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The below is directly from the Diocese of Dallas website, but as the traffic to the site has apparently overwhelmed the servers, we are reposting the message from Bishop Edward Burns it in its entirety.


Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

 These have been very difficult days within the Church and the Diocese of Dallas. In October, the Diocese held a special Ceremony of Sorrow, a prayer service to express shame and deep remorse over the egregious sexual misconduct committed by some within the Church. Since that time, I have continued to pray for guidance, met personally with victims of abuse, held public listening sessions, worked with our Diocesan Review Board and our Victims Assistance Coordinator, and taken other steps to begin what I believe can be a process of healing and repentance.

Today, I am following through on a commitment I made in October to provide the names of those priests who have been the subject of a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor in the Diocese during the period from 1950 to the present. A “credible allegation” is one that, after review of reasonably available, relevant information in consultation with the Diocesan Review Board or other professionals, there is reason to believe is true.

The process to compile this list began with an outside group of former state and federal law enforcement officers that reviewed the files of the 2,424 priests who have served in this diocese since 1950. Those investigators identified files which contained credible allegations of the sexual abuse of minors. The Diocesan Review Board, which includes local experts in law enforcement, clinical psychology, law, and medicine, then reviewed those allegations. The list of names I have provided you reflects the recommendations of our Diocesan Review Board, and I am grateful for their diligence, integrity, and expertise.  To view the list and get more information please visit www.cathdal.org/response.

Although I have also provided this list of names to law enforcement, inclusion on this list does not indicate that a priest is guilty of, been convicted of, or has admitted to the alleged abuse.

As we look back at the Church’s history, our failure to protect our most vulnerable from abuse, and hold accountable those who preyed on them, fills me with both sorrow and shame. But the painful yet necessary process that began in 2002 in this Diocese has also led to much-needed reforms that we continue to rigorously implement today.  Going forward, we must remain vigilant.

I pledge to you that we will do our best to do what is right.

While we have gone to great lengths to ensure that this list is exhaustive, we know there could be more victims who have not reported their abuse. I encourage them to come forward and report to law enforcement, or by calling the Texas Abuse Hotline at 1-800-252-5400. Please also contact Victims Assistance Coordinator, Barbara Landregan, at 214-379-2812 or blandregan@cathdal.org. The Church continues to offer our prayers and support to the victims, survivors, and their families for the suffering they have endured. 

As I look to the future, I am encouraged that an overwhelming majority of the priests in this Diocese are, and have been, good and holy men, and I remain thankful for their witness. As well as the wonderful men who are in our seminaries – let us pray for these men.

To those of you who have experienced family or friends who have walked away from the faith because of this scandal in the Church, please remind them that we must never separate ourselves from Jesus because of Judas.  As your shepherd, I pray that you stay strong in the faith and continue to grow in your relationship of our Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  We pray through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe that God our Father will guide us through these difficult days.

Thank you for your time and may God bless you and your loved ones. 

Eternally yours in Christ, 

Most Reverend Edward J. Burns
Bishop of Dallas

PRINTABLE LETTER FROM BISHOP BURNS  

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List of Priests

Click name for details

Incardinated in Diocese of Dallas

Name	Status	Diocese of Incardination / Religious Order
Matthew Bagert	Laicized	Diocese of Dallas
Richard Brown	Absent on leave	Diocese of Dallas
Alejandro Buitrago	Retired with faculties suspended	Diocese of Dallas
Robert Crisp	Retired with faculties suspended	Diocese of Dallas
Paul Detzel	Laicized	Diocese of Dallas
John Duesman	Deceased	Diocese of Dallas
James Fitzpatrick	Deceased	Diocese of Dallas
Michael Flanagan	Deceased	Diocese of Dallas
Timothy Heines	Suspended, Pending lawsuit alleging abuse of minor	Diocese of Dallas
William Hoover	Deceased	Diocese of Dallas (1969 – Diocese of Fort Worth)
William Hughes	Laicized	Diocese of Dallas
Richard Johnson	Deceased	Diocese of Dallas
Rudy Kos	Laicized Incarcerated	Diocese of Dallas
William Lane	Deceased	Archdiocese of Port of Spain (Trinidad – 1933) Diocese of Dallas (1958)
Justin Lucio	Deceased	Diocese of Dallas
Patrick Lynch	Deceased	Diocese of Dallas
Henry McGill	Deceased	Diocese of Mobile (1941) Diocese of Dallas (1954)
Jeremy Myers	Suspended	Order of St. Benedict (1984) Diocese of Dallas (1996)
Edmundo Paredes	Suspended	Diocese of Dallas
Robert Peebles	Laicized Deceased	Diocese of Dallas
James Reilly	Deceased	Diocese of Dallas  Diocese of Fort Worth (1969)
Kenneth Roberts	Deceased	Diocese of Dallas
Jose Saldana	Laiciziation Pending	Diocese of Dallas
Raymond (John) Scott	Deceased	Diocese of Dallas

