JESUS

.

J - Just

E - Eternal

S - Sacrificial

U - Ubiquitous

S - Substantial, as in Tran

image - St. Benedict Abbey, Still River, MA

Whistleblowing in the Catholic Church: A Spiritual Trial for the Unborn

Reprint of blog post originally published on 07/21/2020.

Added 08/30/2020 - "The Catholic community has the right to expect the priests of the archdiocese and those entrusted with handing on the faith to be clear and unequivocal on the church's teaching concerning respect and protection for life from the first moment of conception to natural death," [Archbishop Sean] O'Malley said in a statement published in the Pilot. "This teaching is of the highest priority for the Church." Click here for the article.    

============== end of addition, start of original blog entry =================

NOTE: Personal stories (sharing of real life experiences) are considered a valuable resource in various fields of study, e.g., employee satisfaction, suicide prevention, and Church membership. Stories provide unique insight that cannot be captured by traditional science. The insight leads to improved advocacy efforts.

For example, my spiritual reversion story has inspired many Catholic converts and reverts to persevere in their spiritual pursuit of our faith. Here in this blog post, I share a personal story in hope of helping other parishioners, and clergy, if they find themselves on either side of a scandal, where chaos and confusion—and sin and redemption—often arise.

~~~~~ 

My Personal Story

A Real Life Experience

2019-2020

There comes a time when parishioners must call out priests, pastors, and even bishops on their ignominious behaviors. Being dismissive, ignoring parishioners’ flagrant opposition to Catholic Church teaching, evading or, worse, retaliating against the whistleblower, lying, unjustly protecting other clergy, and prioritizing headcount above preserving the Faith, are some of those behaviors. Victims of the Church’s sex abuse scandal would likely agree.

A whistleblower with perseverance is often needed. Look up synonyms for whistleblower, and you will be hard pressed to find a complimentary one. More readily you will find “snitch,” “rat,” “big-mouth,” and “betrayer.” Those words cause damage in whistleblower’s personal and professional relationships.

I am not talking about Judas Iscariot who outright betrayed Jesus for money. I am talking about upright, concerned parishioners who step forward on behalf of the Church. They frequently incur hostility from other parishioners and clergy, and often disappear from the parish, and even the Church. Breaks with family and employers are common. Many also develop significant mental health issues, beginning if their higher ups sidestep the concern brought forward, by claiming the whistleblower is unstable. [1] The virtue in a whistleblower’s attempt to right wrongs is painfully lost in labels like “informant,” “big-mouth,” and “betrayer.”

I had no idea I would be a whistleblower when I met my Melkite (Eastern Catholic) pastor to ask why he was not withholding the Eucharist from a particular parishioner. After all, this woman publicly claimed her ProChoice identity in a ProLife thread on the parish Facebook Page, and in parish emails. She also publicly vowed to fight me tooth and nail about the issue. And, she claimed other ProChoice Melkites exist—and are proud of their beliefs.

Our pastor oversaw and participated in our communications, thereby being a witness as it unfolded. This ProChoice woman’s status in our citywide community made the need to correct and educate her, more compelling. She counseled female teens, and women, potentially facing crisis pregnancies and considering abortion. She also gave a public talk at our parish without apprising the committee of her ProChoice affiliation.m

I prayed, did some research, and sought counsel with two trustworthy priests. The following statement of Melkite Bishop John Adel Elya (now deceased) left no room for ambiguity:, “Our Eastern and Western Tradition is unanimous in its teaching that any form of abortion is contrary to God's law and a serious offense against the Life-Giver. It is impossible to receive Christ, our Life, in Holy Communion and remain obstinately pro abortion. Indeed, politicians who, by their actions, promote abortion cooperate with evil. If they receive Holy Communion without sincere repentance they do so at the peril of their own souls. Such is cause for great scandal.” [2]

I thought surely my pastor would be grateful for this pertinent information. I was stunned when he told me he could never withhold the Eucharist from anyone. Even Eastern and Western Canon Law forbids dissenters from receiving the Eucharist. [3]

I reminded him: This ProChoice woman is a public figure in the community, openly sharing her parish membership and openly condoning abortion, which the Catholic Church—and our Faith—strongly oppose. My pastor appeared unmoved and I wondered if he were ProChoice also.

I sought more prayer and consults until too much time lapsed with no results. I wrote to the current bishop. He never replied to me with his thoughts. The situation was truly a scandal. I was embarrassed for the parish and Church—and for Jesus Himself. After more than ten years of service, I finally stepped down from my work for the parish and Eparchy (akin to Diocese).

