Oh boy. This is not good. Please make it stop. The former bishop of the Diocese of El Paso Armando Ochoa is filing legal action against a parish priest, claiming a misappropriation of funds.
Colleen Hammond has the entire letter and you’re definitely going to want to read it at her site. It’s a pretty severe accusation.
But then not to be outdone, the accused priest, Fr. Michael Rodríguez, then lobs some serious accusations back. Here’s a piece of what he had to say:
I am convinced that the real reason for my former bishop’s actions against me is due to my defense of the Catholic Church’s teaching with regard to homosexuality as well as my adherence to the Roman Liturgy of 1962. If necessary, I will present prodigious evidence to support this contention. I will continue to do my best to be a good and holy priest, no matter the cost. I will continue to proclaim and teach the truths of the Roman Catholic Church, especially in the area of sexual morality, no matter the cost. I will continue to adhere to the Ancient Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, no matter the cost.
This is likely going to get very ugly before it gets better. Somebody please stop this.
I don’t know who’s right. I have no way of knowing. But this hurts a lot more people than the two of them.
Whoever is right, the Church loses.
Colleen Hammond has a lot more details. Please check it out.
January 13, 2012 at 4:48 pm
Should we not pursue the truth wherever it leads? I agree that doing this in the public forum may not be the best course of action. Either way these are serious accusations which merit investigation.
January 13, 2012 at 4:50 pm
For years I have heard people say priests were not holy if they were not obedient. I don't believe a priest should be obedient to an immoral Bishop. He should be obedient to the truth the church teaches and the Pope. What truly is the teaching on this? Seriously, I can't believe the church would require blind obedience to a man who goes against church teaching as guided by the Holy Spirit. That just doesn't make any sense. I understand that obedience is a requirement, so as not to have the path of moral relativity. But it seems to me that is the BISHOP is disobedient to church teaching the Priest has an obligation to stand up for Christ and the Pope. Please clarify. I have followed this situation for awhile and though I am careful to discern, I tend to believe the priest. Time will only tell, but my question above is more of a general question. Are priests compelled to disobey Bishops who are disobeying moral teachings and dogma of the church?
January 13, 2012 at 5:02 pm
To go even further, everyone holds Padre Pio as the example of obedience. It is said that Padre Pio's Bishop spoke ill of him in public and that he always remained obedient. It is one thing for a priests reputation to be attacked, but what of a Bishop who disregards intrinsic evils? Would Padre Pio have been obedient to that. Would Padre Pio have sat by silently while a Bishop led an entire flock astray regarding instrinsic evils & church teaching? Again, I just want clarification. Am I supposed to follow a Bishop who accepts homosexuality, and perhaps abortion, or is a priest?
January 13, 2012 at 5:31 pm
In the video below Fr. Rodriguez defends the Catholic faith:
Fr. Michael Rodriguez defends True Catholic Teaching at City Council
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLAX8UZ9zoc
January 13, 2012 at 5:47 pm
"Gay-marriage" is the practice of LUST, a vice.
Who was it who said that the floor of hell is paved with bishop's skulls?
January 13, 2012 at 6:12 pm
While I have no problem imagining the bishop is a bad bishop (indeed, no doubt one could consider this a temptation), I know anyone equating the Ancient Rite of the Roman Catholic Church with the Roman Liturgy of 1962 is, to be generous, misinformed. This sort of thing sounds too much like a Democrat/Republican cat fight- appeals to tradition sound comforting until you find out the progressives had already changed everything and now we are stuck with people who think they are traditionalists but are really just reactionaries trying to bring back their childhoods.
January 13, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Pretty serious accusations all around. I'm grateful for your example in abstaining from judgment while the facts & people involved sort things out. May we all do the same, with many prayers for both!
January 13, 2012 at 6:49 pm
There is true obedience and false obedience. True obedience is obedience (for example) of a priest to his bishop who is obedient to the Holy Father, who in turn is obedient to God. False obedience is obedience to a bishop that is being disobedient to the Holy Father regarding a specific matter. And it works up the chain of command like before. When a bishop is pro-homosexual, then no, the faithful, priests, etc. are not to be obedient in that regard. It is more of a sin of omission, licentiousness, etc. on our part to be obedient to sinful matters. One way to look at it is obedience in all things but sin.
January 13, 2012 at 6:50 pm
St. John Chrysostom said, "The floor of hell is paved with the skulls of bishops!"
January 13, 2012 at 6:52 pm
August, you have no idea what you're talking about. Sorry to be blunt, but you don't. Fr. Rodriguez is as sound a priest with regard to Tradition as I have met. He's not writing a detailed study of the history of the Mass, he's writing a press release. He's trying to use terms most people will understand.
