Blessed Mychal Judge OFM
Few realize that the heroic Franciscan Chaplain, who died in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11 has been beatified. Fewer still knew his cause had been opened. Well, it hasn’t, at least as far as the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of the Saints is concerned. The “Reconciliation Catholic Church” has recently raised the friar to the honors of the altar.
Fr. Mychal was the chaplain of the NYC Fire Department. I know the province of Franciscans he hails from well, having lived in Boston. The same friars staff St. Anthony’s Shrine on Arch Street, where I went for spiritual direction when I lived there. Friends of Fr. Mychal were on staff there.
Fr. Mychal was “out” about his homosexual inclination, though celibate and faithful to his vows. He was very open about it and ministered to gay people, as well as faithfully fulfilling his duties as chaplain. Firefighters loved him, and when he went down with his men, he was revered by the entire nation. I admire him and esteem his heroic sacrifice in the execution of his duty, laying down his life for his men. God alone knows his soul.
However, my purpose here is to bring attention to this Reconciliation Catholic Church deal, not Fr. Mychal. Diogenes from Catholic World News brought the entire matter to my attention in his post on the “beatification”. The group is obviously gay friendly, if not gay. Diogenes refers to the sect as one of many ”autocephalous churchlets” in his piece titled, “Vineless Branches“. He also includes great pictures of an ordination that appears to take place in some one’s living room, or a parlor of a nursing home.
Evidently the church is a part of the unofficial, Byzantine Catholic Church, which has no status or connection to the authentic Byzantine Catholic or Roman Catholic churches, nor are they part of the Orthodox communion, as far as I know. Supposedly the bishop in charge is a real bishop who is willing to ordain just about anyone - check out the site I linked to. In fact, I’m fairly certain a local married and divorced deacon (now retired) from our Archdiocese was ordained by this guy in a mausoleum at a local cemetery in Minneapolis - although it may have been another “Old Catholic” bishop. (None of these ordinations, much less Fr. Mychal’s beatification would ever be recognized as valid in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church. They would be in the same class as the bogus ordinations of women priests that have taken place in the last few years. Although, I’ve been told I may be mistaken in that presumption.)
It’s weird isn’t it? These people just make this stuff up. They make up their own church and pretend to be priests. As the “Old Catholics” - they are schismatics. In Ramsey County there is an “Old Catholic” priest whose orders are not recognized by Rome, yet he represents himself as a Catholic priest. What if he were to give a dying Catholic last rites, without the person knowing he wasn’t really a priest? That is what is so deceptive about these nouveau groups; these guys look like a priest, dress like a priest, use the same rituals, etc. - but they are not Roman Catholic priests.
It’s kind of creepy. (You have to check out the links I highlighted, the photos are a hoot! Actually, double checking the links, I see they all seem to be part of the “Old Catholic” church.)
Don Marco is back on line! He is back home in Rome and has finally been connected to the internet. (In Rome, some things take a long time to happen.)
