Entering the Valley of Decision

Is it NORMAL for a lay Catholic to have to be the one to urge the bishop to stop getting involved in irrelevant pursuits and neglecting the performance of his ministry, and start carrying out the decision which God expects, Pope Francis invites and Bishop Robert of our sister diocese of Lubbock observes?

We are about to begin a synodal process "Towards a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission". This process was conceived as an exercise in mutual listening involving the entire People of God. #Synod

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) October 8, 2021

Tomorrow Pope Francis opens the worldwide synodal process leading up to the 2023 Synod of Bishops on Synodality. This weekend the Diocese of Lubbock will kick off our diocesan phase of the synodal process. In coming weeks and months watch our diocesan media sites for information.

— Bishop Robert (@BishopLubbock) October 8, 2021

Words in italics indicate passages pulled from the Preparatory Document for the Synod 2021-2023.

Today is the solemn opening in Rome of the 2021-2023 Synod entitled “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission” . There are 9 days until the Diocese of Amarillo is expected to enter into the decision of rejoicing in the Lord with a local ceremony on the 17th of October; however the local celebration may not occur since Bishop Zurek is treading out another current sign of the “serious mistake” by hearing the words of priests and acting upon them by way of the simple internal administration of the diocese from the Pastoral Center, instead of hearing the word of God and observing it by being as communion when all the diocese journeys together, gathers in assembly and takes an active part in her evangelizing mission.

“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 Matthiessen’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.