The Fourth Year.

The Fourth Year.

We are now 4 years into the diocese of Lafayette’s “Uniting in Heart Pastoral Plan.”

Please take a moment to complete our poll on the impact of this plan, as you see it, to date.

Under UIH, my parish is a greater witness of the Gospel before the world than it was 4 years ago.

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Under UIH, my parish runs with more efficiency than it did 4 years ago and is more stable.

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Under UIH, our diocese accomplishes the mission of the Church better than it did 4 years ago.

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My trust in diocesan leadership and administration is:

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Under UIH, stewardship of resources is better and more transparent.

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Owing to UIH, I experience a greater sense of belonging to the Church than I did 4 years ago.

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From what I can tell, clergy seem better adjusted, better able to do their ministry, better supported by the diocese than 4 years ago.

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Under UIH, our diocese is on the right path.

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Owing to UIH, I see improvement in the following areas (select as many as apply):

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My overall opinion of the changes brought by UIH is:

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Four years ago, my parish was:

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Please use the Comments Section to elaborate on the following:

  • If your parish is now struggling in a way that is different than it was 4 years ago, why do you think so, and to what do you attribute it?

  • If your parish is now thriving in a way that is different than 4 years ago, why do you think so, and to what do you attribute that?


108 Replies to “The Fourth Year.”

  1. I received the 1-27-25 Catholic Moment yesterday. It is very revealing about the state of our diocese, and the Church for that matter, that the Bishop quoted a Beatles song in regards to recently deceased Bishop Higi. With all the great philosophers, he chose to quote the Beatles. Heaven help us!

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    1. According to Indiana MyCASE, Fr Deoreo just lost again. The court of appeals agreed that his appeal case should have been dismissed. They agree that Deoreos claims lack merit and support of law.

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      1. Is there a line item on the diocesan budget for what they spend for the lawyers they pay for? What did the DC lawyers cost? A pity that there has been no mention of this in the very informative Catholic Moment. The slick CMA mailings failed to mention the DC lawyers and their work for the bishop and VG. If only people really knew how the money gets spent.

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  2. One of the best compliments I can give Bishop Higi to honor him now that he’s passed, is that under his leadership the photos on the vocations posters were always so small (because there were so many seminarians). Under the current bishop, the pictures get larger every year it seems, in order to fill the poster….

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      1. No it is quite true. The diocese thrived under Bishop Higi in faith, vocations and the highly successful Fruitful Harvest campaigns. Quite the opposite today

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        1. Higi was a good bishop in a ways or personal. Didn’t like how he transformed his childhood parish into a Vatican II catastrophe. Hopefully it can return to it formal glory and rip Bishop Higi.

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      1. My understanding: The vocations director before Fr. Doerr had virtually no vocations and he filtered out orthodox Catholic men who didn’t buy into female ordination and the usual liberal flotsam crap. He’s still active so I left his name off. Vocations blossomed under Fr. Doerr and the diocese realigned seminaries it was using with heavy use of Mount St Mary and exclusion of [then] gay-saturated Meinrad and Mundelein. There were two bishop Higis. The first was what I call a Hesburgh Catholic, the Kumbaya generation the secularized, faithless kind of which is thankfully dying off. That one systematically wreckovated the majority of diocesan parish church interiors, among other ill effects. Later was Higi 2.0, post ad limina visit to both Rome and Lanciano, site of the stunning Eucharistic miracle. That seemed to be a major turnaround and after that, in short, we had ourselves an actual bishop, shepherd, much improved vocations directors, and a corps of stunning young priests. May God rest his soul. Finally, I think Pope Francis may be discouraging vocations more than Lafayette by just being his harmful Jesuit self. Church working culture–not just in Lafayette, is often toxic for both priests and laity. I have a friend making $40k as music director for multiple parishes, no benefits.

