Musings of an Expagan

On Friday, December 18, 2009, His Eminence, Archbishop Job of Chicago and the Midwest unexpectedly fell asleep in the Lord.

His Eminence, Archbishop Job was born Richard John Osacky in Chicago on March 18, 1946. He completed university studies at Northern Illinois University and, after graduating from Saint Tikhon Seminary, South Canaan, PA, in 1970, he served as cantor and youth director at Saint John the Baptist Church in Black Lick, Pennsylvania. He assumed responsibilities in leading Divine Services in the prescribed manner for readers, conducting religious education and youth work, and painting icons. It was his extraordinary affinity with Orthodox youth that gained him the recognition of the Church at large.

In 1973 Reader John was ordained to the holy diaconate and consequently to the holy priesthood by Bishop Theodosius of Pittsburgh [later Metropolitan Theodosius of All American and Canada]. He was assigned to the parish in Black Lick, where he also served as spiritual director for the Orthodox Christian Fellowship at nearby Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

As a celibate priest, he maintained a zeal for the monastic life in all his endeavors. In 1975 he was made a riasaphor monk, and later was tonsured a monk in the Lesser Schema by [then] Bishop Herman in August of 1982. In November of that year he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.

Recognizing that zeal and spirit of dedication to Church service in Father Job, the Diocese of New England nominated hieromonk Job as their diocesan bishop. The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America ratified the nomination and elected him Bishop of Hartford and the Diocese of New England. He was consecrated to the episcopacy on January 29, 1983, at All Saints Church in Hartford, Connecticut.

At its session of November 5, 1992, the Holy Synod of Bishops elected Bishop Job as Bishop of Chicago and Diocese of the Midwest. He was enthroned as Bishop of his native city at Holy Trinity Cathedral on February 6, 1993.

In his years in the See of Chicago, the Diocese of the Midwest experienced tremendous growth. This was witnessed in–but certainly not limited to–the establishment of numerous new mission parishes in the diocese.

In addition to his regular duties as the ruling hierarch of the Diocese of the Midwest, His Eminence enjoyed his long-standing and excellent reputation as an iconographer and iconologist. He was often called upon to offer lectures on this subject, and he was willing to assist and encourage other iconographers.

In recognition of his more than twenty years of “good and faithful” service as archpastor, at the March 2004 Session of the Holy Synod, Bishop Job was elevated to the rank of archbishop.

Information about funeral services for Archbishop Job will be posted as they become available.

May His Eminence, Archbishop Job’s memory be eternal!

After meeting on December 11 with the leaders of the Irish Catholic hierarchy, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his “outrage, betrayal, and shame” at the revelations that sex-abuse complaints had been covered up in the Dublin archdiocese. Recognizing the devastating effects of the scandal on the faithful, the Pope promised to write a pastoral letter on the subject to the people of Ireland.

In a statement released after the meeting, the Pope voiced “his profound regret at the actions of some members of the clergy who have betrayed their solemn promises to God, as well as the trust placed in them by the victims and their families, and by society at large.” He offered his prayers for the victims and vowed that “the Church will continue to follow this grave matter with the closest attention in order to understand better how these shameful events came to pass and how best to develop effective and secure strategies to prevent any recurrence.”

The papal statement indirectly acknowledged serious concerns about the performance of bishops who had failed to respond to complaints of sexual abuse, saying that the “Murphy Committee report” had raised “questions concerning the governance of local Church leaders with ultimate responsibility for the pastoral care of children.”

The Vatican did not address the question of whether some Irish bishops might be encouraged to step down in light of the administrative negligence exposed by the Murphy Commission. Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick, who was an auxiliary bishop in Dublin during the period covered by the Murphy Commission’s investigation, has been in Rome this week for talks with Vatican officials, with many observers expecting him to tender his resignation.

In a related development, the Irish episcopal conference announced that a group of bishops had met with groups of sex-abuse victims and planned to continue such meetings. The bishops decided this week to subsidize support services for abuse victims.

My comments:

Frankly, a letter is too little.  Heads have to roll and not just the priests that did this, but the bishops who covered for them.  It has to happen world wide.  The universal Church needs to address the problems it is facing.

Here are a list of “Catholic” Senators who voted to allow abortion funding on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Senators

Menendez (D-NJ)

Gillibrand (D-NY)

Reed (D-RI)

Leahy (D-VT)

Murray (D-WA)

Cantwell (D-WA)

Landrieu (D-LA)

Collins (R-ME)

Mikulski (D-MD)

Kerry (D-MA)

Kirk (D-MA)

McCaskill (D-MO)

Begich (D-AK)

Dodd (D-CN)

Durbin (D-IL)

Harkin (D-IA).

We are talking about irony here.  On the feast that Catholic celebrate the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that these so called Catholics would vote to allow the murder of children in the womb is abhorrent.

A country that will not protect the least of its members, is a society that will turn on others.  The democrats will talk about how Government run health care will not have death panels i.e. groups of administrators that have the choice of life and death over people, but I suggest that there will be such things.  If you do not see the inherent worth of a child in the womb, you will not see the inherent worth of anyone.

There is a lot of talk about compassion, yet when you truly dig deep into the abortion issue, and get away from the rhetoric, you will see that there is an abortion industry who’s income is derived from the killing of babies in the womb, and a reactionary group of prolife advocates who seek to turn women’s hearts away from that choice, because that choice is not good for them nor their child.  The difference between the groups is after the killing has been done, there is one group that is always there to pick up the pieces, and those who do wish that they didn’t have to do it.

Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal one, have mercy on us.

Busy… busy… busy…

Not enough time in the day nor hours to keep up with everything I am doing right now.

So… Happy belated Feast of St. Nicholas!

And a song:

O who loves Nicholas the saintly,

O who serves Nicholas the saintly,

Him will Nicholas receive,

And give help in time of need:

Holy Father Nicholas!*

He who dwells in God’s holy mansions,

Is our help on the land and oceans,

He will guard us from all ills,

Keep us pure and free from sins

Holy Father Nicholas!*

Holy Saint, hearken to our prayer,

Let not life drive us to despair,

All our efforts shall not wane,

Singing praises to your name:

Holy Father Nicholas!*

O kto kto Nikolaja l’ubit,

O kto kto Nikolaja sluzit,

Tomu svjatyj Nikolaj,

Na vsjakj cas pomahaj:

Nikolaj, Nikolaj!*

Yes…. we should be happy that all Bishops were this diligent.  Otherwise we may have owned more money in settlements…

Former Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland routinely shredded copies of weekly reports about sexual abuse by priests, according to formerly sealed testimony turned over to Milwaukee County’s district attorney on Thursday.

In a 1993 deposition, Weakland admitted destroying copies of the reports in his office, according to a partial transcript of the deposition released by Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Peter Isley, SNAP’s Midwest director, turned over the partial transcript, as well as portions of the logs to which Weakland was referring, to Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and asked him to review them for any possible criminal violations. Chisholm accepted the records and promised a thorough review.

The 16-year-old deposition documents have come to light during the discovery process in more than a dozen civil fraud lawsuits filed against the Milwaukee archdiocese.

SNAP made the announcements at a news conference Thursday morning outside Chisholm’s office at the Milwaukee County courts complex.

Julie Wolf, communications director for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, said Thursday she had not seen the documents SNAP released and could make no comment on them for the archdiocese.

In the deposition, Weakland explains that he got copies of the weekly logs made by vicars in the archdiocese about ongoing problem priests. He said he would read them, then shred them because he didn’t want to keep them in his office. He would “try to remember anything that is quite serious and important,” and later discuss the matters with the vicar.

SNAP also released portions of logs kept on two abusive priests, Siegfried Widera and Franklyn Becker. Widera killed himself in 2003 after police cornered him in Mexico; Becker has been removed from the priesthood. Isley said not all portions of all vicar logs have been released yet as part of the civil litigation.

Isley said SNAP also will ask Archbishop-designate Jerome Listecki to censure and discipline Weakland and anyone else who may have been involved in covering up sex abuse by clergy. He said Listecki has refused to say whether he would review why the Diocese of La Crosse, where he is bishop, has cleared more clergy accused of abuse than most dioceses.

Listecki told Wisconsin Public Radio that he did not have enough time left in his term as bishop in La Crosse and that, besides, it was the holiday season.

I remember back when I was a kid, that porn was kept behind the counter, well ok… it was on the top shelf, and it was covered, but for a 7 year old kid you couldn’t reach it unless you stretched real hard.  The hard core stuff was kept in the seedy part of town, and you actually had to go and get it, or if it was delievered it was mailed in plain brown envelopes where no one knew what you were getting.

Porn was around, but it was something that you had to seek out.  You had to find outlets for it.  You had to search.

Fast forward to today, we are now seeing a push to make religion private, keep it to ourselves.  We are not allowed to be religious in public.

So when will the time come when we have to go to the seedy part of town to go to Church?  When bibles are religious magazines are sent out in plain brown wrappers?

I don’t think it is too far away.

Technology seems to keep moving, yet we are the same.  While driving in my car the other day I pulled up behind a SUV with a DVD monitor, and what was playing on the monitor??

Porn…

Porn, ladies and gentlemen, has moved from the house to the streets.  In our new “Tolerant” society (code for you can do anything you want unless of course it is religious then you have to hide it.) pornography is in the streets, and on the move.

But that just scratches the surface, now you can have your porn delivered on your mobile phones.  So you are not safe anywhere.

Then we have the newer mobile technologies that are coming up.  And of course the porn industry will go there.

While the above my look like an iPhone, it is a mock up of what is thought to be an Apple Tablet.  So instead of 3.5 inches of steaming viewing, you will see 12 inches.

With my luck that means when I drop into Starbucks there will be person who is enjoying his morning java, while viewing some “Hot Coffee” on the tablet.

When Cardinal Egan was bishop of Bridgeport, he downplayed Abuse Claims:

“Claims are claims. Allegations are allegations.”

Those six words uttered by retired Cardinal Edward M. Egan during two depositions neatly sum up his approach to handling the burgeoning priest sexual abuse scandal that he inherited when he took over the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut in the late 1980s.

Yeah… and how did that work out for the Catholic Church?

While the Irish Bishops try to defend their behavior:

Bishop Donal Murray has said he has given a thorough public response to the Murphy Report since its publication last Thursday.

The Bishop of Limerick was responding to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin’s challenge to ten serving and retired bishops to explain whether they should resign in light of their handling of clerical child sexual abuse while they were prelates in Dublin.

Yep… wheat and tares… that what the Lord says… Unfortunately, I believe it is time for the bishop of Rome to buy some Roundup…

Look, I know what you are saying… “Hey Gibson…. You left… You are in the East so you don’t have to worry about that…”

Well… we have Bishop problems of our own over here in the other lung and let me tell you, the gene pool has a bit too much chlorine.