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Everything Else

Unity – except in politics and commentary

Fr. Stephen Freeman has reposted regarding a year old article by Fr. Thomas Hopko at Pontifications. The subject is the Orthodox approach toward Ecumenism, reunion between the Orthodox Church and Rome and the ever prevailing issue of the Papacy.

I’m thinking that part of the renewed interest in this article is the politics leading up to the reopening of discussions between Rome and Orthodoxy. Political wrangling often starts with hard and fast positions on every issue. People are throwing down the gauntlet because the possibility of even the smallest change is unsettling.

The Young Fogey provides some background including a link to Ad Orientem which reposts a comment from the Pontifications site by Owen of The Ochlophobist.

I highly suggest people read this commentary.

I have a few comments of my own.

Owen’s commentary certainly hit home for me as a member of the PNCC. Specifically:

Perhaps I am less irenic in tone because after some years of being Orthodox and then visiting a Novus Ordo Mass (in a —conservative— RC mega-parish) I was struck by the fact that it may as well have been a mainline Presbyterian service or a happy clappy Pentecostal service, it was so far from what I recognize Christianity to be. We think it kind in these circles to talk about what we have in common, but what is not said (enough anyway) is that what we have in common is all abstract. In the real flesh and blood terms of authentic communion we have very little in common.

Now I would only modify it by changing ‘abstract’ to ‘core’ but otherwise, how can an effective reunion be accomplished with a Church that (at least in the U.S.) is so different liturgically, sacramentally, and in terms of its discipline.

A Church Council would be the only logical way to hash out these issues. We would have to arrive at the sense of Catholic Christendom. The Council would have to include any truly Catholic body (Rome, Oriental, Eastern, PNCC). I have faith enough to know that a St. Athanasius would step forward in the process, leading us to the light given by the Holy Spirit.

Some have said that the PNCC is just like Rome or just like the Orthodox. In the sense of its Catholicity it is. In my estimation the PNCC is closer to the Orthodox in theology and understanding while being Western in practice (however far more solemn and centered, not Eastern Orthodox in externals but orthodox in practice).

In this I fully agree with Owen. People can say we are the same, but having come from the R.C. Church in the United States (having been brought up in a very traditional parish and having attended very liberal parishes) I can say that this supposition is not true. The PNCC is unique in its own existence as a body, and is far more Catholic in the essentials. We sit in a place that bridges the gap, and we face the same struggles as much of Orthodoxy in America. While we pray for unity, what we seek is the understanding and respect upon which any future unity needs to be based.

I believe that there needs to be a balance between headlong unity in everything and anything (ala Hopko) and unity in the essentials, i.e., more than just the core but less than the totality (i.e., economic unity —“ and I think the Russians hit this spot on).

Unity is not hopeless or impossible, but there are major roadblocks —“ the first and foremost, and the one every dialog dies on, is the role of the Pope. Until this issue is resolved by the totality of the Church Catholic we will have to struggle on.

Everything Else

Happy New Year

I wish all my Orthodox readers a happy Ecclesiastical New Year.

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.

He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Christian Witness

The Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism

A statement by the Patriarch and Local Heads of Churches In Jerusalem:

“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

Christian Zionism is a modern theological and political movement that embraces the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism, thereby becoming detrimental to a just peace within Palestine and Israel. The Christian Zionist programme provides a worldview where the Gospel is identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism and militarism. In its extreme form, it laces an emphasis on apocalyptic events leading to the end of history rather than living Christ’s love and justice today.
We categorically reject Christian Zionist doctrines as false teaching that corrupts the biblical message of love, justice and reconciliation.

We further reject the contemporary alliance of Christian Zionist leaders and organizations with elements in the governments of Israel and the United States that are presently imposing their unilateral pre-emptive borders and domination over Palestine. This inevitably leads to unending cycles of violence that undermine the security of all peoples of the Middle East and the rest of the world.

We reject the teachings of Christian Zionism that facilitate and support these policies as they advance racial exclusivity and perpetual war rather than the gospel of universal love, redemption and reconciliation taught by Jesus Christ. Rather than condemn the world to the doom of Armageddon we call upon everyone to liberate themselves from the ideologies of militarism and occupation. Instead, let them pursue the healing of the nations!