As a well-known figure in the parish, I wrote to several parishioners explaining my actions. I included my research. Only two of those parishioners directly responded to me. They both supported and encouraged me in my efforts. Unfortunately, the intensity of my concern may have tainted my message for others, who became angry and distanced themselves from me. I felt isolated. Was it my message, my tone, or a combination of these two? I never knew.

I became disheartened.

Meanwhile, my pastor continued giving the Eucharist to this actively ProChoice woman. His lack of action with her scandal was indirectly condoning the killing of babies in the womb. He did not like hearing that. Again, I wondered if he were ProChoice. 

The ProChoice woman eventually responded to my letter with one of her own. It was addressed to the parish’s legal entity and copied to the bishop, the pastor, and me. However, I never received my copy directly from her, even after asking her for it twice. In her letter, she said she wanted the bishop, the pastor, or me, to issue a public correction of items she thought were false or defamatory in my letter to some of the parishioners. She also explained she will not participate in the ProLife movement because she advocates for human and reproductive rights. She then set forth the ProChoice position, saying it advocates for ongoing legalization of abortion. Her disclosures confirmed the soundness of my whistleblowing.

Continuing in her letter, the ProChoice woman repeated her claim that other Melkite ProChoicers exist (even more reason for our clergy to uphold our Faith). She presented an ultimatum: She gave the bishop, the pastor, and me, ten (10) business days or she would be compelled to take legal action. Halfway into the ten days, my pastor suggested that he and I meet. He did not mention the ProChoice woman’s letter, but when we met, he offered me a copy.

In our meeting, my pastor informed me that the bishop and he decided I should write the response to this woman—with his oversight. Given the tight deadline, I declined. He became unsettled and alluded to me being excommunicated. I reminded him that he could not excommunicate me. His facial expression changed to one of realizing I was correct. He then alluded that the bishop would certainly excommunicate me. I reminded him that the bishop could not excommunicate me either and I remained firm in the face of his inexplicable hostility.

I summarized my thoughts about the meeting and the situation at hand in a letter to my pastor and bishop. Among other things, I included a suggestion to establish a prolife education and ministry program in our parish and in the Eparchy. Neither of them responded to me.

In the end, which was five month’s after I first approached him, my pastor composed his own response to this woman’s letter. Whether he did this on his own, or because he was obeying an order from the bishop, is unclear. He copied it to all parishioners without mentioning the threat of legal action by the ProChoice woman. He also omitted dates. Their omission obscured the timeline for him and the bishop to take responsibility. His use of generic, broad-sweep descriptors masked the accountability of their actions. He averred that he does not agree with the woman’s views on abortion, which oppose Catholic Church teachings.

He said “after consulting the bishop,” he decided to withhold the Eucharist from her. “Consulting the bishop” is one of those broad-sweeping qualifiers that hides my pastor’s ultimate motivation for his action. As before, was his action stemming from his own free will, or was it stemming from being obedient to an order from the bishop to withhold the Eucharist from the ProChoice woman? After all, he had told me that he could never withhold the Eucharist from anyone.

Multiple times in his letter, the pastor mentioned that my letter to some parishioners could be construed as demeaning to the woman of concern. I get it. I was the whistleblower. He was likely accommodating her to avoid legal entanglement. It stung nonetheless. I sought spiritual solace by asking Jesus to unite my suffering with His salvific suffering on the Cross, to bring about conversions for all involved.

Concurrently, I learned of a public fundraiser—for Planned Parenthood—on the ProChoice woman’s personal Facebook page. Planned Parenthood is the largest single provider of abortions in the United States.[4] She had given the fundraiser the name, “BANS OFF MY BODY” [all caps hers], a catch phrase used by Planned Parenthood after several states enacted bans on abortion. Some donations had already been received. I was again validated on the soundness of my whistleblowing.

The ProChoice woman quickly responded to our pastor’s letter and copied all parishioners. In her reply, she reiterated the ProChoice position and affirmed to all of us that she is ProChoice. I felt further strengthened in my position.

The ProChoice woman mentioned another item. She said she emailed the bishop and requested a meeting with him. She said he did not respond to her. He did not respond to me either, so one wonders: Was he not making laity a priority? Was he covering up for his pastor? Was he not wanting to be involved? Or was it some combination of these? A brief explanation directly from him would have allayed, or maybe eliminated, our dismay.

