This week I have resolved in these posts to focus on the good things Bishop Zurek has done for the Amarillo Diocese. The good for today is one that I didn’t think was destined to affect me as much as it has, and honestly I can’t say I was comfortable with its effects…
Good #2-Moving the Cathedra
Bishop Yanta felt that he had a canonical opinion that would support his request to Rome of naming St. Mary’s new church a co-cathedral. Because of Bishop Yanta’s retirement at the age of 75, that was not affected. Bishop Patrick Zurek became the next ordinary of the diocese, and it became clear that he had an appreciation for the new St. Mary’s Church. He mentioned the possibility that it could and should become the Cathedral.
From Cathedral History
When the announcement was made that the cathedra was coming to St. Mary’s in Amarillo, Monsignor Waldow told a group of parishioners not to worry because this was not his first rodeo in being rector.
“What was there to worry about in the first place? After all, the only major change that would occur is that there will be an empty chair in the sanctuary most of the time.”
My thoughts after hearing that the Cathedra was coming to my parish
The first few years seemed to confirm my thinking. Then Monsignor Waldow retired. The subsequent years culminated in what was called the “Crisis at the Cathedral”, and brought an end to the St. Mary’s with whom I had grown comfortable. This bringing to an end of my “comfortable Catholicism” is another good for which I am grateful to Bishop Zurek.
When “the Lord inspired (Bishop Zurek)
to issue this proclamation throughout his (diocese),
“…he has also charged me to build him a house“, was it not another example of how “The Lord has done marvels for us” despite our “serious mistake“ , and a call to “Let (our) light shine before others“; so that “there is nothing hidden that will not become visible“, and thus bring about “Authentic reconciliation (which) does not flee from conflict, but is achieved in conflict“?
Memorial of Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs
Worries and fears I claimed for my own
Then like the blind man that God gave back his sight
Praise the Lord, I saw the light”
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 #244 in that regard:
CHAPTER SEVEN
PATHS OF RENEWED ENCOUNTER
THE VALUE AND MEANING OF FORGIVENSS
The best way to move on
244. When conflicts are not resolved but kept hidden or buried in the past, silence can lead to complicity in grave misdeeds and sins. Authentic reconciliation does not flee from conflict, but is achieved in conflict, resolving it through dialogue and open, honest and patient negotiation. Conflict between different groups “if it abstains from enmities and mutual hatred, gradually changes into an honest discussion of differences founded on a desire for justice”.[228]
“Inasmuch as there could be serious legal implications for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles if we do fully disclose to you our concern regarding the Reverend John Salazar, Sch.P., by this letter I am informing you that the Reverend John Salazar, Sch.P. would never be allowed to minister as a priest in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in any way whatsoever given the circumstances of his case.”
From a 1991 letter for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to the Diocese of Amarillo prior to Bishop’s Matthiesen’s bringing of John Salazar to the Diocese of Amarillo. Bishop Matthiesen ignored this warning. Later he defended the “serious mistake” by stating that he never conducted his own checks of the priests – which included the Rev. John Salazar-Jimenez, and that it wasn’t until 10 years later that he learned some priests were not the first-time sex offenders that they purported to be when he agreed to hire.
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.”
