Aftershocks

Granted I was only back to the Knoll by suppertime Monday, but the reactions from the troops to the prayer petition to petition (the General Council on behalf of Fr.Roy Bourgeois) during the closing Mass on Saturday were as follows:

"Totally inappropriate."

"Disgusting."

"Disrespectful in the extreme."

"A pageant of Narcissists."

"Why didn't he (Episcipalian priest, Fr. Frank Alagna) do this at any other time during the weekend?"

At least one Maryknoller walked out during the incident.

To be fair, several Maryknollers surely must have agreed or otherwise approved this action (The petition during Mass). If there are, they have yet to inform me of their support.

And to be honest, not all the negative reactions came from just the elderly and the conservatives among us. One guy way younger than I (by almost 20 years) and at least as liberal, was incensed.

If I could gauge the rage, it seemed more at the fact that this took place during the Eucharist, and was led by someone no longer in Maryknoll, that seemed to fry people's rice most.

In the coming meals I shall make a concerted effort to find supporters of the petition, if not its timing, so you may have a more balanced reaction. Assuming there is one.

One older Maryknoller took it all with a grain of salt and put the onus on Superior General Ed Dougherty for interminably drawing out this process. "Get on with it, already," he said.

Another member added, "We didn't abandon Roy; he abandoned us." He's contemplating writing a letter to the highest authority with the greatest influence (No, not the Vatican; the National Catholic Reporter) petitioning Roy to publicly apologize for what he's doing to Maryknoll.

Happy Centennary!

Mass hi-jacked?

Word reached me from multiple sources even down in Queens that there was an incident during the closing liturgy for the Maryknoll Alumni weekend.

The first sign that something was up was when the prayers of the faithful went on longer than the homily. Among them was one asking Maryknoll to "do the right thing" in regards to Fr. Bourgeois and not dismiss him from the Society.

But things really got interesting post Communion, when, instead of the normal announcements one would hear at a parish Mass about upcoming rummage sales and pot-luck suppers, former Maryknoller and now Episcopalian priest, Father Frank Alagna stood up and announced a signature drive to petition the General Council on behalf of Roy. He invited people to sign after Mass during supper.

Fr. Leo Shea, the main celebrant, took this in stride and even used the opportunity to read a letter to the assembly he had received from Roy, expressing his regrets for not being able to attend. Roy also asked all not to forget the lessons they all learned at Maryknoll and that at times like these, it is necessary to break the silence and raise one's voice on behalf of justice.

The steering committee seemed as blind-sided by this as others were. So far, the reactions I heard went from shock to outrage, but like I said, I will have to wait till I get back to the salad bar on Monday to gauge the real reactions.

Thus, the elephant did not even have to be in the room to dominate the discussion and have the last word.

Who knows? Maybe more people will want to start attending Mass at Marykmoll. You never know what might happen.