We call upon Christians in Churches on every continent to pray for the Palestinian and Israeli people, both of whom are suffering as victims of occupation and militarism. These discriminative actions are turning Palestine into impoverished ghettos surrounded by exclusive Israeli settlements. The establishment of the illegal settlements and the construction of the Separation Wall on confiscated Palestinian land undermines the viability of a Palestinian state as well as peace and security in the entire region.

We call upon all Churches that remain silent, to break their silence and speak for reconciliation with justice in the Holy Land.

Therefore, we commit ourselves to the following principles as an alternative way:

We affirm that all people are created in the image of God. In turn they are called to honor the dignity of every human being and to respect their inalienable rights.

We affirm that Israelis and Palestinians are capable of living together within peace, justice and security.

We affirm that Palestinians are one people, both Muslim and Christian. We reject all attempts to subvert and fragment their unity.

We call upon all people to reject the narrow world view of Christian Zionism and other ideologies that privilege one people at the expense of others.

We are committed to non-violent resistance as the most effective means to end the illegal occupation in order to attain a just and lasting peace.

With urgency we warn that Christian Zionism and its alliances are justifying colonization, apartheid and empire-building.

God demands that justice be done. No enduring peace, security or reconciliation is possible without the foundation of justice. The demands of justice will not disappear. The struggle for justice must be pursued diligently and persistently but non-violently.

“What does the Lord require of you, to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

This is where we take our stand. We stand for justice. We can do no other. Justice alone guarantees a peace that will lead to reconciliation with a life of security and prosperity for all the peoples of our Land. By standing on the side of justice, we open ourselves to the work of peace – and working for peace makes us children of God.

“God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:19)

His Beattitude Patriarch Michel Sabbah
Latin Patriarchate, Jerusalem

Archbishop Swerios Malki Mourad,
Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate, Jerusalem

Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal,
Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East

Bishop Munib Younan,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land

To which I say Amen.

Tip ‘o the biretta to Fr. Jim Tucker.

Everything Else

The funeral of Bishop Edwin Bernard Broderick

Our pastor and I were kindly invited to attend the Funeral Mass in honor of the former Roman Catholic Bishop of Albany and the past executive director of Catholic Relief Services, Bishop Edwin Broderick.

I very much appreciated that Fr. Mike Farano, Pastor of St. Pius X, invited us.

As best as I can tell from our parish history, Bishop Broderick was particularly kind to our Church from an ecumenical perspective —“ long before there was any official dialog between the Roman Catholic and PNC Churches.

I was surprised by the fact that there weren’t more ecumenical guests. It was us and Bishops Daniel Herzog and David Ball from the Episcopal Diocese of Albany (not for long) along with the Very Rev. Marshall Vang, Dean of the Cathedral parish.

We attended in choir dress (cassock, surplice, stole) as did the Episcopal contingent (although Bishop Herzog had a kind of a long red garment on —“ being unfamiliar with Episcopal Church vestiture I’m not sure what it was).

I want to mention my thanks to the Rev. David Mickiewicz who acted as Mater of Ceremonies and took us under his wing, and the Rev. James Kane, Director of the Albany R.C. Diocesan Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, for their kindness.

There were six or seven R.C. Bishops and Archbishops in attendance. The Funeral Mass was presided over by the Current Bishop of Albany, Howard Hubbard.

Not much surprised me during the Mass but there were three things that stood out.

They are still using glass pitchers on the altar to hold the precious blood. I thought that had been stopped and was a no no.

The other thing that stood out was the way people received the Eucharist. Even with all the bowing while walking up it was even less reverent than I remember it. The topper was one elderly nun who walked up with a cane. Because of her condition, not being able to receive in one hand while placing the Eucharist in her mouth with the other hand, I figured she would receive on the tongue. Nope, she received in the right hand and popped Jesus into her mouth like a tic-tac. I almost fell over.

The last thing that really amazed me was when they brought the Bishop’s body out of the church. The assembled clergy spontaneously sang Salve Regina IN LATIN. I joined right in.

Eternal rest grant unto him o Lord and may the perpetual light shine upon him.