Many people misunderstood my motive for all of this. Some suggested I should feel settled because “I got what I wanted.” A Melkite Tribunal priest, from whom I sought clarification of general Tribunal protocol, and who said he heard of the scandal from our former pastor, even suggested that. This myopic view commonly undermines whistleblowers, who are often treated as being self-centered. For me, my motive originated from a higher place. At each step, I talked with the wise people supporting me, and I did my best to discern what Jesus would have wanted, as in WWJD. I then did my best to carry that out.

Ultimately, my pastor and bishop did the right thing, but taking five months to do it was reprehensible. The ProChoice woman and her parents withdrew from the parish. I eventually did the same [due to backlash and mistrust]. Remaining parishioners must now rebuild their trust with the pastor and bishop, and each other.

With no known commitment to a program for prolife education and ministry in the parish, or in the Melkite Catholic Eparchy, prochoice ideology can continue to fester, and even take root, among clergy and parishioners. We all must therefore remain vigilant, and prepare ourselves to be whistleblowers if necessary.

"I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out (Luke 19:40)!”

Kathleen Laplante is an author, a mother of two, and a long time revert to the Catholic Faith. She writes articles about Catholic Teachings. She speaks as a member of the Catholic Church, not as the Catholic Church Herself.

                                                                  ~~~~~

REFERENCES

[1] “Whistleblower,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistleblower, June 20, 2020.

[2] Elya, John Adel.“WHAT IS THE TEACHING ON ABORTION? WHAT ABOUT POLITICIANS WHO SUPPORT PRO-ABORTION STANCES AND LAWS?” https://melkite.org/eparchy/bishop-john/what-is-the-teaching-on-abortion-what-about-politicians-who-support-pro-abortion-stances-and-laws, February 25, 2003.

[3] a) Canon Law Society of America. “Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches: New EnglishTranslation,” 2001, p. 272, Washington, DC. "CAN. 712†Those who are publicly unworthy are forbidden to receive the Divine Eucharist."

b) The Vatican. “Code of Canon Law“ (Western Churches, i.e., Roman Catholic), http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_p39.HTM, July 20, 2020. "CAN. 915† Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.”

[4] Rovner, Julie. “Planned Parenthood: A Thorn In Abortion Foes' Sides, https://www.npr.org/2011/04/13/135354952/planned-parenthood-makes-abortion-foes-see-red, April 12, 2011.

IMAGES

Crucifixion Icon - https://www.facebook.com/olphmelkiteworcester/photos

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Icon - Unknown

Theophany Icon - http://tokandylaki.blogspot.com/2014_01_04_archive.html

Descent Into Hades Icon - https://www.orthodoxroad.com/christs-descent-into-hell-icon-explanation/

Claiming My Grandmotherhood, ProLife Style

When my son and his wife recently announced they are with child, I claimed my first-time grandmotherhood. So exciting! 

"But wait--that won't happen until after the baby is born."  Not so. 

1) Would we deny that Jesus's life on earth began at the Annunciation, when 

Angel Gabriel announced to Jesus's mother, Mary, that she was with child?  No. 

                                                            

2) Would we deny science's discovery and pictures of the sperm 

and egg uniting to initiate a new human being?  No.

                                                     

We therefore cannot deny that the life of every human being begins at the moment of conception. By His conception, that moment is consecrated for all of us. Science confirms it on the natural level.

I hereby hold to my claim: I am a first-time grandmother! 

+ St. Gerard, please pray for my pregnant daughter-in-law and our new baby! +

Source - Let There Be Life

Images 
- https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/prague-czech-republic-fresco-annunciation-church-kostel-svat%C3%A9ho-cyrila-metodeje-petr-maixner-october-134890726.jpg
- https://resize.hswstatic.com/w_907/gif/sperm-egg.jpg  

Edits

07/24/2020 - added "my pregnant daughter-in-law and" to St. Gerard prayers

Mother Angelica, foundress of EWTN, dies on Easter

Mother Angelica, foundress of EWTN, dies on Easter - click here




image - http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/mother-angelica-founder-of-ewtn-dies-on-easter-75329/ 

The Mourning of My Mother

Today marks the 2nd anniversary of my mother's death. Two years. Two years ago she had some kind of attack and fell to the floor from her kitchen chair. She was in her pajamas when one of my sisters found her. It seems like it was just yesterday.

Of course, I pray for her all the time -- still. She may be in Heaven, but she may also be in Purgatory or even Hell. I doubt she is in Hell, but none of us ever knows the final destiny of a person's soul. My mother was raised a Catholic and she was a proud Catholic. She loved having her aunt who was a nun come visit her school. She told me how she bragged a bit about it. She also prayed the Rosary to me in French, because that is the language in which she was raised. Canadian French, that is.

