The Hadleys at Our Word and Welcome to it, who attend St. Agnes here in the Twin Cities, have a few more posts up about Fr. Altier. This one is especially good for you out-of-towners.
I've never met Archbishop Flynn; the only personal contact I've had with him is his response to a letter I wrote to him several years ago regarding something I witnessed during a funeral Mass at St. Joan of Arc Church. The abuses are too numerous to mention here and are more appropriate to another post. Suffice it to say that I outlined what I saw, wondered if he knew about these things, and asked why this was allowed to continue. The return letter I received amounted to a literary pat on the head. Thanks for your comments, don't worry yourself about it, bless you.
I had a similar experience. I wrote a letter to him in 2004 regarding problems we saw over several years at St. Lawrence Church and Newman Center (we've since left that parish). He wrote a reply, along the lines of I have concluded that there are no serious problems at that parish. (Note: I got a friendlier response from Auxiliary Bishop Richard Pates, whom I copied.)
To be fair, however, my friends who still attend St. Lawrence tell me that the new Paulist pastor has been steadily diminishing the liturgical abuse problem (though I hear that not everyone at the parish has been happy about the implementation --- but what do you expect --- there are bound to be differences in opinion about administrative and pastoral style, and a lot of people aren't even aware that the Church has rules that were being broken). I do not know how much of this is a response to behind-the-scenes pressure from the Archdiocese, and how much is the new pastor's initiative --- but it's heartening.
As the years have passed, I have become less and less confident that Archbishop Flynn could or would handle the problems in the Archdiocese that needed attention (the Rainbow Sashers, pro-abortion "Catholic" politicians receiving Holy Communion, etc.). In his defense, I have read and heard stories about his pastoral skills; about how he would go in the middle of the night to comfort the loved ones of someone on the verge of death, ministering to those in need. And, he supports the Marriage Amendment.
I'll add two more points in the Archbishop's defense. First, in my experience he is an excellent homilist who tries to say mass at every parish in the archdiocese at least once per year. (I well remember a moment in the middle of his "guest homily" at St. Lawrence, perhaps five years ago. A mother was trying to make her way out of the pew to carry a loudly crying baby out of the sanctuary, and he interrupted himself mid-sentence and said to her, "No, stay. I want to hear the voices of children in the church. So many of them have been silenced." And he meant it, too --- she stayed, with the baby, and no one would have dared to glare at her!)
Second, according to some folks at my parish who are in the know, he's been pouring a lot of work --- mostly behind the scenes --- into St. John Vianney Seminary. The fruits are already ripening there --- you know, fifteen men were ordained priests last year. The opinion of those I talked to was that Flynn has a long-term view --- that the most important thing, and the best return on the investment of his time and energy, isn't to discipline wayward parishes, but to form a generation of good, solid priests. That seems to be paying off at the seminary.
I don't think it's okay to ignore problems at parishes. Folks in the wayward parishes, especially those who are "stuck" --- people who have difficulty with transportation, who live in rural areas with only one parish, children and youth who must go where their parents go --- have needs that are not being met; to ignore the problems isn't to indulge those people, it's to harm them. But it's also true that no man and no archdiocese has infinite resources, and he has to apply them in the places where he believes they will do the most good. You and I may disagree with his choices, but --- at the end of the day he's the one who has to answer for them.
The lesson we can take from this is from Fr. Altier himself, who when he was told to stop his comments in the media, did so, obediently and humbly and immediately. What a role model, especially in this time of Lent as we reflect on our Lord who went to the Cross without opposition or complaint. We are called upon to pick up our cross daily and follow Him and that is precisely what Fr. Altier has done.
Absolutely. I hope the rest of the archdiocese's priests are taking notes.
Comments