Current Events,

Possibilities for the Episcopal Church

At the General Convention of the Episcopal Church there was discussion about changing the name of the Church and that it no longer be referred to as the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA). The convention organizers dragged out sixteen flags and stated that the Episcopal Church (TEC) is represented in all those countries. Very multi-national don’t you think?

TEC has elected a woman as its Presiding Bishop and it looks like they will not comply with the Windsor Report, putting them at odds with most of the rest of Anglicanism.

Ecumenically, TEC has decided, at its convention, to undertake Eucharistic sharing with the United Methodist Church. They already have such an arrangement with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and based on the Bonn Agreement with all the Churches of the Utrecht Union. At the convention TEC will be signing an updated “Concordat of Full Communion.” with the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Aglipayan).

In my estimation the stage is set for TEC to break from the Anglican Communion. They have created a sort of union of the left and liberal. They have also set the stage to become the money and the power behind a ‘new’ union (see we’re doing a new thing).

I find it very interesting that Bishop Joris Vercammen, the Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht, presided at the convention’s June 19 Eucharist, ostensibly in recognition of the 75th anniversary of the Bonn Agreement. Utrecht has already substantially adopted the ‘ordination’ of women and is well on the way to blessings of same sex unions.

In October 2005 when Utrecht met with the Abp. of Canterbury (caution PDF Document) there was much discussion on the issue of overlapping jurisdictions. There are Anglican Bishops in locales under the jurisdiction of a Utrecht Bishop. Since Utrecht and the Anglican Church are in full communion there should only be one Bishop per jurisdiction.

Utrecht used a made up, far less serious excuse to eject the PNCC from the Union (not that the PNCC wanted to remain in union with Utrecht based on Utrecht’s liberal positions).

Could TEC become the new ‘Rome for the liberals’? Could Utrecht align with the TEC? Could Utrecht disavow their relationship with Anglicanism in general and join with TEC, the IFI (who have been in on and off discussions with Utrecht for years), the ELCA and the UMC in a sort of liberal, anything goes movement?

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Each of the parties to that kind of Union would be a dying entity. Each is defective in its beliefs and practices. It would be no more than a set of bodies where the ‘I’ll believe what I want’ crowd can hang out (all the while providing a good income and nice living conditions for its clergy).

Everything Else

Anglican Use and its implications

Fr. Peregrinator at the Canterbury Tales blog makes the following comments regarding information he gathered at the recent Anglican Use conference held in Scranton, PA.:

Will There Be an Anglican Rite?

All the buzz surrounds the very explicit statement by Father William Stetson with reference to a rumored Anglican sui juris “uniat” Church. Fr Stetson related that it is nearly impossible to arrange Anglicans in an ecclesiastical structure akin to the Eastern Catholic sui juris Churches.

It essentially centers on a question of Catholic ecclesiology. The ancient metropolitan see of Canterbury and that of York were metropolitan sees established by Rome and governed by Rome. From the Roman point of view, these two sees fell into schism. It is therefore impossible to create a sui juris ecclesiastical body that exists at a greater canonical status than it possesed [sic] prior to schism. To put it briefly, Canterbury and York belonged to the Roman patriarchate and their descendents will continue to belong to that patriarchate as they return to full communion with Rome.

There is also information posted on the conference by Mr. Kimel (Pontifications) and by David Virtue of Virtue Online.

I’ve previously commented on Anglican Use and the fact that it is just a stop-gap. It will last 20-30 years and then disappear. There will be no new Anglican clergy converting (anyone with a mind to join a Catholic Church will have done so already) and the converting generation will have died off.

Rome is at least being somewhat honest in not holding out hope for something greater. As David Virtue opines: ‘No Refuge for Anglicans Seeking Unity with Rome’. None should be expected —“ and those who hope for more delude themselves.

The key here is how does Rome’s opinion regarding Anglican Use translate for other Churches seeking unity? Could the PNCC ever be a sui juris Church in communion with Rome?

Based on the opinion of Father William Stetson, and whomever he represents, absolutely not. If you agree to be in communion then you are left with options such as personal prelatures and apostolic administrations. That is just slow death by strangulation and absorption (look at Campos). All those who wish to rush headlong into unity, please remember to do so based on the reality of the situation, rather than your own personal assumptions and fantasies.