Incardinated in Other Diocese / Religious Order

Name	Status	Diocese of Incardination / Religious Order
Michael Barone	Retired	Diocese of Tyler
Thomas Behnke	Deceased	Order of Discalced Carmelites
Gabriel Hentrich	Deceased	Order of Discalced Carmelites
Patrick Koch	Deceased	Society of Jesus (the Jesuits)
Vincent Malatesta	Unknown	Society of Jesus (the Jesuits)
Anthony Nwaogu	Unknown	Diocese of Umuahia, Nigeria
Benjamin Smylie	Deceased	Society of Jesus (the Jesuits)

Truth.

We start off today with words written 50 years before Christ in the Book of Wisdom,

“Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;
he sets himself against our doings,
reproaches us for transgressions of the law
and charges us with violations of our training.”

How about the words of the second reading?

“Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.”

It doesn’t take much imagination to apply this to our families, our careers, and even our Church. But even as dark as that all sounds, the first reading from the Book of Wisdom (and boy do we need wisdom now) gives so much hope. We aren’t the first people to feel beset upon.  It’s been going on for a while now.

The challenge before us is applying this to daily life.  Every day, we’re called to be God’s light and truth to others.  Sometimes that means a random act of kindness to a stranger.   Sometimes it means being a light shining in the darkness, and it feels hopeless, because even so, you’re still surrounded by darkness.   In the opening of the Gospel of John, “the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.”  I love this image.  Imagine someone standing in a field with a single candle.  The field remains essentially completely dark, but the light shining remains visible.  For how far could that light be seen?  Two guys from MIT actually answered this question scientifically.  Saving you the details, it can be seen for 1.6 miles. By the beauty of the internet and math, I calculated that a single candle (assuming a flat field with no obstructions) would be seen over an area over 8.7 square miles.  Talk about a little going a long way!

The idea of a little going a long way is something we’re familiar with if we look to Christ’s acts.  In the Gospels, there are six accounts of two separate miracles of feeding thousands with a few loaves and fish.  The source of the original few loaves and fishes seems to be rather unimportant because only in the Gospel of John does it mention specifically they came from a boy.  While the source may not be of the utmost importance, the loaves and fish likely came from someone among the crowd.  They came from somewhere, from someone, and THAT is important.  Christ could have, but didn’t just say “Presto! Let there be food for all!”  It started with something insignificant.  On its own, a few loaves and fish was totally useless.

If the objective is how to feed thousands, how insignificant are these few loaves and fish?  I’ll tell you this post feels far more insignificant and as inadequate to make a difference today.  But I do it anyway, because Christ has a way of making our efforts go further, but you have to give Him something to start with.

There’s no shortage of evil in our world, and as we heard a couple weeks ago, we don’t have to worry as much about the evil around us as we do from the evil that bubbles up from inside us.  This reading should give us courage to use all that we have at our disposal to bring ourselves closer to Him, and to speak His truth.

So in this context, how do we bring ourselves closer to Him?  We have the “lowercase church,” meaning our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to look after.  We have the sacraments.  We have His words, which we need to do a better job of actually reading.

