For 32 years, the Rev. Robert E. Mason celebrated a children's Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes in Massapequa Park that attracted a loyal following among some families at the ultraconservative parish.Newsday reports that tradition is now over.
Mason, who retired as church pastor in June, has been told by the parish's new pastor, Msgr. James Lisante, that the Mass in the parish chapel will no longer be celebrated.
Mason also will no longer hear Saturday night confessions, which attracted dozens of the faithful.
Some parishioners who have already clashed with the telegenic Lisante over other issues say they are outraged by his latest moves and feel they are aimed at ousting Mason, 77, from the parish.
"I'm livid. I'm appalled," said Chris Layer, 42, of North Massapequa. She called the Mass suspension "a blatantly vindictive move" intended to silence those critical of Lisante.
Lisante, a conservative commentator who appears regularly on Fox News and other outlets, said parishioners were overreacting to the latest changes instituted since he took over the parish in June. He said eliminating Mason's Mass would help the church reduce Masses to a more manageable number.
Some parishioners initially clashed with Lisante shortly after his arrival when - without official permission - he brought in a priest from the Northern Mariana Islands in the North Pacific, the Rev. Matthew Blockley.
In July Bishop William Murphy of the Diocese of Rockville Centre expelled Blockley, who since 2000 had worked with Lisante during summers at his previous parish, St. Thomas the Apostle in West Hempstead.
Some parishioners also were irked recently when Lisante brought in a new music director, Peter Rapanaro, who directed the Off-Broadway play "My Big Gay Italian Wedding."
Lisante said Rapanaro has worked in parishes on Long Island for 20 years, and had "met with Bishop Murphy and assured the bishop of his fidelity to the Catholic Church on every issue of sexual ethics."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce
(Source: CATHUS)