        “Social justice teachings apply to thee, not to me.” –USCCB

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  3. The big 1/1/25 news is the Greater Lafayette Central Administration Office has officially closed down effective today. This brain child of Fr. Theodore Dudzinski was a bad idea from the start that he forced onto all parishes in Lafayette and West Lafayette. For four years each parish paid $8,000 per month to this extra level in the hierarchy in order to have so called specialized maintenance, HR, accounting, and fundraising. It never worked and was never wanted; kind of like 5 or 6 other initiatives Dudzinski has forced on us. Many people lost jobs over this or left in disgust. So now the parishes and Lafayette schools are forced to pick up the pieces and try to once again do all this work own their own. What I don’t get is the continued silence on this from everyone including the bishop. How many debacles must we all tolerate from Dudzinski? When will Dudzinski listen to us? Or even consult us on ideas? Pray for these parishes and people as they try to pick up all the broken pieces and try to re-build, re-staff, re-motivate and grow!

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    1. As the diocese nears bankruptcy because of the Fr. Ted/Tipton Debacle, according to Zillow.com the lovely home where the Vicar General lives all by himself could be sold today for over…

      ARE YOU READY?

      $314,000. with

      Total interior livable area: 2,089 sqft

      Lot: 6,882 sqft

      I’ll accept that the diocese has our best interests at heart when I see a FOR SALE sign in Fr. Ted

      That

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      1. Absurd but typical. The bishop sits alone in a spacious mansion on a hill. His Vicar General sits alone in an almost 3000 sq ft house instead of in a rectory. And WE THE PEOPLE are forced to pay for it.

        Talk about hypocrisy. This diocese isn’t Catholic. It’s a dictatorship. 10 months and counting!

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        1. The last time I checked the Cathedral should have have a new rectory right now. They were hyping on building the new one.

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          1. Ted is busy renovating and building himself a new office at the cathedral … even though he has an office at the chancery – a mile away. More unnecessary spending just to serve Ted

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        2. @Sell the VG Home, even if we count the day of our Bishop retirement, we still have a Pope that is running our church wildly out of it believe. Nothing will change til Francis is not our Pontiff

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          1. The bishop’s mansion is big enough for Ted to live in. Plus on the same property are several rented apartments and a rented house. Why can Ted live in any one of these? Waste Waste and Waste of God’s resources!

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        1. So apparently these comming weeks the 2025 Catholic Ministries Appeal is happening. Their mission statement this year “called to love”. Now we love our Diocese but sometimes loving it is mean tough love. We has parishioners of this Diocese have to decide when is it enough with paying for the Retreat center that bleeding our Diocese dry, our VG dictator lifestyle and the continuing Diocesan lawsuits. Enough is enough and it time to show tough love.

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    2. The situation where I live (Mordor to borrow a friend’s assessment) is gloomy. Our pastorate’s churches need repairs but there is no indication of that happening any time soon. We don’t get minutes from Pastorate Council meetings…gone are the days of any sort of transparency. We don’t have a pastor who seems to think parishioners need to know. We all know that the situation is not going to improve any time soon and we are praying that our poor priests serving us can hang on. That seems that the only thing we can really do. And as for the bishop and his regime? His letter of retirement is NOT going to be accepted by the Pope. Look how long the bishops are being asked to serve. We have this bishop for another 5 years. The only way Bishop Doherty’s letter will be accepted is MAYBE if he runs the diocese completely in the ground, to bankruptcy or beyond. But don’t be counting on getting a new bishop anytime soon. We are in this for the long haul. We don’t have enough money because of the disaster of diocesan management and we don’t have enough priests or seminarians. Pray for our priests. They have to deal with the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana disasters.

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      1. Even that. Like I said in countless post if Dothery post his resignation tomorrow and it what ever happened it would be approved. With our current Pontiff right now most definitely like our next Bishop would likely come from the Chicago area which we know the Archdiocese of Chicago is or as worse as our current Bishop.

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      2. I’ve looked at the audited financial reports on the diocese web site. It looks to me like it is anything but a bankruptcy. The finances of the diocese look real strong. As for the priest/seminarian shortage, that is a horrible thing occurring about everywhere in the western world including the USA. So as much as I don’t care for this bishop, I can’t pin these two things on him.

