www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Smithtown Church & Fr. Daniel Bitsko

Mikula:

Someone must know the people who were regular members. Someone must know enough people to network and get the names and phone numbers of the people who attended. In any group, there are active core members and there are the "hangers on." Even these latter can be moved IF someone takes a leadership role and makes a point of calling everyone possible to organized a meeting of interested members. If and only if the sixty member families are THE ONLY ONES interested should you throw in the towel and quit trying to contineu your community. It sounds to me, though, that everyone has taken the attitude that it is a foregone conclusion that all is lost.

You need a priest on the ground, a missionary attitude, some basic worship items, and a long term commitment to stick together. Then no amount of obstacle can stand in the way of your having a new parish. It may take fifty years, but so what. Is your faith commitment to Jesus Christ worth it?

In Christ,

BOB

John K: Your disillusionment continues to grow?...we, the Parish Family of the Smithtown Church, walk around shaking our heads and babble! I live 18 heavily trafficked miles east of the Church, am "older" and do not drive at past dusk. I find myself a Lady without a Church(after 32 years)...part of the diaspora that has resulted because of the inconvenient new (non?)Liturgical schedule. However, this is my problem. What is unfathomable is the treatment that the Parish Family has received both from Bishop Pataki and Fr. Untereiner. Bishop Pataki did not even accord us the courtesy of a visit in order to calm the upset of the Parish Family upon dismissing Fr. Bitsko, who had served with such dedication over the past 40 years. Fr. Untereiner came in, cleared the House of non-Byzantines and takes every opportunity to "slam" the past. Furthermore, he acts like he owns the Church...he demoralizes, dismisses, discards, sells and destroys at will. This Church WAS the hub of the Parish Family. We prayed, laughed, cried, volunteered, donated, worked together, and yes, even bickered like a family, but most of all....we prayed and loved like Family. We welcomed ALL and that was the Parish Family. Now, what's left of us, the few Byzantines, we HURT!! Obviously, Parish Family is no longer the operative word and therein lies the true tragedy, shame and scandal. Pray for us.

My heart aches reading this...having lived through this exact senario at Holy Trinity in Bridgeport, CT...I pray for you and your community...stay strong, don't give up your eastern christian heritage, and always remember what God wills will happen...I was crushed, (as was the entire HT community)when Holy Trinity went through this...looking at it now almost 3 years later...I finally returned home to my Orthodox roots and have continued to move forward in my spiritual life...unfortunately, those who found it easier to go to the Latin Church, or to the Protestants or those who now don't go anywhere...are the ones who still have not gotten over it...

As I was so often quoted during the HT ordeal..."Let go! Let God!"

Keeping you and your community in my prayers.
Chris

Chris, thank you for your kind words. My family and I are at a loss as to what to do; we are and always have been regular church attendees. After 38 years in a Byzantine Catholic church, we've come to think of ourselves as Byzantine Catholics. We know the Liturgy well in both Slavonic and English, and we keep all the customs and traditions. To go back to the Latin rite would be very difficult for us. We've gone to family weddings and funerals, and found ourselves not feeling comfortable or "at home" with the Roman Catholic mass any more. So what to do? We've come to think of our fellow parishioners as our extended family. Now we don't see many of them any more in church. We are bereft, and heartbroken. There is a Russion Orthodox church about 1/2 hours drive from our home. We are leaning in that direction, but will wait until Church of the Resurrection is officially closed before we make our move. In the meantime, we can't help but ponder the fact that it has taken Bishop Pataki at least ten years (during his reign in Passiac) to come to the conclusion that people with Italian and/or Irish surnames could possibly not have been born Byzantines. In all these years, he has readily accepted our checks, and our donations to his Stewardship appeals. Something is very, very wrong with this picture. Please remember us in your prayers.

Meg,

I am so sorry about your dreadful experiences. I grieve for your sense of loss and that of your fellow parishioners of 38(!) years. Alas, as St. Augustine observed, there are those who are in the Church but not of it and those who are of the Church but not in it. Clearly you are of it and in it and even in a Byzantine way, card carrying or not. Ultimately, God who sees all and knows all will judge rightly and, no doubt, very, very soon.

God bless,

Gordo

Thank you for your kind words, especially since they come from one who has already worn the shoes. Having had a Latin Rite Catholic mother and a Greek Orthodox father, the Byzantine Catholic rite was a happy middle road for me. I formally changed rite to the Byzantine back in the 1970's and was at Home in the Church of the Resurrection. My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary there and eventually both of their Funeral Liturgies were held there. As a visiting friend once said, "You can feel the Holy Spirit alive in this Church!" All were welcome.

