THE GOVERNANCE OF THE CHURCH AND PARISH.

Having written about and spoke about the position of Tabernacles and Crucifixes on our Catholic altars and received no replies verbal or otherwise because the position is indefensible I now have to ask why with the recovery growing inside our Churches of our Catholic Faith there seems to be a refusal to put them back on the altar.   It is now recognised more that the Church is a House of Prayer and that Jesus Christ, True God and True Man, awaits us there in his humanity.   What a treasure beyond belief!   What an awesome God who humbled himself to share in our humanity.

The answer lies in a structure which was formed in parishes to ensure minority rule - Parish Councils.      
Now I know there are good Parish Councils which have developed and who see their role as was intended by the Universal Catholic Church to assist the priest in the running of the parish but in the seventies and eighties too many were formed to tell the priests how they run the parish and he must fall in line.   These Councils were encouraged to form their parish into whatever they wished - the this is how we do things here mentality.    The thoughts of others in the parish are never sought and you must never tell such people they are wrong and have actually destroyed rather than built because they are the experts.   And lest anyone think I am making this up I can refer to a speech by a priest in the Church which said just this.  "Priests are only visitors but you are the parish and you must not let them interfere with the parish you have built"   He was not talking to the majority of parishioners who 'lived in the past'  he was talking to the small minority to whom power had been given.    Since teachers had been taught the 'new catechesis' which they embraced eagerly the combination of parish and school led to the inevitable destruction of so many young people

So what is happening today?   The seminaries have changed and many priests are coming out eager to  teach their people.  They want the crucifix back on he altar, they want the Tabernacle back on the altar but they are finding resistance from these groups.   Now I will not say that all of these people are dishonest, they just were victimised by false teaching and cannot catch up to the fact that is was false teaching.   But what they must realise is that the care of souls in our Hierarchical Church and you will find the hierarchical Church in Vatican II, the care of souls belongs to the priest, and that includes those norms of the Church, the teaching of the Church and the setting out of the Church to foster Catholic Belief - not the beliefs of any Tom, Dick, or Harriet.    He is not there to be guided by anyone but his bishop.  If he says there is to be a free bus to a religious event and the parish is more than capable of meeting the cost it is not for any committee to oppose this or to make arrangements for 'people from other parishes to pay'  because 'we should not pay for them'.  A totally false and unchristian stance to take.  Nor is it for any committee to decide they want this priest but do not want this one.    Jesus Christ is the head of the Church and that is the last word.










  












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