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Dec 29th, 2019
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Not to add fuel to the fire, but...
I have been watching EWTN since 1996 and I've noticed that two of the MFVA (Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word) priests who used to serve there, namely Fr. John Mary and Fr. Augustine Mary, also disappeared long ago with a trace.
Before Fr. Francis Mary was ordained, Fr. Augustine was the "happy face" among the friars.
Does anybody know what happened to these two priests?
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Joined: Nov 2001
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Fr. Agustine serves as a diocesan(sp) priest.
Fr. John is happy and doing well.
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LOTR is cheesy. It's more of the happy, clappy Jesus mentality that seemed to originate in the 1970s. However, I don't know anything personally about the priest. I suppose there are two ways you can look at this. Perhaps this is a crisis in the priest's life that he will resolve and return to a life of genuine service. Or maybe he is in the wrong place and needs to do something else to avoid doing major damage in the future. Like I said, I don't know him, so it's hard to tell. But it has been my experience that some in the priesthood might have done the Church a greater service by doing anything else.
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Bill from Pgh Member
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Bill from Pgh Member
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Didn't see this thread in Town Hall until now and I originally posted this in the prayer section:
Having had a relative and a friend, both good and examplary men, involved in very, very similar situations I can sympathize with the hurt and heartache this causes for everyone. One thing I will say is there is NO scandal here. Father Francis has done the right thing in the course he has undertaken.
"Once a priest, always a priest". This axiom is true in the Catholic Church, I can't speak for other churches. Even though a priest can be relieved of his priestly duties,["laicized"], he is still a priest and forbidden to perform priestly duties. The relative I write of was my uncle, of blessed memory, and I vividly remember seeing him at the final viewing at my grandmother's funeral quietly and discreetly give her his priestly blessing. The one and only time he exercised the priestly office after being relieved of the duty.
Pray for your priest and for all priests. Incessantly!
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That there is NO scandal involved if a priest breaks his vow of celibacy to get married is your own opinion.
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Just a question on this. I understand priests in orders take vows, but diocesan priests make promises not vows. Is this correct?
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Bill from Pgh Member
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Only the scandal that you create. Priests are human. We are all human, to err is human. As one who personally knows the agony of the situation, it is not easy for anyone. It is much easier to condemn than forgive.
Last edited by rcguest; 11/04/07 08:20 PM.
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Bill from Pgh Member
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Bill from Pgh Member
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Having consulted Webster's I will retract my statement that there is "NO scandal" involved. The "degree", for lack of a better term, of scandal or our perception of what is deemed scandalous is left to each of us to discern.
Lord have mercy,
Bill
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I don't know who's making any condemnation here ? I certainly won't condemn Father Francis Mary Stone if he leaves the priesthood to marry, but I would tell him in no uncertain terms that his actions are contrary to the teaching of the Catholic Church, something I have no doubt he's already aware of.
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Yes, ByzanTN, LOTR seems to me, also, just very cheesy. It's uncomfortably Protestant in appearance, although perhaps not in content (and that's coming from an ex-Protestant...).
Alexis
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Prayers for Father Francis Mary are in order.
Prayers for that super-cheesy and creepy show Life on the Rock, too...
Alexis You are not a fan of LOTR? I agree - it can be cheesy...but "creepy"? Also, why the warnings (speaking primarily to Father Stephanos now) about gossip mongering? None of us are doing that here. There is an element of scandal here to be sure, but at the same time, to Simple Sinner's point, at least Fr. Francis (and EWTN) has the integrity to step back and properly discern what his next steps should be. He could have handled this far worse, such as the Latin Catholic priest that lived across the street from us in Wisconsin who got in the pulpit one Sunday and announced he was tired of priesthood and was getting married by the JP the next day to one of the parishioners. I also know the priest that was called in to succeed him and repair the damage there, which was considerable. I guess personally I am not as bothered by it on an emotional level. Perhaps it is because I have no skin in the game and am not particularly attached to EWTN like some are. But it is also because we do not know that he has broken any vow (nor do I care to know) and the woman involved is not married, but a widow with children. If he decides to give up religious life and his priestly ministry in order to enter married life, I can only say God bless him and his new family and wish him well as a father and husband. I hope he pursues the proper dispensations and that the process of laicization goes quickly. I also hope he adjusts well to no longer having a public platform. However this is resolved, I seriously doubt he will be put in front of a camera again, at least not at EWTN. (Although there are notable exceptions to this, such as Amy Welborn and her husband who is a former Catholic priest, both of whom are published authors and popular speakers.) God bless, Gordo Gordo, God bless you for your graciousness and mercy. My thoughts are the same as yours on this and it saddens me, reading some other Catholic forums, to see how bitter and vicious some people will be over this. Joe
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I don't find this scandalous. Granted, Fr. Francis was a religious, but given the fact that being a married diocesan priest is not an option for Roman Catholics, isn't there not much difference being being a celibate diocesan priest and a religious? I believe that when Roman Catholic priests become Orthodox, they are given permission by many Bishops to marry since they did not have an opportunity to marry before ordination.
Personally, I think that the mandatory celibacy rule creates problems like this because there are many young men who are severely conflicted and perhaps they decide to go into the priesthood because they haven't "found someone" or simply because their desire to be a priest is greater than their desire to be married. Also, this mandatory celibacy for priesthood sets up the priesthood as if it is a parallel sacrament to marriage, i.e. you can marry the Church or you can mary a spouse. But I think this distorts the very nature of the priesthood. And I think that it is this distorted view of the priesthood that causes the scandal.
Joe
Last edited by JSMelkiteOrthodoxy; 11/05/07 09:03 AM.
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"There are many young men who are severely conflicted and perhaps they decide to go into the priesthood because they haven't 'found someone' or simply because their desire to be a priest is greater than their desire to be married."
That is a poor reason to enter the priesthood or to enter the religious life. This highlights the importance of discernment and whether or not the vocation chosen is right and proper for one's temperament and if it is what God wants from us.
Terry
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Pani Rose, you mentioned Fr. Augustine is serving as a Diocesan priest. Do you know where? He is a great blessing to the Church, wherever he is.
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Joe,
In this case, though, Fr. Francis actually broke off his engagement with a woman in order to study for the priesthood. He was working as an accountant, making pretty good money, too, as I understand it.
KIM, the Evil One will pounce on the smallest details to derail any vocation, and we don't know what those details are in this case (I don't even want to know, I'll just prayer for the man).
As to the distinction between diocesan and order priests, the latter have a "spirit" to follow, and brothers who are intended to care for them; diocesan priests are "on their own", once they are ordained. "On their own" in the sense that if they want help in their spiritual life, they must seek it out; there is no mandatory spiritual direction or means of formation entailed by their Ordination.
Best regards,
Michael
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