Monks Gone Violent

When Jesus finished his journey on Earth, he probably didn't envision what happened today in Jerusalem:

Fighting erupted between Greek Orthodox and Armenian monks at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional site of Christ's crucifixion.

Two monks from each side were detained as dozens of worshippers traded kicks and punches at the shrine, said police.

Trouble flared as Armenians prepared to mark the annual Feast of the Cross.

Shocked pilgrims looked on as decorations and tapestries were toppled during Sunday's clash.

And what was this all about?:

The Greeks blamed the Armenians for not recognising their rights inside the holy site, while the Armenians said the Greeks had violated one of their traditional ceremonies.

It's very sad for this to happen at one of the holiest places of Christianity. It's worse to know monks started this brawl.

The Luxury Life of Fr. Michael Jude Fay

*** Scroll down for updates ***

---

ORIGINAL POST: July 29, 2006
As many other priests work hard at their parishes, there are some who stain the title of a "priest" with their bad behavior. Sadly, the latter are the ones who make the news. The latest is Fr. Michael Jude Fay from Connecticut. The Associated Press reports:

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. Jul 28, 2006 (AP)- A priest who resigned from a church in an affluent Connecticut community misspent up to $1.4 million in parishioner donations to lead a life of luxury with another man, according to a church-directed investigation.

The Rev. Michael Jude Fay spent church money on limousines, stays at top hotels, jewelry, Italian clothing and a Florida condominium shared with the other man, auditors hired by the diocese found. About half the money he spent was kept in a secret bank account, according to their report, which was mailed Friday to 1,700 parishioners of the Darien church and obtained in advance by The Associated Press.
[...]
The report describes a parish finance council that did not meet regularly in recent years, largely because of Fay's health and absences from the parish. Fay was diagnosed with cancer in 2001 and frequently cited his health when asked about church finances, the report states.

Read more...

He had cancer!!! I'm not surprised with the bad karma. The report lists more spending by Fr. Fay:

Fay shopped at Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom, drove a Jaguar, attended a sports club, bought jewelry from Cartier, spent $130,000 for limo rides for himself and his mother and stayed at hotels such as the Ritz Carlton, Hotel De Paris and the Four Seasons Hotel, the auditors found. He spent tens of thousands of dollars on home furnishings and meals and more than $20,000 to mark the 25th anniversary of his ordination, according to the report.

None of the priests I know drives a Jaquar. The Jaquar should have made the parishioners question his financial habits.

---

UPDATE I - Sept. 14, 2007
Well, it looks like Fr. Michael Jude Fay came to his senses on Wednesday. The New York Times reports:

NEW HAVEN, Sept. 12 — The Rev. Michael Jude Fay, a Roman Catholic priest with a taste for high living, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to federal charges of defrauding his parishioners of nearly $1 million from 1999 to 2006, when he was forced to resign.
[...]
Now living in Florida in an ocean-view condominium he bought using church funds, Father Fay has been formally relieved of his ability to perform priestly duties. He remains a priest, according to Joseph McAleer, a spokesman for the Bridgeport Diocese, but court officials referred to him repeatedly as “Mr. Fay.”.

Surprisingly, Fr. Fay has admirers too. A Dave L. sent me the following e-mail on Aug. 28, 2007:

Yes. What Fr. Jude did was wrong. But did you ever hear what he did right? Did you ever attend one of his sermons and hear him speak? Did you ever feel the Spirit of Christ standing at the pulpit and speaking to the congregation? While it is correct to point out the wrongs of others - especially egregious wrongs - remember: everyone has "rights" that stand sometimes anonymously on their own.

Sure, even Hollywood script writers can write homilies that make you feel the Spirit of Christ. Parishioners expect more than words from their pastors. They expect good actions to follow in their daily lives.

Don't ever put all priests in one basket. There's a major difference between the luxury life of Fr. Fay and the sacrifices of priests like the late Fr. Ragheed Ganni.

---

UPDATE II: August 24, 2009
The Darian Timesreports the death of Fr. Fay:

The Rev. Michael Jude Fay, the longtime pastor who stole more than $1 million from Darien's oldest Catholic parish, died Saturday in a Butner, N.C., federal prison.

