Guess which schismatic Polish priest, formerly of Springfield, Missouri, now living in St. Louis, was one of several people profiled in this week’s USA Weekend magazine regarding his encounter with Pope John Paul II?
The Rev. Marek B. Bozek, 31, a Catholic priest in Springfield, Mo., grew up in Communist Poland and met the pope several times, most recently on Jan. 6.
I was 9 years old when I saw and heard John Paul II in person, during a visit to Poland. I was a small child, excitedly following with my eyes the tiny white figure on a distant stage, hearing words that were officially forbidden. The crowd was chanting “Solidarity,” right after “Long live the pope.” With every fiber of my being, I somehow knew I was a part of something bigger, and everybody around me realized as well that with this man in white, we are a force that nothing can stop.
In early June of 1991, after the Solidarity movement was victorious, I met the pope for the first time face-to-face when I was 17. He visited my hometown. I was an altar boy during the papal Mass. He spoke about the link between freedom and truthfulness. He encouraged us to remain true to our faith. I knew then, to be a truly free person, I had to serve others as a priest.
A few years later, already as a seminarian preparing for the priesthood, I visited Rome in July 1995. Our group was invited then to join the Holy Father. As he was greeting each one of us, he exchanged a few words with each seminarian. I told him I was from the town of Olsztyn, and he said, “Oh, I was there just four years ago!” I answered, “Yes, Holy Father, and this is why I am here today as a seminarian.”
Nothing necessarily nefarious in that, but it just seems odd that of all the Polish priests in the US, USA Weekend found Bozek to interview. I’m sure that the lead time on this article was such that Bozek was interviewed before he jumped ship in Springfield (otherwise his bio would say something different), so it’s not his newfound notoriety. Just odd.
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Fr. Hardon, in a talk on “Humility and Obedience in the Priest” provided some remarkable insight on this:
“Most of the chaos in the Catholic Church today is due to the pride of priests. What adds to the gravity of the situation is that the media give priests so much occasion for publicity and such opportunities for recognition, especially if they have strange ideas, that unless priests are extremely careful, their vanity and desire for praise will be exploited by the enemies of the Church to the detriment of the people of God.
The media and others, even many professed Catholics, are more than willing to confirm them in their flagrant disobedience and elevate the renegades to the status of martyrs.
There is nothing odd about this. The “Voice of the Faithful “TM, “Call for Action”, et al are in the sack with our corrupt secular media. They were simply talking in their sleep.
I’d love to see a flow chart of these news stories showing us who knows whom in the business.
You know…? I noticed that but I thought maybe it was a differnt Bozek. Very odd, this.
lrslattery,
Is a “professed catholic” obligated to be obedient to a Bishop? What if the Bishop is picking your pocket? Am I obliged to say “thank you, your excellency, please rob me again”?
JBP
We are obligated to believe Church dogma (defined doctrine). We are obliged to obey The Commandments as they are defined by The Church ie: honoring the Sabbath by attending Holy Mass and Thous Shalt Not Kill includes murder in the womb. In other words, we are to obey Jesus. And we do this by obeying His Church. A bishop does NOT represent Jesus. However, the Pope does and though as a human he can err, The Church guided by The Holy Ghost cannot.
Priests and religious however, if under the rule of a bishop, are sworn to obey their bishops. For a CATHOLIC priest/religious with an UNCATHOLIC bishop, this is a true penance. For the UNCATHOLIC priest/religious with a CATHOLIC bishop, this is not a problem. They simply go about being UNCATHOLIC and in mortal sin.
Fr. Bozek and his followers were excommunicated the moment they made a conscious decision to take up Satan’s motto of “Non serviam est!”. That is a fact. And the same goes for UNCATHOLIC bishops as in “How do you spell Mahony?”