PNCC

PNCC – RC Joint Declaration on Unity

As published on the U.S. Conference of (Roman) Catholic Bishop’s website and in God’s Field, the official organ of the PNCC:

With thankfulness to God, the members of the Roman Catholic-Polish National Catholic dialogue in the United States look back on twenty-two years of theological and canonical reflection concerning the nature of our division and the possibility of reaching full communion. Because of a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit that affected both our churches following the celebration of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and a similar renewal within the Polish National Catholic Church, our faithful have been rediscovering one another increasingly as brothers and sisters in the Lord. At this time we wish to review the progress that we have achieved over the past two decades, and reaffirm our intention to continue our efforts to achieve that unity for which Christ prayed.

Calls for a dialogue between our churches go back as far as 1966, when the Most Reverend Leon Grochowski, Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church, courageously proposed such a dialogue to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Scranton. Later, in 1980, His Holiness Pope John Paul II of blessed memory expressed the desire that the conference of bishops of the United States examine the relationship that exists with the Polish National Catholic Church and explore the possibility of dialogue. This resulted in an exchange of correspondence between the leaders of our churches that would culminate in the first meeting of an official dialogue in Passaic, New Jersey, on October 23, 1984.

In view of the fact that most of the ecumenical dialogues began in the 1960s and 1970s, the establishment of our dialogue was late in coming. This was the result of the particularly painful history of our relationship and the circumstances of the origins of the Polish National Catholic Church among ethnic Polish and other Roman Catholics in the United States at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The disputes of that time, we now realize, were more concerned with matters of church governance than points of doctrine. Nevertheless, the complicated series of events that led to our division caused much hurt and anguish even within families whose members often found themselves on opposite sides of the dispute. The consequences of those events can still be felt among us more than a century later, and must be addressed.

For this purpose, a number of highly symbolic gestures of reconciliation have taken place, perhaps most notably at the Service of Healing that was held in St. Stanislaus Polish National Catholic Cathedral in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on February 15, 1992. Leaders of our two churches, including Cardinal Edward I. Cassidy (President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity), His Grace John F. Swantek, Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church, and the two co-chairmen of the dialogue, asked for forgiveness, and pledged to work to overcome our divisions definitively. In 1997 Bishop James C. Timlin, then the Roman Catholic Co-Chairman of the dialogue, reiterated this request for forgiveness in a letter he issued on the occasion of the centenary of the organization of the Polish National Catholic Church.

Our dialogue has achieved much. For example, in a 1989 report summarizing the first five years of the dialogue’s progress, we affirmed our agreement on the seven sacraments of the Church, in spite of some differences in practice that do not touch upon our basic common faith. The report also examined two areas of divergence — our understandings of the Word of God and the life to come —“ and discovered that here too there are broad areas of agreement. In sum, the report was able to look back over five years of dialogue and state that —we have thus far discovered no doctrinal obstacle that would impede the further growth of our churches toward that unity which we believe is Christ’s will.— A second report dealing with developments in our dialogue from 1989 to 2002 was published in 2003.

In view of this progress, concrete steps have been taken. In response to an inquiry from the Archbishop of Baltimore, His Excellency William Keeler, then President of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, His Eminence Edward Cardinal Cassidy, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, stated in 1993 that members of the Polish National Catholic Church in the United States and Canada may receive the sacraments of Penance, Holy Communion and Anointing of the Sick from Roman Catholic priests if they ask for them on their own, are properly disposed and not otherwise excluded from the sacraments in line with the provisions of canon 844 §3 of The Code of Canon Law. This was followed in 1996 by a letter by Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb, the Chairman of the Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, to the bishops of the United States spelling out in more detail the conditions under which Polish National Catholics may receive the aforementioned sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church. In 1998 the Polish National Catholic Church issued Guidelines for the Reception by Polish National Catholics of Sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church. Canon 844 §2 of The Code of Canon Law also specifies conditions under which Roman Catholics may receive the sacraments in the Polish National Catholic Church.