Father Fay, 58, was suffering from prostate cancer. He was 10 months into a 37-month sentence for the theft.

The Diocese of Bridgeport confirmed the death with The Darien Times, which was first to report the news Saturday. No other details were released by the diocese.

Clericus Cup tournament At The Vatican

Alessandra Tarantino/AP

Redemptoris Mater football team players, wearing yellow and blue, challenge for the ball with Pontificia Universita' Lateranense players during the final of Clericus Cup tournament, at the St.Peter's parish recreation sports center in Rome.


I'm a big fan of soccer. Seeing future clergymen playing it made me wish I attended the tournament. The students acted like normal players would act during the bad and good moments of a soccer game. The Guardian reports:

It was an event you might have hoped would inject a bit of spirituality back into the beautiful game, a football tournament for priests and seminarians played out in the shadow of St Peter's Basilica.

But passions run high, even under a dog collar, and when the referee whistled for a penalty in the second half of the Clericus cup final, tempers boiled over. Students from the Pontifical Lateran University squared up angrily to the hapless official, insisting that the Costa Rican striker for Redemptoris Mater college had dived in the box, and while the language was not as purple as it can be in the premiership, words were had.
[...]
The incident prompted a flurry of blue cards, invented for the tournament and used to dispatch players to a temporary "sin bin".

I'm actually glad the players acted normally. It's not the end of the world. Let them be themselves for a day. What's the big deal about it?

The Priestly Chic, Gorgeous Georg

Any time the media mentions The Vatican, I expect some bad news. This time it's different. The buzz is about The Pope's handsome secretary Father Georg Gänswein:

Priestly chic has hit the catwalk in Milan, with Pope Benedict's pin-up personal secretary inspiring the latest collection by Donatella Versace.

Father Georg Gänswein, or Gorgeous Georg to his admirers, represents a triumph of "more brain and less muscle", according to Miss Versace, who sent blond male models down the catwalk with clerical black jackets and priestly white shirts.

"I was certainly inspired by him," she said. "I find his austerity very elegant. It is the right moment to show an ethical and spiritual man, free from all those pointless details. I also like Gregorian garb." She said her ideal man has biceps but "looks for his inside quality and trains it up, the muscles of the soul."

Read more...

He's definitely handsome. I'm sure many girls have crush on him. Even better, he knows it:

The austere and conservative priest, whose hair is now raffishly flecked with grey, fanned the flames of his female fans, who call themselves the Georgiste, by admitting that he had crushes on girls when he was younger. "My senses are healthy, and those that have healthy senses use them," he said.

Welcome to the German manhood :-)

Back To Church Campaign On YouTube

The YouTube site is popular for its weird and wild video clips. The Rt Rev. Jonathan Gledhill, the Bishop of Lichfield in the U.K. has decided to use the site to broadcast his annual Evangelism Sunday message. The Scotsman reports:

A CHURCH leader has turned to a video-sharing website to encourage more people to attend Sunday services.

The Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill, the Bishop of Lichfield, posted his first Sunday message of 2007 on YouTube, along with recordings of similar sermons from 2005 and 2006.
[...]
His spokesman, Gavin Drake, said: "The diocese designates the Sunday after Epiphany as Evangelism Sunday and the Bishop distributes a tape to encourage congregation members to consider the part they have to play in taking the good news of Jesus Christ to their communities, friends and neighbours.

"This year, for the first time, the bishop's message will be placed on the community video-sharing website YouTube."

Read more...

According to the article, the bishop is trying to reach out to the young people who don't attend church. I doubt it will work with young people. Still, I believe it's a good idea to broadcast his messages on YouTube as it has become THE MEDIUM these days.

The Kidnapping of Fr. Sami Abd-Ahad

UPDATE Dec. 11, 2006
The kidnappers released Fr. Sami on Sunday. Thanks God he returned safely to his family, friend and parish.

---

ORIGINAL POST Dec. 6, 2006
There's been another kidnapping of a Chaldean priest in Baghdad. He's the sixth priest to be kidnapped in the latest wave of terrorizing the Iraqi Christian community.

Fr. Sami was kidnapped after leaving his home to go to church two days ago. Patriarch of the Chaldean Church Emmanuel III Delly has pleaded for his safe return in an open letter to his kidnappers.