I have some indirect involvement in this case. The Diocese of El Paso is in an atrocious state. Bishop Ochoa has done much to put it in that state. Active homosexuality is run amok among the priests in that diocese. Fr. Rodriguez is one of a handful of orthodox priests there, and the only one willing to speak out, because the others know the result will be exactly what Fr. Rodriguez is experiencing – persecution. If you track Fr. Rodriguez' public catechesis on the sin of homosexual acts and the diocesan response (having another diocesan priest apostasize in public, in the El Paso Times, rejecting Church Doctrine that homosexual acts are sinful) with the persecution, Fr. Rodriguez' claims are quite substantiated on their own.
There is a right and wrong here. Will the darkness prevail again? Let us pray.
BTW, the 'financial improprieties' are laughably trivial, and are not improprieties at all. Bishop Ochoa is attempting to sully Fr. Rodriguez reputation as he heads out the door.
January 13, 2012 at 8:57 pm
I've been following this dispute for some time and I tend to believe the priest. I suspect the Vatican does too. Why would they transfer a bishop to a new diocese when he was two years from retirement, if they didn't want him out of El Paso?
January 14, 2012 at 12:56 am
A bishop accused of being a homosexual sympathizer? No! For the love of God, someone please run down to Restoration Hardware and inform the bishop of this slander! He's the one in the Hawaiian shirt holding the hairless Chihuahua.
January 14, 2012 at 1:31 am
The sad part about this is that bishops will have the full assistence of diocesan canon lawyers… the priests do not. For an innocent, accused priest to pursue his rights to clear his name, he has no choice but to independently hire a canon lawyer. Win or lose , the priest is burdened by the $10,000-$30,000 required to defend himself.
January 14, 2012 at 1:43 am
The solution has already been made by the Vatican, which has just appointed Bishop Ochoa to the vacant Diocese of Fresno,CA –alas where my dear cousins live!
January 14, 2012 at 4:04 am
Ochoa is a protege of card mahoney. Nuff said.
January 14, 2012 at 4:54 pm
I can’t speak to the scandal, but the bulletin at San Juan Bautista was more inspiring and educational than most homilies I’ve heard over the last couple years at other parishes. The bookstore was great too, and I wish I had made the trip more often for Mass in the parish. Father Rodríguez, Bishop Ochoa and the Diocese of El Paso are in our prayers.
January 15, 2012 at 2:33 pm
This one I fear may have some traction since it is a matter of fact. Other articles indicate that Fr. Rodriguez admitted to placing building funds in CDs in his own name, comingling them with the St. Vincent de Paul Society accounts and the rest of that.
I don't think the funds were stolen but I do fear that Rodriguez hired his brother and paid for things directly without proper accounting and contracts in contravention of his obligation as pastor. The fact that the funds were not stolen and that work was in fact done without proper accounting leaves Fr. Rodgriguez in a bad situation. The bishop has almost certainly done this based on a CPA audit of the records. The lawsuit provides the bishop the ability to demand by supoena, records (if they exist) from the brother of Fr. Rodriguez and others. This not only puts Fr. Rodriguez in hot water and diminishes his ability to champion the fight for traditional Latin mass, but now raises the spectre of tax problems.
January 15, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Living in a Diocese (Antigonish NS) where the former Bishop was just convicted (in fact pleaded guilty) to offenses related to (child)pornagraphy and as well as admitting being in a homosexual relationship for the past 10 years, I can only say that I wish, if a priest here had known what was going on, he would have the courage to have publicly spoken out about the goings on so something could have been done. The collateral damage that resulted from the way things transpired here will last a long time. I guess really though, no matter what, the Good Lord exposes things in His own way.
January 15, 2012 at 4:41 pm
To quote St. John Chrysostom:
"The man who is inflamed with the fire of divine love is as indifferent to glory and ignominy as if he were alone and unseen on this earth. He spurns all temptations. He is no more troubled by pincers, gridirons, or racks than if these sufferings were endured in a body other than his own. What is full of sweetness for the world has no attraction for him, no taste; he is no more liable to be captivated by some evil attachment than is gold, seven times tested, liable to be tarnished by rust. Such are, even on this earth, the effects of divine love when it firmly takes hold of a soul."
This bishop (if you can give him the honor of such a title) is a worldly creature, and so are those who say, "Can't we just get along." It is pathetic that we are sometimes persuaded that worldly creatures who call themselves Catholic are given voice in the public arena. Sad, but they are given the ear of other worldly Catholics who listen to them.
Fr. Rodriquez speaks and lives without fear of this world's evils, even when they come from his very (so called) catholic Shepard. Sad for this bishop who will burn in Hell, unless he too loves our Lord and Savior as much as Fr. Rodriquez.
Simplynotred