Once you’ve taken the measure of your priest’s affinity for cultish domination, your next step is to talk to your friends and acquaintances in the chapel. Don’t worry. You won’t be the only one who’s concerned about what’s going on. If you’ve concluded that your priest is NOT a cultist, you and your friends may with confidence approach him privately with your proposals for good governance. A decent, holy priest will welcome your initiative because he, too, will have sensed something amiss in the current circumstances.
However,
if your priest is a my-way-or-the-highway cult-freak like his mentors, then
you must abandon the private approach. A dyed-in-the-wool cultist will respond savagely at the first sign of moral resistance, so speaking to him as if he were well
intentioned could spell the undoing of your hopes for reform. In addition, if your priest is a spendthrift
who brags about big-ticket dinners in fine restaurants and traveling "apostolates" at home and abroad [code for luxury vacations on your dollar],
there will be no lack of committed supporters. You’ll receive even greater backing if
your priest is the type of clerical incompetent who forgets the consecration or can’t
perform elementary rituals or invents new mortal sins out of thin air.
Once
you’ve got your friends on board, ask each to reach out to other chapel
members. The key here is to widen the circle to bring to the surface all the
underlying misgivings about the priest’s arrogant, lawless behavior. All too often,
Traddies tend to repress their discontent, for they’ve been indoctrinated to believe that no
one can criticize a priest or a wandering bishop. (That’s nonsense, of course.) But as soon
as people see they’re not alone, they’ll grow more courageous, especially
when they realize they’re preserving their investment in the faith for their
children.
Then
just wait for a critical mass to develop. It may take weeks, even months, but
eventually you’ll feel the solidarity. You’ll first notice the whispers
and the sidewise glances. Then you’ll see the shaking of heads and grimaces of
disgust as the would-be cult-master stumbles and tries to reassert dominion, often with the
support of disreputable, brainwashed lay stooges. Finally, however, you’ll hear loud,
opposing voices demanding reform and reorganization.
When that moment arrives,
you’re ready for Step III.
Could you maintain a tally of the number of chapels you've had a role in destroying through implementation of these principles? How does your plan for action advance the cause of the Church, or assist with the preservation of same? Sadly, I see you as a seriously disturbed individual who suffers from extreme vanity and pride.
ReplyDeleteUnder lay governance, chapels thrive. It is cult-mad traditional clergy who destroy chapels by their avarice and insatiable lust for sole control. Lay governance imposes accountability and thus prevents acquisitive clergy from selling properties, emptying bank accounts, botching projects, wasting resources, and generally fleecing the faithful. Hence, ours is a policy of preservation par excellence. We see you as the blind but willing victim of that cabal of shameless priests and prelates who have turned the faith into a spiritual desert for the laity and a promised land of profit and easy living for themselves.
ReplyDelete