In light of these concrete steps towards unity, we have much for which to be thankful. Furthermore, we recognize each other’s ecclesial character and sacraments, allow a certain amount of sacramental sharing, and maintain many of the same traditions. These facts bear witness to how much we have rediscovered as our common heritage. Our mutual esteem clearly rules out inappropriate actions such as proselytism among each other’s faithful or the re-ordination of clergy who pass from one church to the other.

During our century-long division we have grown apart in ways that at first glance make reconciliation appear to be difficult. The Polish National Catholic Church, which during most of its existence was a member of the Union of Utrecht, has developed a strong sense of autonomy and the desire to preserve its distinctive traditions, including the vital role played by the laity in church governance. Even though the primacy and infallibility of the Bishop of Rome was not an issue at the time of our division, our churches today have different understandings of the Pope’s role in the Church. Another complicating factor is the presence of a significant number of former Roman Catholic priests in the ranks of the Polish National Catholic clergy. Such is the legacy of the divisions of the past that remain with us today.

At this point in our relationship, therefore, we the members of the Polish National Catholic-Roman Catholic dialogue wish to reaffirm our resolve to overcome what still divides us, and to state clearly that our goal is full communion between our churches. We wish to emphasize that —full communion— does not imply absorption or uniformity, but a unity that fully recognizes differing traditions that are consistent with our common apostolic faith. It must still be determined if any of our divergent traditions are truly church-dividing, or simply examples of legitimate diversity which, in the words of Pope John Paul II, —is in no way opposed to the Church’s unity, but rather enhances her splendor and contributes greatly to the fulfillment of her mission— (Ut Unum Sint, n. 50). We plan to give further consideration to other concrete steps concerning reciprocity in regard to the sacraments, acting as godparents, and the requirement of canonical form for lawfulness only in mixed marriages. We are equally committed to a thorough examination of the theological concepts of primacy and conciliarity. This will include searching for a common understanding of the ministry of the Bishop of Rome in the Church.

As members of a commission authorized to engage in this ecumenical dialogue, our role is not to speak definitively for either of our churches. Nevertheless, we hope to propose new incremental steps that will make concrete the growing unity between us, and we wish our faithful to know of our conviction that a way can be found to overcome this regrettable division that took place among Catholics here in the United States. We know that the goal of unity is nothing less than the will of Christ for us. Therefore we ask the faithful of both our churches to join us in fervent prayer that, with a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the barriers between us will fall and we will one day soon find ourselves joined again in that perfect unity that befits the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Fall River, Massachusetts
May 17, 2006

Everything Else,

Entering the Church

The following is an excerpt from Still Slaying Dragons After All These Years, the National Catholic Register’s interview with Randall Terry, the founder of Operation Rescue. Mr. Terry entered the Roman Catholic Church on Holy Thursday.

Terry now has his eyes set on new issues.

—The abortion movement, the homosexual ‘marriage’ movement or the militant Muslims who are murdering Christians, don’t care if we have seven sacraments or two. They don’t care whether we have priests or preachers or if we are in communion with Rome or Constantinople,— says Terry. —They despise us equally.—

Terry has tried to share the suffering inherent in the abortion issue by being jailed.

But he’s also taken on the sacrifice of raising two adopted and one foster child.

Everything Else,

New blogroll addition

I’ve added Philorthodox to my blogroll (thanks to the Young Fogey)

Per their masthead:

This site is dedicated to the traditional Anglican expression of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We profess the orthodox Christian Faith enshrined in the three great Creeds and the Seven Ecumenical Councils of the ancient undivided Church. We celebrate the Seven Sacraments of the historic Church. We cherish and continue the Catholic Revival inaugurated by the Tractarian or Oxford Movement. Definitely not ‘tepid centrist Anglicanism!…’

Father Chandler Holder Jones, SSC who runs the blog has written some on the PNCC and has an interest in the Old Catholic/Independent Catholic movement.

PNCC

Rules are rules – especially if we don’t like you

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review carried a story by Craig Smith on May 4th concerning the firing of a Roman Catholic parish’s youth music director. The youth music director was fired by the “pastor” of the Roman Catholic Church in Sewickley, PA. The pastor is being backed up by the Pittsburgh Diocese of course.

The youth music director, Mary Lynn Pleczkowski, is the wife of a PNCC priest who serves with the United States Air Force. He was recently stationed in Afghanistan.