When confronting any evil or wrong, we should expect incoming arrows.  This is what the “just (righteous) one,” sets out to do, and he was “reviled and tortured,” in the first reading.  When you feel jabs and barbs, you’re probably doing it right.  In going to look up what Jesus said about turning the other cheek, (it’s in Matthew chapter 5 in case you wanted to read the other good stuff there), I stumbled into what the whole point and tenor of how we speak that truth to power; we should be “salt and light.”

Don’t hide your light.  Being light through kindness to others, especially a stranger, takes courage.  Being light through speaking truth takes faith.  Today’s readings give us the direction to give Him something to work with and see how much further He’ll multiply the good.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

Matthew 5:14-16

How much of what we do as Catholics is clinging to human tradition?  How much of it fits the definition of “good religion” in the second reading?

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this:
to care for orphans and widows in their affliction
and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Considering where we are as a church today, there’s no question we should be examining our institutions, heiracrhy, and our purpose as a people of God.  Today,  I hear Jesus calling the first Christians to stop worrying so much about the minutiae of the letter of the old mosaic laws, and start focusing on the reality of where our troubles and failings come from; they come from within us.  Sound familiar?  I thought so.  So what do we do?

The first thing we ought to be doing more of, is being “hearers of the word.”  We must be better hearers/readers/audio-book-listeners of the Bible.  Growing up Catholic, I was told we read the whole bible every three years through a three year rotation.  That’s not exactly true.  If you were to go to mass every single day my best internet research says we get through something like 80% of the New Testament… so if you’re like me and don’t remember the last weekday mass you went to, think about how much of Christ we’re not getting.  There’s no way we can know the way if we’re not exposing ourselves to “the way.”

Here’s the good news though; if you think your Catholic faith is complicated, get ready to be shocked at the simplicity of Christ.  When he could righteously accuse, exclude, or condemn, he doesn’t.  He welcomes, forgives, and accepts people without excusing our shortcomings.  Maybe most importantly, He gives us perspective when we miss the big picture and get wrapped around the axle on little things as He does in today’s Gospel.

Today, the Pharisees are upset that the disciples are flouting the old laws of ritual cleansing before eating.  Beyond the Ten Commandments, there’s over 600 other laws pertaining to every aspect of a good Jew’s life.  These scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem.  These are the big dogsfrom the big city, and they know what they’re talking about.  According to the law, they’re not wrong.  Christ then gives us some perspective.   He points out how hypocritical they’re being using Isaiah’s own words.

“Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:
This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.
You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”

The Pharisees are teaching their “human precepts” as godly doctrine.  With all the tradition we’re steeped in as Catholics, it’s a worthy question to ask how much of what we do within our institutions are either not rooted in Christ’s way at best, and at worst are antithetical to growing His kingdom.

If there’s any question as to what kind of evils that we should be guarding against, he spells it out, simply, and in no uncertain terms.  We should look inward at ourselves.  None of us are exempt. Every single member of our church from the Pope to the church-goer (or those of us ‘bad Catholics’ who don’t go to mass every Sunday too) should be looking at ourselves.

“From within people, from their hearts,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile.”

So that’s what evil is and where it comes from… so what are we supposed to do?  Look no further than the second reading.

“Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you
and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.”

Let’s do, and let’s read it, more than what we hear on Sunday.

-John Bielamowicz

Here are today’s readings if you missed them.

 

We, the church, the people of the body of Christ deserve the full and unvarnished truth.   Bishop Strickland is to be commended for asking for the truth even when he admittedly doesn’t have the authority to do so.

Yesterday, Bishop Strickland of the Diocese of Tyler released a statment regarding the allegations made by Archbishop Vigano, former Nuncio to the United States, credible and worthy of investingating.   The Pope said to the media to read the document, and draw our own conclusions, and on this he said, “I will not say one word.”  So here’s the document. Here’s the Pope’s full comments in his own words.  So at the Pope’s invitation, here we are, drawing our own conclusions, and it stinks.

Among other allegations, the most damaging are that Pope Francis was aware that “Archbishop [Theodore McCarrick] ‘shared his bed with seminarians,’ inviting five at a time to spend the weekend with him at his beach house,” and that Francis scaled back sanctions previously put in place by Pope Benedict.