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        1. Not sure if I would agree with strong financials.

          2023 (last year audited financials are available) contributions are 71% of 2020 levels and the financial results were inflated by a $7.2M sale of assets. The diocese has been selling off assets over the last several years:
          2023 $7.2M
          2022 $0.2M
          2021 $1.8M
          2020 $1.4M

          Additionally, there was complete mismanagement with the diocese moving assets into an ESG fund (think investments for the “woke” crowd) which resulted in a $4.1M loss on investments in 2022.

          If you remove the sale of assets and the investment loss the diocese would be at a cumulative $3.1M loss over the period from 2021 to 2023.

          At what point do you not have any assets to sell to cover the shortfall in contributions which I believe are an expression of the discontent of the faithful to the way the diocese is being administered?

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  4. It all makes sense if you read the Catholic Moment. Couple of weeks ago a big spread about taking care of priests. The article basically meant that if any priests are in need, “Good Luck” to them.

    There’s no money left. Gotta cut somewhere. The prayer to the Lord for the priests is cold: “guide them in seeking the means to care for themselves.”

    Might want to add to that prayer “cause the diocese is near to bankrupt and the priests are holding us back.”

    These people are shameless.

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      1. Employers have to defend themselves against all lawsuits especially frivolous ones filed by former or suspended employees, especially those employees violating policies and committing offenses that that same employer gets sued over. No news here.

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          1. So the diocese is at fault when one of their employees or clergy abuses a person, violates law, or breaks the law? That is some real woke logic that lawyers love but in reality is wrong. Employers often pay for abuses of those in their employ but they also need to be able to disciple and dismiss those perpetrators. So far in this case it appears the courts agree that the diocese acted appropriately.

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        1. “Frivolous” lawsuits need no expert lawyers.
          “Former employees”–??
          If that comment referenced the suit filed by a priest against the dol-in, then what more needs be said. Priests here are considered “emoloyees” not an integral member of our Catholic Family?
          Oh, yes, the court had it correct–this is not a simple secular matter–it is a matter of a religious nature. Got it.
          Any Canon lawyers not associated with dol-in consulted on these matters?
          Don’t mind me, I’m just a curious sheep wondering about the spiritual welfare of our shepherds as well as other sheep.

  5. Has anyone else noticed that the diocese has hired a Washington, D.C. law firm to join their defense team in the Fr. DeOreo case?

    How much is all this costing US?!?

    Meanwhile another Administrative Assistant position is open again at the diocese. Anybody quess whose Administrative Assistant was with canned or escaped? Yeah, Fr. Ted Dudzinski.

    3 or 4 positions open at the Cathedral too? Who’s the new pastor there?

    Either it is a coincidence that positions open up magically around Father Ted Dudzinski or a sign that there is something terribly, terribly wrong.

    How much is all this costing US?!?

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    1. The monster is hungry. $$$ The monster eats up humans too. The monster is real. The monster has been reported to the Vatican. The monster prowls day & night. Wear a St. Benedict medal. It may keep the monster away. Jesus is stronger than the monster!

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  6. I was shocked to learn that today, the court has ruled in favor of the defendants in the Deoreo case by granting the defendant’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Whether or not Deoreo and his counsel decide to appeal this decision with a higher court remains to be seen. Unfortunately, this will likely only inflate Fr. Ted’s (already gigantic) ego and narcissistic behavior even more. What a sad day……

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    1. Wow it is a pretting strong and curt rebuke of Fr Deoreo’s attorney and case. Between this and the allegations, I really see no future in the church for Fr Deoreo.

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      1. I don’t DeOreo coming back too. Even if this go though the church, Cupich will dismiss it totally and side with DOL In church tribunal. Truly it a sad day for the church.

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        1. If the allegations are remotely true, then this is a good day for the church and everyone in the pews, especially those with kids and those who give money only to have it go to defending baseless lawsuits.