Mrs. Pleczkowski had worked for the R.C. parish for fifteen (15) years. Many in the parish were saddened by her sudden firing.

The Roman Catholic Church is using a little known provision in its ‘laws’ called the ‘Cardinal’s clause’ as the reason for the firing.

Mrs. Pleczkowski is now without work. I imagine that that’s quite a burden, you know with two children and with your husband away serving his country – most recently in harms way.

Now, the stated reason for using the ‘Cardinal’s clause’ is because the R.C. Church does not recognize Father and Mrs. Pleczkowski’s marriage. Father Pleczkowski was a R.C. priest who left the R.C. Church to get married. He subsequently joined and was accepted by the PNCC as a priest in good standing.

The R.C. Church has a double standard concerning PNCC clergy. They recognize our orders and other sacraments (the Tribune Review story states they do not which is in error), but refuse to recognize PNCC clergy in good standing who used to be R.C. priests.

This double standard opens up all sorts of problems and personally I think it is motivated more by “hurt feelings” than by good theology.

Imagine this. A R.C. parishioner finds him/herself in urgent need of the sacraments. They avail themselves of the sacraments from a PNCC priest. Should they have checked the ‘do not call’ list before doing so?

Many people who read this blog would understand the differences between sacraments being valid and licit (from an R.C. perspective). But what about that poor parishioner who hears half truths from certain R.C. pastors who carry an animus toward the PNCC? These pastors aren’t even familiar with the information printed in the back of the missalette they use.

Speaking of animus:

The October 2005 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and PNCC joint press release on the R.C. – PNCC dialog had this little tidbit in it:

Sacramental sharing between PNCC military chaplains and Roman Catholic military personnel was also discussed.

Actually that statement has been in a few of the releases. Hmmm, I wonder if someone got upset because Father Pleczkowski gave communion to an R.C. soldier (which is perfectly allowable)?

Here’s a few excerpts from the Pittsburgh piece: ‘Cardinal’s clause’ used in church firing

The use of a little known Catholic statute to fire a music leader at a Sewickley church has outraged some parishioners and divided a congregation that has been through controversy before.

The Rev. Ed Wichman removed Mary Lynn Pleczkowski from her paid position as associate music director at St. James Church because she’s married to a priest affiliated with a church the Vatican does not recognize.

Wichman invoked the “cardinal’s clause,” which, in part, prohibits people whose marriages are not recognized by the church from holding church positions. Pleczkowski married her husband, Robert, in a Methodist church about 20 years ago. He now is a priest in the Polish National Catholic Church.

The marriage didn’t show up on the radar screen until Wichman was assigned to the parish, Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese spokesman the Rev. Ron Lengwin said. Wichman attended Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. with Pleczkowski’s husband roughly two decades ago.

St. James announced Sunday that Pleczkowski was “moving on” from her post.

Pleczkowski did not return numerous calls. Wichman referred calls to Lengwin.

Pleczkowski had worked as associate music director at St. James for about 15 years.

Her dismissal stunned the youth choir Pleczkowski oversaw and hurt her family, said friends and relatives.

“She got kids involved in the choir, and that sparked them to be more involved in the parish,” said St. James parishioner Anna Villella, of Sewickley. “I understand there are rules and regulations but … this is tremendously difficult on the children.”

“Everyone is devastated. She is like a second mom,” said Lacey Gerle, 18, of Sewickley, who has been in the choir at St. James since the sixth grade.

…

A person who posted a comment at Kelly B’s Blog on Your Sewickley may have had a similar clue about revenge.

For info about St. James Parish (they have four websites):

St. James’ Diocesan website
St. James’ own website (Mrs. Pleczkowski is still listed under the Parish Directory, Music Ministry)
St. James’ music ministry website (Mrs. Pleczkowski is prominently listed)
St. James School

From their April 16, 2006 bulletin (note PDF format):

SHORT SERMON
We were called to be witnesses –
not lawyers and judges.

The URI for the bulletin is in part “/bull/20060416”. Yep.

Check out the “Marriage Moments” articles from the bulletins. Ooops, not you Mrs. Pleczkowski.

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