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May 25, 2021Liked by JD Flynn

"Zeal for souls is not the same as zeal for celebrity." JD slinging the bon mot! I think that gem should be emblazoned ... well, somewhere.

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Great to see your take on the distrust of our Bishops. Do they are don't they believe in the teachings of the church? If not they should resign and join a protestant church. How can they seriously represent the church if they water down or out right ignore our teachings ? Do teachings only apply if you are not a powerful politician then? Which apply and which don't (guess applying any rule would "weaponize" it?)

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Great work! Thank you for reporting honestly and appropriately!

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"Go offline for a while, it’s gorgeous out."

Y'all's weather reporting could use a bit of work, it's pouring where I'm at.

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You imply that "populist" and "no-nonsense" homilies are "often" theologically inaccurate and presumably you're including Fr. Altman's homilies in your assessment. And yet you fail to include any examples of theological inaccuracy. Wouldn't it be fair to give an example of one of his theologically suspicious teachings rather than smear his name, as you have done?

And as far as his "populist" messages: are they "populist" or are they simply consistent with the truth? I wonder how you define populism. Is it drawing large crowds with a message directed against the religious status quo? In that case, your hit piece would have indicted our Lord Jesus Christ.

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This past year has shaken my trust in the Episcopate. I never ever would have imagined that we as Catholics would see churches closed to prayer and Masses canceled in the US for any reason. My family received only 2 correspondences from my parish and 1 from the Bishop. Did they offer prayers in this difficult time? Did they offer guidance? Did they make a point to offer confession for what became a very dark year for myself and others in my family? No. They asked for donations. The Bishop in my state says that the mass obligation will be dispensed for foreseeable future. It just seems so counter to a faith that preaches eternal salvation. It is frustrating to me that good priests have there hands tied, and yet controversial priests like James Martin or Fr. Altman are who get press. I am also so frustrated that they do not call out Joe Biden on his neglect of the faith.

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The problem is partly of the bishops own making and it just seems like so few of them want to take responsibility for actually teaching and governing the Church. It would go a long way with people who distrust bishops if they were willing to proclaim unpopular doctrine, to show they believe the Sacraments are real, to show that they care about the teachings of the Church in a way where they're willing to live out those teachings for the example of their people, not just give their people pr talking points about important issues. The pandemic just amplified it. You didn't hear a united voice from many bishops talking about the importance of eternity and salvation when many for the first time in their lives were facing the possibility of their own mortality. If bishops just offer the salvation of the political and earthly way they make themselves irrelevant.

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I find the juxtaposition of your first story (the attempt to stop the USCCB discussion of Eucharistic coherence) with the one about the Fr. Altman dust up to be striking. It seems to me that the former is exactly what stokes the flames of the latter. As you say: “[I]t comes from a sense that bishops don’t say enough to stamp out the culturally conforming, doctrinally incorrect, errors and falsehood on offer…” I am decidedly not a fan of Fr. Altman or his ilk, and do not agree with disobedience and wholesale vilification of bishops, but as you point out- these internet dissenters get a lot of traction, and it would be good for certain bishops, like those letter signatories, to see the ways their actions (or lack thereof) are fueling this popularity.

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May 25, 2021Liked by JD Flynn

I wanted to add- I think it is mainly through The Pillar that I have come across the many good and thoughtful statements and teaching put out by bishops like Gomez, Cordileone, Chaput, etc…so thanks to you guys for reporting on the bad while also amplifying the good in our episcopate! (I also want to shout out my own bishop, Archbishop Hebda, who has been a really good shepherd to his flock this past year. The first bishop I knew of to stand up to the governor to open churches!)

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Why does no one ever mention that McCarrick is, de facto, still running the US church through his puppies--Gregory, Cupich, and Tobin? Does anyone have an explanation why that trio has such power in Rome, in particular with Francis himself? What is going on?

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Pro-abortion politicians are bringing scandal to the Church by advocating for abortion, the US government funding for abortion, the support for abortion in other countries. I don't understand what is so difficult about the bishops' acknowledging that and taking a stand that these politicians should not receive the Eucharist since they have supported abortion in so public a way. Confusion among the laity and the citizenship of the US is sown. You are right--we need leadership and moral clarity more than ever. Thank you for The Pillar!

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There's another aspect to the Father Altman story - perhaps he's saying at least some true things that nobody else is willing to say? When nobody else is willing to pick up the mantle and run with it, you're left with folks like him who seem to be seriously lacking in tact or nuance and are theologically challenged on certain things. But instead of just dismissing people as wanting to confirm their own biases, which is certainly true as far as it goes, why not acknowledge that Fr. Altman and other Internet stars are filling a vacuum? This is a failure of leadership.

Which brings me to the second point. Episcopal mistrust is damaging to the Church, but it's also true that it's not right, just or good to trust any human, including a bishop, who is not worthy of trust. You can use a bland sounding statement like "a prevailing sentiment among many Catholics — however accurate or inaccurate — that bishops didn’t do enough to provide for their people during the pandemic", but that just papers over the fact that, for example, the Cardinal Archbishop of Galveston Houston literally encouraged huge groups of people not to attend Mass during the pandemic! I read today that the Cardinal Archbishop of NYC plans to segregate non-vaccinated people like lepers in their own churches - a completely irrational thing to do spiritually, scientifically, practically, etc, etc.

The bottom line is if you want to get rid of the Fr. Altmans of the world and build trust, be a man people want to follow and be a man who inspires trust.

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The Bishop's letter on Father Altman is perhaps the kindest thing I've read in ages. Here it is: https://diolc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Diocese_of_La_Crosse_Press_Release052421.pdf

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Regarding the statement by Cupich, Gregory et al. to delay or drop the considerations Eucharistic coherence:

Let me get this straight. The meeting was going to discuss the creation of a draft that would be voted on at some later date. Said draft document, if ratified, would have no binding nature on individual bishops and represent no legal dictum or formulae. And yet this is a bridge too far and needs to be delayed because of reasons and probably shouldn't happen at all. The fear of the tiniest bit of discomfort at being reminded that publicly supporting pro-abortion politicians is not, at the least, a very good idea is going to cause them to torpedo the mildest of public acknowledgments of basic Christian moral teaching. Amazing!

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I want to like the Pillar. I really do. And some of your reporting is interesting. But your inability to fairly assess the quality and substance of positions and opinions with which you disagree brings into question the reliability of the other information you offer. The article on Fr. Altman, for example. I am not a fan of his but the links you offer to substantiate your descriptions of his homilies are of questionable quality (Newsweek?) And to describe him as "defending or offering justifications" for lynchings makes me wonder if you listened to the homily or just quoted one of the commenters? As a result of this, I have to reconsider what I am going to believe about Bishop Stika as reported here. I re-read that article after reading about Fr. Altman and I noticed the second time through that you appeared not to have spoken with anyone in Knoxville who had anything positive to say about him. Taking it all together, along with your insulting observations about Catholics who refuse to be vaccinated (and I am simply using the popular but largely inaccurate description for what is on offer), I am not likely to renew my subscription. Which is very disappointing for me, given how excited I was when you first launched this project.

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