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          1. This is a maddening comment, displaying a truly breathtaking ignorance of the facts of the case. The allegations aren’t even “remotely true”, as the DIOCESE ITSELF HAS ADMITTED UNDER OATH in depositions taken in DeOreo’s lawsuit against his accuser. This is all spelled out in DeOreo’s suit against the diocese, and all you have to do is to go to https://public.courts.in.gov/mycase/#/vw/Search and look for the civil case. You can download all the pleadings and read them. The diocese has not contested a single fact in DeOreo’s pleadings, namely, that the diocese performed an investigation regarding the accusations and found no credible evidence that the accuser’s accusations were true, and that the VG subsequently coached the accuser in how to change his accusations so that the diocese would pay him, and that the VG then manipulated the Bishop, under false pretenses, into suspending Fr. DeOreo.

            In their response to the lawsuit, the diocese spills a lot of ink claiming that all of this behavior is protected under the ministerial exception under the first amendment, which enjoins the government from intruding on the personnel decisions of religious organizations. In fact, in their pleading the diocese admits that they issued a public statement that they had suspended Fr. DeOreo for an accusation that they knew to be false, and say that this is allowed, because the statement itself was true, i.e., that they had suspended him. This is the equivalent of raping a woman and then telling anyone who will listen that she’s a slut, and when she sues you for slander claiming that you are immune from judgement because all you did was tell the truth, because she did have sexual relations with you.

            Fr. DeOreo’s response to the diocese’s response makes it clear that Fr. DeOreo is not asking to be reinstated to his priestly duties, and hence this is not a personnel issue covered by the ministerial exception, but an issue of slander against Fr. DeOreo by the diocese because they made a general public announcement that he was suspended because of an accusation which they knew to be false, and which the average person would understand as an affirmation by the diocese that Fr. De Oreo had, in fact, engaged in improper behavior. He is alleging that the diocese maliciously destroyed his reputation, and he wants compensation for this tortious injury.

            In the decision dismissing the case, Judge Schein makes no effort to address Fr. DeOreo’s arguments that this case is not covered by the ministerial exception. She writes that she’s considered the pleadings and case law, but her decision doesn’t indicate that if she did, she understood them. It is clear that, for reasons we cannot know but can surmise, she doesn’t want to touch this case in any way. Judge Schein is running for reelection in Boone County this November, and it isn’t difficult to imagine that deciding a case against the Catholic Church a couple of weeks before an election would be a no-win proposition. It isn’t hard to further speculate that the easiest and most politically astute action would be to kick this case up to the appellate court and let them make the hard decisions.

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          1. It’s certainly not over. I really hope Fr. DeOreo appeals.

            Perhaps this has been glossed over because of the number of priests on RedWolf with a vested interest, but I encourage everyone here (never thought I’d say this) to stop tithing to parishes. Give to your favorite priest personally and make it public. Literally say to your pastorate or pastor, “I gave to Fr. So-and-so rather than the offering plate because I believe it is immoral to give to a local Church that is so cruel to priests.” Send a letter to the diocese explaining this if you so desire:

            Bishop Doherty
            610 Lingle Ave.
            Lafayette, IN 47901

            Make no mistake: the current bishop of this diocese literally thinks he has done no wrong. The Vicar General, Fr. Ted Dudzinski is worse. Don’t let up. Keep letting them know. Tell them! You are upset and your funding will go elsewhere until they (to be specific the bishop and Fr. Ted Dudzinski) will admit they are wrong publicly. Say that the claims against Fr. DeOreo are unsubstantiated. The chancery needs to know that the financial flood gates can open as soon as they stop being egotistical and unwilling to admit error.

            Priests and pastorates will tell you that they have to pay a portion to the diocese whether CMA goals are met or not, so you might as well give. This is true. But don’t be bullied or intimidated !! Be clear and say: my funds are only for a local Church that doesn’t bully priests and /or traditional Catholics. I think we should let our pastorates fail the silly goals put before us because Bishop Doherty is selfish. Don’t believe the lies. They won’t get their funds if we all give specifically to priests. That, in no way, is a bad thing.

            I personally have had it. Please join me. I 100% believe that giving to CMA or (now) to the offering plate since it’s going to the bishop, too, is immoral. Cut a check to a priest. Don’t let the bad guys touch it.

