Mediation on the changeover of administrators at St Mary's parish South Brisbane will begin this week, the Brisbane archdiocese says, while parish representatives are mooting the possibility of a priestless parish. The mediation proceedings follow an impasse which developed when former St Mary's administrator Fr Peter Kennedy refused to hand over responsibility for the parish to new administrator Fr Ken Howell, The Catholic Leader says.
An archdiocesan spokesman said the archdiocese's legal representatives were negotiating for a start to mediation, and he hoped this would start in the coming week.Fr Kennedy was removed as St Mary's administrator on February 19 following his failure to agree to directives from Archbishop Bathersby to cease practices at St Mary's "that separated it from communion with the Roman Catholic Church."
Since then several liturgical and theological experts within the Church have outlined a number of areas in which Fr Kennedy's liturgical practices affected communion within the Church.
Director of The Liturgical Commission in Brisbane archdiocese Fr Tom Elich, in an article in The Catholic Leader, poses several questions relating to the situation.
"What happens when a community does not use these (liturgical texts), does not even use a recognised Eucharistic Prayer, and omits any mention of the Pope, the bishop of Rome, or the bishop of the local diocese?
"What happens when the community chooses its own readings or even chooses to dispense with the Scriptures altogether?"
"There is a rupture," he said.
However, St Mary's community spokeswoman Karyn Walsh says allowing the church to operate without a regular priest, a common situation in rural and regional parishes, could be one way forward.
"If ever there was an opportunity for a church with visiting priests, this is it," she said. "We would welcome the opportunity to do that.
"There are plenty of people capable of leading this community without a priest and having priests visit."
Fr Kennedy has agreed to take part in mediation on condition that community members are also involved, the paper says.
A spokesman for the archbishop said that was a matter for the independent mediator, former High Court judge Ian Callinan, to decide. But he was hopeful talks would begin this week.
Meanwhile, Richard Stokes, who has been described as the "whistleblower" concerning events at St Mary's told The Courier-Mail he was acting on his conscience.
"I acted according to my conscience. How could I regret following my conscience?
"If you ignore it and let it continue, you allow the evil to continue."
To have done nothing would have been to put his own soul in jeopardy, he told the paper.
"My job was to report to the Archbishop in accordance with Church law and, because he did nothing at first, to report to Rome. My part is finished," he said.
However, a priest in the Brisbane Northern Rivers Deanery told the paper that Mr Stokes is the leader of an organised group, 10 to 20 in number, in the Brisbane region who go from parish to parish.
"If they see something they think is not right, they write to the Vatican.
"They are church vigilantes, self-appointed. They are fundamental Catholics. They are not in any way representative of mainstream Catholics," the priest said. "He (Mr Stokes) is a troublemaker.
"He wants a more legalistic church, a stricter church. He's a person you cannot reason with."
Mr Stokes rejects any suggestion of an organised group but acknowledges his involvement in the St Mary's affair is "part of a pattern", starting over 20 years ago when he complained of problems with the liturgy and rubric at a church on the Sunshine Coast.
"If I see something wrong, I report it. Have I reported abuses of the Mass? Yes.
"If you see a crime, you have a duty to report it.
"When they (priests) take something and it's a deliberate change, they thumb their nose at the Vatican. If they think it's OK to defy Rome, my kids and grandkids will think it's OK."
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(Source: CTHN)