Bishop Matt found some friends who had misbehaved. They had been sent to the corner and were now certified as non-misbehavers. Matt invited them to come to the Amarillo Diocese.
“a few” tattled that Matt’s friends were “misbehavin”. Bishop Yanta came, and even though he didn’t want to, he behaved and ordered Matt’s friends to leave. Matt and some of us who liked his friends stood in the door. Still, Yanta made them go, but one friend rewarded Matt on the way out by putting Matt’s name above the door.
Bishop Zurek came. Yanta left without being rewarded with his name above the door. Soon Matt left as well with “no regrets” for his “misbehavin” friends; so his name was left above the door. Zurek took the credit for making us a certified non-“misbehavin” diocese and rewarded himself by putting his name below Matt’s on the door. Later, “a few” tattled on Zurek’s brother for “misbehavin”. Zurek scolded the tattlers out the door yelling that his brother was a certified non-misbehaver. Shortly thereafter, Zurek’s brother asked to go to the corner for “misbehavin”, but “a few” were never invited back; and Zurek’s name is still below Matt’s above the door!
The majority of us are going through a grieving process, as if we’ve lost a loved one, I know that probably the victims, when they hear us talk, they probably think, “Well, they don’t live in the real world. Don’t they know what’s going on out here?” (But Father Salazar-Jimenez) hadn’t done that with us.
Zero Tolerance Takes Big Toll in a Texas Diocese
It’s interesting what people feel about zero tolerance,” he said before presiding over the midday service in Tulia, convened in the name of healing and reconciliation. ”The victims and the victims’ families are adamant. But these people here are just mourning the loss of a very fine priest.
Bishop Yanta from Zero Tolerance Takes Big Toll in a Texas Diocese
Are we asking “the victims of clergy sexual abuse“ in the Diocese of Amarillo “to behave in the household of God” for us, “the company and assembly“, because we do not want to “mingle tears with you“, or Mary, “beneath the Cross of the Lord” where “the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed“; for He may say, “behold, your” “serious mistake” and “prepare (your) hearts to encounter our brothers and sisters, so that we may overcome our differences“?
Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows
All by myself
No one to walk with
But I’m happy on the shelf
Ain’t misbehavin”
I agree with our bishop, Patrick J. Zurek, in putting forth in his Holy Week homilies this year the Encyclical of Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti, as the standard for love and unity in our diocese. Today, let’s reflect upon paragraph #254 in that regard:
CHAPTER SEVEN
PATHS OF RENEWED ENCOUNTER
MEMORY
Forgiving but not forgetting
254. I ask God “to prepare our hearts to encounter our brothers and sisters, so that we may overcome our differences rooted in political thinking, language, culture and religion. Let us ask him to anoint our whole being with the balm of his mercy, which heals the injuries caused by mistakes, misunderstandings and disputes. And let us ask him for the grace to send us forth, in humility and meekness, along the demanding but enriching path of seeking peace”.[236]
BOTTOM: A building named after Bishop Zurek” by a priest admirer.
I think I made the right decision,” said Bishop Matthiesen, noting that he never accepted pedophiles but rather ephebophiles, abusers whose victims were ages 14 to 17. ”I do believe in the possibility of conversion, of repentance, of rehabilitation.”
From “Zero Tolerance Takes Big Toll in a Texas Diocese” in which Bishop Matthiesen defended the “serious mistake”
This approach demands of us the decision to abandon a modus operandi of disparaging, discrediting, playing the victim or the scold in our relationships, and instead to make room for the gentle breeze that the Gospel alone can offer.
From a January, 2019 letter by Pope francis to TO THE BISHOPS OF THE UNITED STATES CONFERENCE
OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS on retreat. A retreat that Bishop Zurek missed in order to take a personal vacation.
I am also compelled to share some events in regard to the treatment of
From a 2019 letter in which Bishop Zurek uses the same “modus operandi” as Bishop Matthiessen
the priests that serve you. First is the persistent rumor that Msgr. Colwell, your Rector is an alcoholic. I have consulted with two physicians caring for Msgr. and both are very clear that he is not an alcoholic. He is suffering from a very high blood pressure that is only made worse by the unnecessary stress he has endured for months.
A Memorial in the Grotto of St. Mary’s Cathedral raised by Monsignor Waldow during Bishop Yanta’s episcopacy. Monsignor Waldow wrote:
“In memory of the death of innocence of the victims of clergy sexual abuse. When innocence dies…a life stops. It is essential that we never forget.”