            And keep praying, people. It is a strange, strange, time to be a Catholic.

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          2. I agree with most, you don’t give a drunk a drink…don’t give your money to someone who will miss handle it. However, I disagree on one thing… Don’t name which priest you’re giving money to, unless you want a target on his back. “When you give, give in secret”

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    2. Yeah, it’s kind of sad that Fr. Ted keeps escaping earthly justice time and again, because divine justice is eventually meted out. And, as a rule, it’s always better to face earthly justice than divine justice. But what do I know, I’m just some easily-ignored face in the pews.

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      1. So, if you give your money to priests and not the parish, is it expected that the priest give the money to the parish for specific needs and ministries, or just for himself? If it isn’t clear, then we’ll end up with rich priests and closed parishes, because parishes have bills to pay to stay open.

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  7. I will say that my parish has thrived in the last 4 years. Do I attribute it to UiH? No! I attribute it to geographical trends and great parish leadership that began 4 years ago.

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    1. Unfortunately the court sided with DOL in this case and it can’t really be appealed if it was dismissed. By the sounds of this the court was aiming it more as a Church issue than an issue in the Court system.

      Even if Fr.DeOreo tried to go through the Church tribunal, he wouldn’t even make it pass our District which leads to the Archdiocese of Chicago. We all know Doherty and Cupich are close on multiple committees.

      We do need to pray for our Church all together. Just recently Antipope Francis just announced that all believes are a gateway to heaven which is totally against what we believe. Jesus is way the truth and light.. No one goes to the Father except thru him. We needed to pray to our Lord that he can take back his Church and show the people the truth and the light

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      1. When it comes to Francis, it’s best for your spiritual and mental health to just ignore him. God’s going to have to sort out His shepherds. There is nothing the marginalized faithful can do but pray and keep their souls clean. As far as I’m concerned, call me when Francis has either publicly repented or died. Because I’m done getting upset over his errors. Life’s too short to get knotted-up over the death throes of Modernism.

        Come, Lord Jesus.

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        1. No, it’s not OK “just to ignore him”. When you attend a Novus Ordo mass, you’re participating in it in communion with whom the priest notes as the pope. A true pope cannot teach heresy. In fact, pre-conciliar understanding was that a pope would be struck down before he was able to teach heresy (e.g., Pope Sixtus V). Bergoglio has taught heresy, and still stands. Therefore, he cannot be a valid pope. Same logic applies to the other post-conciliar “popes” as well.

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          1. I’d prefer the Latin Mass and the pre-conciliar Church. However, riddle me this: If it was so great, how the heck did such a great organization allow such bad reforms? And in case you are wondering, I am asking rhetorically. The Pope is a dolt in many ways, but Vatican II or not, I’d bet he or somehow very similar would be Pope now.

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          2. I’d prefer the Latin Mass and the pre-conciliar Church. However, riddle me this: If it was so great, how the heck did such a great organization allow such bad reforms? And in case you are wondering, I am asking rhetorically. The Pope is a dolt in many ways, but Vatican II or not, I’d bet he or someone very similar would be Pope now.

          3. Just as the French kings ignored God’s instructions to consecrate France to the Sacred Heart of Jesus until it was too late (which lead to the end of the monarchy and the start of the French Revolution), the popes ignored God’s instruction to validly consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary until it was too late (which lead to the infiltration of the Vatican by Freemasons).

            Freemasons>1958 Conclave>White Smoke, Black Smoke, White Smoke>Chair of St. Peter Impeded>Tridentine Mass of the Ages Replaced with Ape of the Church

            Moral of the story: Don’t thumb your nose at God—particularly if you are a king/leader of many and He gives you a direct instruction.

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          4. “And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it unless French Kings don’t do this and your successors don’t do that because then Freemasons>1958 Conclave>White Smoke, Black Smoke, White Smoke>Chair of St. Peter Impeded>Tridentine Mass of the Ages Replaced with Ape of the Church.”