I'll keep you unpdated on Fr. Sami's status. Please, keep him and all the innocent Iraqis in your prayers.

Prayer For Drunk Teenagers

A Polish Dominican priest introduced new Catholic prayers aimed at teengers. As we know, teenagers drink. So, the priest wrote the following prayer for drunk teenagers:

Lord, if in an unsober state, and under the influence of those around me, I say something stupid, please give me strength to retract my words. Protect me against senseless bravado and pride.

I doubt the teens will remember to pray it after a night of partying. But, it's worth trying to help them.

Release Father Saad Petition

UPDATE:
Fr. Saad Sirop has been freed. Thank you for the people who prayed for him and/or signed the petition.

---

NOTE: This post will stay at the top until Fr. Saad Sirop is hopefully released by his kidnappers. Please, scroll down for new posts.



Read the latest developments.
Sign the petition.

The Matrix and Vocations Recruitment

Does this poster remind of Keanu Reeves from The Matrix?Well yes it does.

Catholic Online reported:

The poster, which is modeled after an advertisement for the movie "The Matrix," is the brainchild of Father Meyer. It features a priest in full cassock -- and the requisite Roman collar -- holding a cross in one hand and a rosary in the other. And he is wearing sunglasses.

That simple juxtaposition provides the mood Father Meyer said he was aiming for when creating the poster -- he wanted to say something about today's seminarian.

"Today's seminarian," he said, "is engaged with the world but is also committed to orthodoxy, like (Pope) John Paul II."

Read more...

The Washington Times reported on Aug. 11th:

An edgy poster showing a somber Catholic priest in full black cassock and sunglasses posed like "The Matrix" star Keanu Reeves is proving so popular that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has snapped up 5,000 of them.
...
"If we can get high-school youth to hang a picture of a priest in their room, that's huge in helping young men to answer the call to the priesthood," the cleric said. "Anyone who is a 'Matrix' guru looks at the picture and automatically gets it."

Crucifix in hand, Father Meyer posed for the poster, rated R for "restricted to those radically in love with Jesus Christ." Running time is "all eternity," and its title reads, "The Catholic priesthood: The answer is out there ... and it's calling you."

Read more...

This may actually work. I need to get this poster for my nephew.
 

Adopt an Iraqi Priest

 
I meant to publish this earlier. But, it's never too late to thank the Diocese of Turin in Italy for their support of the Iraqi Catholic priests.

Zenit reported:

Plan to Promote Long-Distance "Adoption" of Priests in Iraq

Initiative of Archdiocese of Turin

TURIN, Italy, SEPT. 22, 2004 (Zenit.org).- In the wake of attacks on churches in Iraq that prompted some Christians to emigrate, the Archdiocese of Turin has launched a plan to "adopt" Catholic priests in that country.

The project, entitled "I Have a New Friend: An Iraqi Chaldean Priest," is beginning with the objective to help 10 young parish priests of Baghdad.

Organizers of the initiative told ZENIT that the financial aid sent to these priests will be used "to improve the conditions of life of the communities themselves, by committing themselves to invest it, in the measure allowed by the situation."

The founders and directors of the project are Italian Father Fredo Olivero, who heads the archdiocesan Office of Pastoral Care for Emigrants; and Iraqi Father Douglas Shamshoon Al Bazi, parish priest of the Chaldean churches of Mar Mari and Mar Ephrem in Baghdad, and director of the Baghdad Catechesis Center.

The initiative has the approval of Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Isaac Jacques.

Father Olivero referred to the Chaldean priests the program aims to help.

"Each one of them knows his community and its needs, and each one is aware that material aid is useful if it is accompanied by the cultural growth that the aid can promote," the Italian priest said. "A growth that, although addressed to all, is oriented in particular to children, who need to be able to count on the hope of a better future."

The organizers stipulate that whoever commits himself to adopt an Iraqi priest must do so for at least one year.

The amount established "for the year 2004 is 1,000 euros" which "corresponds to the total annual figure that Iraqi young priests receive," Father Olivero added.

The project provides for direct contact between the priest and those who adopt it, which can be one person or a group.