None of the Parish Family could ever have anticipated what was to befall us that horrible October 2005...which took place ironically immediately after another very successful Bazaar...and the nightmare that has followed since. I wait and hope for a major positive change. My next option is to attend the Greek Orthodox Church nearby. I attend Church to worship God. It is not healthy for one's spiritual life to be surrounded by an unpleasant and negative environment. Unfortunately, those who were told to return to their "jurisdiction" may have been so scandalized that they will never come back even if encouraging changes were to happen in the future.

As we approach the anniversary of 9/11, the Fire Departments throughout Long Island will remember Fr. Dan Bitsko too....in addition to his Parish duties, he, as Fire Chaplain, attended just about every funeral for the firemen heroes who died as a result of what happened at The World Trade Center on that day.

Amen to that!

None of the Parish Family could ever have anticipated what was to befall us that horrible October 2005...which took place ironically immediately after another very successful Bazaar...and the nightmare that has followed since. I wait and hope for a major positive change. My next option is to attend the Greek Orthodox Church nearby. I attend Church to worship God. It is not healthy for one's spiritual life to be surrounded by an unpleasant and negative environment. Unfortunately, those who were told to return to their "jurisdiction" may have been so scandalized that they will never come back even if encouraging changes were to happen in the future.

Sorry, I mistakenly hit the "submit" button before I typed in my response to Spinrose. I wanted to add that I do agree that the young people who were told to return to their original "jurisdiction" will most likely never come back. They were strong enough in their faith to see to it that their children were receiving religious training in our Eastern Formation school, and faithfully attending Liturgy on Sunday. They have now had to uproot their children and enroll them in a religion school somewhere else; most likely, they would not want to do this to their children again. My only consolation is that someday, we will all be judged, and our Lord will not look kindly on anyone who treated children in this way. We still attend Church of the Resurrection on Sundays, and will do so until it closes, but Spinrose is correct - it is a very unpleasant and negative environment now. I have to constantly remind myself of my grandmother's admonition. She used to say "Remember, a priest or a nun is nothing but a man or a woman. They are human and can do wrong, but it has nothing to do with your faith."

Yes, Meg, it is so true that none of this has anything to do with our Faith, which is firm. But I always remember the good sisters that admonished us in school about causing scandal. It is unfortunate that the Bishop and his appointee have not given thought to this when the act. The speculations about Fr. Dan, insinuations about members of the Parish Family, the "CSI" financial investigation of the books, the "selling" and dumping of belongings (many of which had been donated not only by parishioners but members of the Smithtown community as well), the treatment of the animals, the closing of the Catechetical Center, even the dimming of the lights and lack of air in Church during Liturgy, and it goes on and on...have all been laid out before the world. The saga continues week after week as a constant reminder of what we were...and that "they are just men." Sometimes it is good just to sit quietly on the beach and ponder the wonders of the Lord and also appreciate all that we had had...in the past...and live in Hope.

Actually, we are being tortured out of existence. My cousin, who is a secretary in a Roman Catholic church on Long Island, says the priests she works for are aghast at what is going on in our church. Her comment to me was "Why didn't they just get up and announce they were closing the church, instead of slowly torturing you parishioners. That would have been the kinder thing to do." There is no kindness, no humanity, evident in the hearts of Bishop Pataki and Father Untereiner. It breaks my heart to see some of the very elderly parishioners, who appear totally demoralized and disheartened, as well they should be. Yes, this is a scandalous situation, but it is being noted far and wide, you can be sure of that.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

For some reason, every time I read the posts in this thread, I am reminded of the sage advice given by the Blessed Origen:

�It is not irrational, then, to form associations in opposition to existing laws, if done for the sake of the truth. For as those persons would do well who should enter into a secret association in order to put to death a tyrant who had seized upon the liberties of a state, so Christians also, when tyrannized over by him who is called the devil, and by falsehood, form leagues contrary to the laws of the devil, against his power, and for the safety of those others whom they may succeed in persuading to revolt from a government which is, as it were, �Scythian,� and despotic� (Contra Celsum I.1).

Sic semper tyrannis?

In Christ,
Kenneth Alexo, Jr. (Theophilos)
St. Thomas the Apostle
Rahway, NJ

I'll bet Smithtown had to lay out $$$ for the new pew books though! And probably enough for 300 people? Ugh!

Quo Vadis? The Papal Nuncio (Apostolic Delegate) in Washinton?

Having been there myself, that is an excellent way to put it...

If we were animals his Grace Andrew and his minions would be arrested for crulety to animals...but we are mere human beings...

Chris