Bishop Zurek doesn’t seem to be a bishop who tolerates any “prophesying in the camp“, or one who listens to “the cries of the harvesters“. He is more intent on preventing “the few“, whom he does not consider as “followers”, from “driving out demons” in the Amarillo Diocese”…
by Bishop Patrick J. Zurek
Click to read Bishop
Zurek’s Letter to St. Mary’s Cathedral
We lose the capacity to realize “I, as a lay person, do not always have all the knowledge”; while it is quite probable that the deacon, priest or bishop has a much fuller picture of what is actually happening.
A Reflection on Christian life
by Bishop Patrick J. Zurek
Our local bishop may be on a collision course with the Holy Father because, “Pope Francis is inviting Catholics both in the mainstream of church life and on the margins to voice their dreams, ideas and concerns in preparation for the Synod of Bishops in 2023″. The implications of this process in the Amarillo Diocese for the current signs of our “serious mistake” will be the focus of my blogs for this week…
“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 from 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.”