Archbishop Vigano says that he informed Pope Francis of McCarrick in 2013 and the Pope continued to provide cover for him.  The Pope finally accepted McCarrick’s resignation last month, July 28, 2018.

Furthermore, in more Texas ties to these allegations, Archbishop Vigano names former Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas, Kevin Farrell, now Cardinal Farrell in the allegations.  He casts doubt that Cardinal Farrell didn’t know of McCarrick’s misdeeds.  It’s worth noting, Farrell, ordained by McCarrick was close enough to McCarrick that he incorporated elements of McCarick’s coat of arms into his own.

“Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who was recently interviewed by the media, also said that he didn’t have the slightest idea about the abuses committed by McCarrick. Given his tenure in Washington, Dallas and now Rome, I think no one can honestly believe him,” said Vigiano.

Thank you Bishop Strickland for your stand and leadership.

 

This week, as much as any week in recent memory, our church needs healing.  We the church are hurting and unfortunately, The Catholic Church probably can’t fix itself without us.  We all would love the Catholic Church to get its act together and fix itself.  That attitude (which the author is very guilty of) is inherently a part of the problem.  At this moment, we have a couple options; we can pack our bags and leave, or we the “lowercase church” can demand and do our part in holding The Catholic Church to account.

In the text of the New Testament, the word “church” or “churches” is mentioned 108 times.  It’s never capitalized.  Why?  Because as Paul tells us in the second reading today in his letter to the Ephesians, the idea of “church” simply refers to us, the members of the body of Christ.  He calls us to love as Christ loves the church. He’s not talking about the bricks and mortar in which we go to Mass.  He’s talking about us.

When Pope Francis commented late last week on the horrific accounts of abuse and concealment in Pennsylvania, he referred to the “Church,” and its role.  In context, it’s clear, he’s talking about the institution and entity of the Catholic Church, consisting of the priests, bishops, assets, and heirachy.

Pope Francis rightly lays blame in many places, but none more so than when he blames the culture of “clericalism.”  It’s certainly not the first time he’s blamed clericalism, and before we tackle it, we should define it.

Clericalism is the idea of the Church hierarchy that exerts power, control, and supremacy.  Clericalism today is often accompanied by the kind of hypocrisy condemned by Christ in Matthew 23 as Christ denounces the Scribes and Pharisees.

They tie up heavy burdens [hard to carry] and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.  Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.’  (Matthew 23:4-7, 25-27 NAB)

Pope Francis says the following about it; “Clericalism, whether fostered by priests themselves or by lay persons, leads to an excision in the ecclesial body that supports and helps to perpetuate many of the evils that we are condemning today. To say “no” to abuse is to say an emphatic “no” to all forms of clericalism.”

When he blamed lay persons for any role in the culture of clericalism, my initial reaction was anger. We lay people certainly didn’t do this, and we surely didn’t build this culture.  Upon reflection, we may have a bigger role than we thought…

How many of us have ever thought something similar to, “the Church isn’t a democracy, we can’t really effect change.”  It’s been especially reinforced by top down doctrinal rules on things like marriage, annulments, and the Eucharist.  “Rules are rules,” and the end result is many times exclusion from the Church, and not communion with Christ for people who are otherwise seeking Him.

 

WHAT DO WE DO?

In the face of this, what are we, the church, called to do?  We must each ask ourselves this, and in light of the gravity of the situation, there’s not much out-of-bounds.  Some have suggested withholding money,  or simply leaving the Church.  The Catholic Church surely doesn’t have a lock on the only path to salvation.  As for me, I’m speaking.  I’m looking to Christ’s words in the Gospels and applying them to today and our Church.

Dallas Bishop Edward Burns is planning town halls  among other things, which is wonderful.  He asks us to pray for victims and for sanctification of priests.  Candidly, I have no problem praying for the sanctification of priests, but for priests who have abused anyone, young or old, there should be no place for them in ministry.  I’ll pray for them while they hopefully enter secular life or prison.  I believe Christ is clear on the topic as well.

Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.  Matthew 18:6 NAB

In the Pontiff’s response to Pennsylvania, he mentions “implementing zero tolerance and ways of making all those who perpetrate or cover up these crimes accountable.”  I see little distinction between perpetrators, and those who either by act or omission are part of the concealment and perpetuation by allowing these men to remain in ministry.

 

MOVING FORWARD

I imagine this will be ongoing, and as pervasive as the abuse was in Pennsylvania, and from past reports, we know this was not exclusive to any single particular geography.  We know from the Pennsylvania grand jury report that some of these priests were transferred to West Texas.  (Apparently Amarillo and Odessa are viewed as punishment.)

The Pope has been talking about elevating the laity for years now.  How many of us  accepted that challenge?  (Better question; how many of us even knew he’d been talking about clericalism and its evils for the past few years?)

For me and hopefully for others, that silence and hesitation ends here and now.  I heard the Pope.  His words are echoes of Christ’s, and they should be echoed to our local pastors and to our Bishops.  Only the “lowercase church” body can to put those words into action and accountability.

-John Bielamowicz

PS – I have no shortage of faith that Christ is still guiding us.  I took a peek at next week’s Gospel, and there’s plenty of reason for faith and hope.

 

 

“Chreaster,” as defined by the Urban Dictionary – More than 50% of the people belonging to a Catholic Church Parish that only come to mass on the big holidays- Christmas and Easter-therefore making it difficult to find seats because the Church is overpacked.

I can’t remember all the Easters where I thought, who are all these people and where did they come from? How come they don’t know when to sit and kneel, and do they even know any of the responses? Doesn’t the fact I come to mass every week entitle me to a seat in the main church without having to wrestle for the whole pew they’re saving for their family who will assuredly show up sometime around the first reading? Shouldn’t we have some sort of frequent flyer card or something?

This year was a little different…

Ask me about my faith life lately…. Short answer, “it’s complicated.”

I’ll save the theology and challenges for another piece, but my faith has grown a lot lately. My relationship with the church is what’s suffering. But like with any good relationship, we don’t bail out when things get hard, and finding another church wouldn’t solve anything anyway.

The point is, (and it’s not fun to admit) I’m one of those people this year that hadn’t been to mass in a while, but Easter brought me back.  We tried for Palm Sunday, but after my wife and I both ended up outside the church during the consecration with two misbehaving kids, we gave up.  Forgive us please, Lord. We really tried.

So to each of you who smiled at me and my crazy kids today, thank you. If someone took your seat, your parking spot, or you had to sit in the overflow, know your kindness and grace to all the unfamiliar faces you may or may not see again until Christmas is truly being Christ’s light to someone like me who is still trying really hard to be better than I was yesterday. I’ll see you at mass next Sunday. Promise.

God bless us all.

-John Bielamowicz

Twitter: @johnnybwicz

John is a commercial real estate broker in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and lives with his wife Molly and two sons in Waxahachie.

To Bishop Edward Burns, we want extend a Texas sized welcome.  We’re thankful the good Lord decided to not only bless us with you coming to Dallas, but He decided to bless us with 60 degrees and sun on the day of your installment.

We’re looking forward to your leadership, and you’re in our prayers for wisdom, discernment, and strength to lead the Diocese of Dallas.

You’re also in our prayers that you may adjust to our Texas summers as we can only imagine you must have adjusted to Alaskan winters.

 

-John Bielamowicz and TexasCatholic.org

We’re getting ready.  We’ll be accepting submissions, letters, and will feature guest writers and editors on subjects ranging from theology, the clergy, and the challenges facing us in our daily lives.

Did your pastor give a great homily?  We want to hear about it.  Did something rub you the wrong way?  We want to hear that too. (Keep it respectful.  Do you write a 7 minute talk without fail every Sunday?)

So bring the stories, your thoughts, your concerns and your humor.

We want to know what’s on your mind!

 

Disclaimer: This site is not affliated with the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, The Texas Catholic Newspaper, or the Diocese of Dallas.