Unfortunately, my grandmother had a terrible incident with her parish priest. And then there was the time my mother sought out a funeral Mass for her, and the pastor would not accommodate her.  My grandparents went to the Saturday Vigil Mass every weekend. They sat in the same place in the same pews at the same church, and this priest was inflexible when my grandmother died. Much to my mother's dismay, we had the Mass at another parish in the city. (At the same time, thanks be to God that we could have it somewhere else!) The parish was barren and cold and echo-y. Not comforting.

These happenings tainted my mother and she became spiteful toward the Catholic Church. It so breaks my heart that she distanced herself  at those times. She never went back and she held a grudge for the rest of her life. Even after I converted back to Catholicism, I was at a loss of how to convince her that being Catholic meant being true to God and to our Faith, not to the failing humanity of priests.

I wish things could have been different, but they weren't. My mother may not have drawn upon the salvific strength of Jesus Christ, but that doesn't mean I don't have to. In fact, I do it right now. It is His strength I draw upon to carry the sadness associated with my mother's loss of faith -- and of all my siblings' loss of faith. Some of them are carrying on the bitter burden my mother carried due to the shortcomings of these priests in her life. May they come to see the face of God. May these priests come to see the face of God. And may I come to see the face of God as well.

I love you, Mom.



images - http://www.atlantachinesedance.org/images/2012/In%20Mourning.jpg
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https://redpointtailor.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/a-day-of-national-mourning-in-the-netherlands-in-memory-of-all-the-victims-of-flight-mh17.jpg?w=640&h=284

Putting WWJD To Work

 The other day, my neighbor, who lives on the second floor of our apartment building, complained about the noise my sons and I were making from our third floor apartment.  My mind started going, and I do not mean in the right direction.

"Who does she think she is?  She just moved in and she is already complaining."
"Of course she is complaining.  She doesn't have any children."
"I told her she should think about moving her bedroom [which is where she hears most of the noise].  Too bad.  She doesn't want to listen to me, then she just has to put up with the noise."

Those were some of my thoughts, which were not very charitable.  

We are like two sisters fighting, except that we are a bit older.  I began to short circuit my selfish and destructive thoughts with more considerate and constructive thoughts.  WWJD?  What would Jesus do?  I asked myself that until ideas came.  In my mind, I didn't put Jesus in my place and try to envision how He would handle things.  Instead, I brought Jesus in as a mediator [no coincidence, I'm sure] helping both of us.  

He would probably be a calming presence and try to get us to meet and talk about this in person.  Right now, all communication is done through notes she leaves at my doorstep and banging on the wall and yelling through the floor up to me in my apartment.  Thankfully, I have not yelled back down at her and I have not even thought of doing so - until today, that is.  "Oh, Jesus, please give me the strength and the courage and the will to redirect my selfish inclinations and do the right thing when so many bones in my body want to do damage."

Jesus would probably suggest we both air out our frustrations, just to vent and get them out there.  Then He would probably seek out solutions.  I am thinking,"I was here first.  Too bad for her.  I don't need a solution.  That's what happens when someone rents a second-floor apartment.  She should have know that.  She is just going to have to live with it."  Yes, my mind can be so selfish and so immature.  I am sure she is having the same party in her head.  I say that based on her note at my doorstep and her banging on the wall and yelling.

How do we break this impasse?  What would Jesus do?  So I start thinking about how He would remind us that we are not only accountable to God, but we actually love Him.  If we love Him, do we really want to stay stuck in this battle and pain Him?  Is there some way we might find some room to compromise, even in the littlest of ways?

What would Jesus do?  He would have us pray together.  Since that is not going to happen any time soon, I will continue to pray by myself.  I will pray for me and I will pray for her.

And on it goes.  I eventually felt a softness, a calm, and I could envision compromise on my part.  I had the thought that I might be able to write earlier in the day and night.  I found myself assessing my footsteps and thinking I might be able to walk a little lighter so I don't make as much noise.  And then I thought, maybe I can go down to her apartment sometime, and ask her to talk, but that one is a challenge.  I am not sure it will happen, but the fact I am even considering it is a huge step in breaking the logjam.

Only God knows how our situation will unfold in the end, but I know that with Jesus, I have a chance to handle it charitably and maturely.  WWJD?


Pax,
Kathleen


images - http://www.superiorlabels.com/LKC_Christian-Address-Labels_107_CC.htm
http://archurohi.blogspot.com/2012/03/sibling-bond.html
http://www.fotosearch.com/illustration/neighbors.html