            And Uniting in Heart is stupid, but I’m pretty sure for all Bishop Doherty doesn’t do well when he reads comments about French kings and Freemasons he feels like he can discount this website even more, so maybe you are the Freemason infiltrator.

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          5. I certainly don’t have the spiritual authority outside of my station in my immediate family, and as far as I’m aware I wasn’t given any special gifts of casting out demons by the Holy Spirit, but that last post sure read like my prior comment triggered something being cast out of someone.
            ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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    2. No need to verify but that sounds like Our Lady of Grace. Parishioners there unaccustomed to experiencing the Catholic faith from the Bates Hesburgh/Kumbaya faux Catholic era going forward finally have a couple of superb Catholic priests. Bad times for Hamilton County Rev. 3:16 Catholics but changes at Noblesville have been long overdue.

  8. If the court judgement is against Fr. Theodore and the diocese, maybe that would be the beginning of the end of our suffering. Hard to say since this our leadership so acts like all dictatorships.

    Even when they lose they say they win. But we the people know differently.
    Not 1¢ from any of us to pay off a $10M judgment against the dictators!

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    1. I agree but sadly nothing from a court of law will change this Diocese. It all has to come from Rome which Francis will won’t do anything. Even if Bishop Doherty retires it not going to change if Francis is still Pope.

      Pray for church and pray for our Diocese.

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    1. The Amazing Parish program/prayer/and study materials that will only cost our parishes an additional $10,000 a year will save us…When is the decree to begin, the report that we’ve always budgeted an extra $10,000 for AmazingParish2030, the headline teaching us serfs that we’ve always loved it, and the final decree saying that we can’t afford to pay to be an AmazingParish anymore but now we’ll all collaborate to be AmazingParishes?

      Cf George Orwell – 1984

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  9. Some info for those interested: St. Francis Solano in Francesville and St. Anne in Kewanna have been closed. The last mass at St. Anne in Kewanna will be Sept. 4 at 5:30 pm, and the church is planned for demolition.

      1. No worries. The remnant few will adapt just as the persecuted Christians of old did, and recall the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass being held in hotel conference rooms, and basements as recently as a few decades ago. The gates of hell will not prevail.

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      2. St. Anne is apparently in a poor state of disrepair, which is the reason demolition was mentioned in the decree, but no specific plan has been made as far as I know

        1. Plans for this were made months ago with parishioners present with the Bishop and financial team. The writing was on the wall for years. Very sad indeed. Keep praying for more priests!!! Pray for the priests we have!

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        2. Apparently not a poor enough state of disrepair to have a last Mass in though?

          Also, I read the decree for the relegating of St. Anne Church…the meeting/decision was made on June 4, 2024…wasn’t Fr. Ted the pastor/administrator at that time? So he signed the actual decree as chancellor, but also approved of demolition as the pastor/administrator as required by Canon Law (of course he would)…conflict of interest there

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          1. The decision was made years ago. It was a process started by Father McKinney in 2019, passed down to the next priest, and finally now got finalized. I know everyone here is looking for fodder, but please don’t use this as part of it. Pinning this on one person is so strange when the parish had several meetings on this.

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    1. And THIS is what Uniting in Heart actually is: decline management. Cut away all the brochures and hype and look at what it actually does. After four years, they can’t hide it anymore. It was only ever designed to do one thing: close churches.

      Consolidate. Close. Repeat. These are the true “pillars” of Uniting in Heart. And, if allowed to continue, our diocese itself will face suppression and consolidation with neighboring dioceses.

      Fortunately for us, our inept and callous diocesan leadership is almost out of time. One year from now Bishop Doherty will be putting the finishing touches on his resignation letter to Rome, as what’s left of the diocesan staff organize his big 75th birthday party in September. Parishes targeted for closure will find their mass schedules disrupted, diminished, or eliminated. The empty Tipton Center’s operating hours will have steadily been reduced to near-closure (no one will notice). And Father DeOreo may find himself being among the more wealthy of the cancelled priests in this country.

      Come, Lord Jesus.

