The San Francisco archdiocese representative said that they would be removing the pantheistic prayer to the spirits of the four compass points and Mother Earth, but they didn’t. Instead, the “prayer” remains as is, they just removed the names “Spirit of the North”, “Spirit of the East,” “Mother Earth”, and so on. How stupid they must think we are.
Take out the “spirits” being addressed, and it still remains a pantheistic blasphemy propagated by the Archdiocese of San Francisco. And even if they remove it from the web site, it doesn’t erase the fact that they used it in a public ceremony. They have to do a lot more to repair the damage done here. A public apology, or even a recognition that they did something wrong, would be a start.
Thanks for keeping on top of this.
I’ve been stewing all day about the original “diocesan official’s” response … the “welcome immigrants” and “help at a soup kitchen” part…
It’s as if ….
DIOCESAN OFFICIAL (thinking) The gall of these hidebound conservative Catholics to question such things … they’re not in ‘ministry’ … they’re not committed to bringing a new church into being … Hey! While we work with all our might to destroy their outmoded notion of religion, maybe I can play on this person’s antiquated moral scruples and give her a bit of anxiety by appealing to some (so called) “corporal works of mercy” (haha!) and ask why she isn’t out doing them… That’ll fix her!
I emailed them last night and received the following response today. Yes, it started with the parenthetical question:
(Did you notice the image of Christ the Healer too?)Your message will be shared with the archbishop’s office. However should you want to correspond with him please write to:
Most Rev. William J. Levada
One Peter Yorke Way
San Francisco, CA 94109
Below please find the response our director of communications:
The text you cite was part of an apology ceremony—planned largely by local victims of clergy sexual abuse—in which the Archdiocese of San Francisco was a participant. An apology to clergy abuse victims for the pain and suffering caused to them by ministers of the Church was delivered by the Archbishop. The planners felt that because many of the abuse victims are alienated from the Catholic Church, the text was appropriate. The ceremony was not a liturgy and was not held in a church. I think the website describes the apology ceremony for clergy sexual abuse victims, held in June 2003. As I told another person, the text will be removed from the Archdiocesan website.
I suggest you examine the entire Archdiocesan website at [url=http://www.sfarchdiocese.org]http://www.sfarchdiocese.org[/url]
How about a removal of a bishop….oh, that means that the Fatima archbishop would have to go too.
I wonder what a bishop would have to do to get himself removed? Somehow I get the feeling that there is almost nothing that Rome will refuse to overlook. If what we are seeing is what has been happening to a greater extent in Europe, no wonder Europe is no longer Catholic.
As long as I was on the SF website looking at that stupid “prayer”, I clicked on “21 Steps to Recovery” just out of curiosity.
Lots of psychbabble, all “self-talk,” but no religion in there at all!
Jan,
Why would the RCASF want to offend any alienated victims of whatever by indelicately using the “G” word?
With the removal of the invocation of the spirits of the four compass-points, the prayer no longer advocates flat-earthism.
Could one read it in such a manner as to advocate geocentrism, thus making it acceptable to Catholics such as Robert Sungenis of the Catholic Apologetics International website?
The horrid thing about this is that no corrective action has been taken. There is no one to actually police such things. There should be. Catholicism is not very universal anymore, and abuses are becoming a truly diabolical force throughout the world.
I don’t think soft paganism is anything new to the Catholic Church. It low-key and ambiguous—one person in another blog even argued how wrong-headed it was to read the Christianity out of it and to read in the paganism.
It’s only when its blatant like this or like Matthew Fox’s books that it gets our attention.
Fortunately for us this influence in the Church is now in a steep decline.
Now this “prayer” doesn’t state to whom it is addressed.
Sister Earth?
Holy Trinity, one God?
Father most merciful?
To Whom It May Concern?
I don’t know if it really deserves to be called a prayer, since it’s really all about “us”.
Just went to their site and wandered a bit. Under “Prayer” they have the prayer of St Francis-which is obvious because that’s their patron. It’s just curious to me why they couldn’t use this prayer of their patron, esp since it’s all about making peace, forgivenss, pardoning. etc.
Just a thought.
Carrie, the answer is easy. He’d have to be caught in the sack with 10 live girls or 1 dead boy.
Okay, well, even that might depend on which diocese we’re talking about………
Living off our legacy will only last so long, ladies and gentlemen. People are going to start throwing rotten fruit (and worse) if we don’t clean our act up, as Catholics in general. We might need to respect our bishops and revere their office, while we lock them up and make them behave.
The fact that they whine is an indicator that we’re getting to them. Don’t let it get to you.
Patrick,
I wish I could agree with you that “this influence in the Church is now in a steep decline,” but I don’t think that’s the case.
Have you looked at the websites of any of the women’s religious orders lately? Men’s orders?
Read any CCD books? Looked at modern church architecture?
Paganism is everywhere these days; San Francisco was just very obvious about it.
In the end, however, I think your statement will prove true, as the “perps” die off and are replaced by a more humble and devout leadership.
How a Bishop gets sacked (or mystertiously dies)… offer the Tridentine Mass in 50 % of the parishes and enforce EWTN style Novus Ordo in the other 50%……
Even dead boys pose no threat to an episcopacy…neither do murdered priests who were about to blow the whistle.