It means the altar is not to be used for anything other than the worship of God,” said Betty-Ann Hickey, associate director of the archdiocesan Office of Worship. “It is really a sanctifying and setting apart, and means it is only for sacred use.”
Parishioners were thankful that Aymond came to be with them during this trying time at Sts. Peter and Paul Church.
Cathy Downey, whose late husband, Pat, was a deacon, has been in the parish just shy of its founding 50 years ago. She said Sts. Peter and Paul parishioners are devoted to Jesus and are close-knit. In fact, the same night as the consecration, Downey was helping out with the parish’s 50th-year celebration, which had been delayed because of COVID-19.
“It’s like a church family,” Downey told the Clarion Herald, newspaper of the New Orleans Archdiocese. “The parish is really upset, but this event shows how the parish comes together. We are not going to let the devil take over. With Archbishop Aymond here and consecrating a new altar, we feel like the church is backing us up.”
Bonnie Milczarek, parish secretary and a 40-year parishioner, also expressed their distress.
“We’re glad that Archbishop Aymond came here,” Milczarek said. “He’s not only blessing us but ministering to us and our community. … The biggest thing is to have a new consecrated altar. … The people will see that it is holy.”
Aymond acknowledged that it’s tough to be a Catholic today in the Archdiocese of New Orleans but said Catholics should remain steadfast in their belief in the church. There is a strong fraternity of good priests in the archdiocese who are equally upset and embarrassed as he is by recent events. He plans to meet with them in a few days to discuss what has happened.
“2020 has been a terrible year,” Aymond said. “We have COVID, the reorganization of the diocese, financial challenges and now two priests who have been removed from the priesthood.
“I will discuss these things and others with the priests to be able to be in solidarity with their feeling of betrayal and to strive to move forward as we try to continue the ministry of Christ.,” he continued. “We will pray together and renew the promises of ordination for two reasons — it is appropriate, and secondly, we were not able to do it at the chrism Mass because of COVID.”
Bordelon is associate editor of the Clarion Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
16 comments:
"Can we say that all the things that afflict priests and the priesthood and the damage done to children by a small minority is worse than what happened on this altar (or is it) be attributed to the "world, the flesh and the devil?"
Yes. The damage done to the altar is wiped out be the removal and destruction thereof. The damage done to a child in sexual abuse lives on as long as that person live. Yes, it is far, far worse.
The good archbishop does not help the cause of holiness by concluding that the actions of the desecrators were "demonic.". While satan is surely behind all sins, to jump to the "demonic" conclusion seems unwarranted.
I am glad the bishop got rid of the priest, stripped him of his faculties and burned the altar. But did he also re-consecrate the church building?
I was listening to a podcast about this the other day. If this had taken place in the Middle Ages, the priest probably would have gotten the death penalty.
Works for me.
I think the Archbishop did the whole ceremony including anointing the walls of the church again.
“Only by the grace of God does the Church remain holy.”
Yes, and the hard, dedicated work of faithful believers.
Just a question to Anon 9:07–So, what would you consider to be a demonic act if not this episode?
Citizen, I had the same question. If it were covered by insurance, I'd tear the church down or at least gut it and start anew. That kind of damage inflicted on a child, an adult or a sacred building and its altar and in front of the tabernacle I presume, begs God's justice, a severe penance and if the Church and state were still one entity, a long prison sentence.
We have lost the sense of grave evil that destroys lives and destroys faith as it destroys the Sacred. There is a name for it and it is demonic.
1)” he will not be able to serve as a priest anytime in the future.” My question: why did the bishop include those last three words “in the future.” The statement should have ended with “anytime.”
2) one wonders if the Bishop should have closed the parish church for a while, so that it could be reopened again as a new parish church. The logic comes from the merger of two churches where they both must close so that it might reopen as a new church.
anonymous #3
I suspect that with the Church's track record of putting priests into a year long rehabilitation program and then returning him to ministry, the archbishop wished to exclude that possibility. I presume he will be laicized.
“We have lost the sense of grave evil that destroys lives and destroys faith as it destroys the Sacred. There is a name for it and it is demonic.”
Yes, Father, indeed so. And our Church, as well as society at large, suffers the creeping consequences. St. Michael the Archangel defend us in battle...
That is a small altar.
Hey, Anonymous 2, here's something demonic coming from one of YOUR party's standardbearers:
Sen. Mazie Hirono asks ACB "since you became a legal adult, have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature?"
I guess she's confusing Amy Coney Barrett with Horndog Clintoon.
Sophia here: Anonymous @ 9:07 AM. By its very nature it was demonic, but if you need additional proof, it was also officially characterized as such in an updated article in CNA.
"One of the women with whom Clark made the pornographic film refers to herself as a 'Satanatrix,' and the 'proprietress of the Church of Satanatrix,' who posted on social media Sept. 29 that she would be traveling with another woman to 'defile a house of God.' ”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/louisiana-church-reconsecrated-after-demonic-desecration-details-about-fr-travis-clark-emerge-81031?utm_campaign=CNA%20Daily&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=97270230&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-862xF_gFyv6m-aoz2k-X-xA1j3CmgqUZGD-tARZiLH35JHftVabrbvi8XZjKPJlmpDrhHDDvTskN_Mw2UYG8yeWBZXUg&utm_content=97270230&utm_source=hs_email
Yet another sad story of a Bishop covering up the worst....when does it end
The horrifying part of this story is that according to the new ethos this priest did nothing wrong. According to secular theology you are the one to be reprimanded for complaining about this priests perfectly normal and acceptable display of who he is. At least that is what I was taught in sensitivity training.
anonymous#52
Exactly, A#52! As Senator Mazie Herero, high priestess of her own "truth," said, your sexual orientation isn't a preference, it is who you are and you have rights to express it. I wonder if this priest and his porn sadistic-masochistic female partners will not sue the Church for interfering in their god-given orientation and free expression of who they are. You can't make this stuff up!
Remember folks pedophilia is the next push in the courts. It all started with Griswold in 1965. Besides the year of my birth why other great apostasy happened that year.
Please Lord stop holding back our well deserved chastisement.
As for the demonic priest just looking at his picture he looks like a demon with horns protruding from his forehead.
Father god to see who bring this up after 2 weeks.
Remember the incident in Cologne cathedral on Christmas Day 2013? A topless student, Josephine Witt, leapt onto the altar at the start of Mass, with 'I am God' painted on her chest and shouting feminist slogans. She was overpowered by cathedral personnel and dragged out. One member of the congregation left his place to cuff her round the ear.
Cardinal Meisner, who was also celebrating his 80th birthday, was unfazed; he simply blessed the altar with holy water and continued with the Mass. At the final blessing he asked the congregation to pray especially for the young woman who was in need of blessing and prayers. The reaction from 'liberal' quarters was interesting.
1. Although Witt's actions were disrespectful, she was right to draw attention to the misogyny of the Catholic Church in general and Cardinal Meisner in particular.
2. The way she was manhandled out of the cathedral was disrespectful to her and amounted to assault.
3. The Cardinal's remarks implied that Witt was mentally ill and were therefore 'provocative'.
Witt was fined 1200 euros, reduced by half on appeal. Less than two years earlier members of a feminist punk band called Pussy Riot attempted to pull off a stunt in a Moscow cathedral. They found themselves behind bars, in the case of two of them for 21 months.
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