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      1. Hopefully so @Faceplam Catholic but like I said doesn’t matter if Doherty writes his resignation today or next year or even the year after that. If Antipope Francis is still Pope we going to get same type of Bishop if not worse.

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      2. Personally, I think we’re coming to a point in Church (and world) history (as described in Dupont’s, “Catholic Prophesy” ) such that the world will be unrecognizable as early as this time next year. That said, no matter. Work to stay in a state of grace—pray, fast, and give penance.

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  10. UIH has been anything but uniting….except possibly in bitterness at the lack of a shepherd for the people (read: BISHOP). The non responsive nature of the rule from the top is so not appreciated. As was the cry for help from the parishes during the great shake up.

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  11. Covid pulled the curtain back and UIH blew up everything. First they closed the churches, then they told the old people to stay home. When we were allowed to return, the holy water fonts were empty, the oak pews had bleach(?) stains as did the tile floors. Did not know any of the priests. Saw no one except my family and that was on the other side of a door or on Zoom. Two kind parishioners visited once. Went to Confession in our all purpose room.
    Health issues intervened, and I haven’t been to Mass in a long time. Only hear from the parish when they ask for money. I still watch the Mass every Sunday and holy day, pray a daily rosary and chaplet every day.
    My little dog died and then my sister. Her funeral Mass was the last one I attended. She was the only member of my family who stayed in the Church.
    Every day I ask the same question. What would they have done differently if they purposely wanted to hurt us?

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    1. Het there, Abandoned – On behalf of all of your fellow catholics/parishoners/church leaders – I apologize. They (I…We) have obviously failed you in our responsibilities of fellowship. But please come back to mass. Don’t stay away. Come back fully into the flock. You mentioned health issues. Do you need a ride to mass? To confession? Jesus loves you, and is waiting with open arms to embrace you.

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  12. My pastorate somehow can’t support all the schools now. Even though they pay for new signage for two of there school buildings. Money has been an issue at my pastorate but now it seems worse and can’t trust were the funds go to. Never an issue with the leadership before UIH happened. Church sometimes seems like a place social issues than a place to worship Christ.

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  13. Our parish is flourishing. We have great priests. There is greater cohesiveness of the families in our parish. Is this owing to UiH? If anything, it is in spite of UiH. Many of us are waiting for God to retire our bishop and bring in someone who was inspired and reinvigorated by the Eucharistic Congress.

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    1. Sadly though unless Francis is out and more conservative Pope is in charge, most likely our next Bishop would be coming from the Archdiocese of Chicago, which is know to be the looney tunes of priest saying mass even correctly.

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      1. Speaking about the Archdiocese of Chicago. Seeing a high raking Cardinal of our church giving an innovation to a political party that goes almost everything against our values and our faith. Hopefully Francis changes his ways soon, if not like I said don’t know even our Bishop even does retire his replacement would be the same if not worse.

        2
    2. So glad your parish is flourishing Baeolophus. Of course it really isn’t, is it?

      Your parish like mine appears to flourish because of the whims of an Administration who cares nothing of its priests or people.

      Our priest in Delphi died of Covid and I wonder if he would still be alive, and the priest in Pulaski still a priest, and the priest in West Lafayette still a priest, and the diocese not facing bankruptcy (even without the $10M lawsuit) if UiH had not been IMPOSED by Nero and his unqualified, shallow assistants (who should dress like cheerleaders) and Vicar?

      Lies lies lies all around us. We all heard stories from VERY reliable sourceS about when the priests all met in June at the Tipton Retreat Center (don’t insult St. Joseph by dragging his name into the title of that money pit).

      The steeple/chapel roof was leaking, no hot water for the priests’ rooms, urine leaking into the dining area from a guest room above it, a urine smell in the dining area, broken windows not repaired, dirty fixtures, etc. etc. etc.

      But the official line is that the place is an incredible moneymaker and source of spiritual renewal!

      Sorry! My family has to have hot water and non-leaking toilets.

      Lies. Control. Lies. More control. Did I mention lies?

      Hey Baeolophus! Your parish isn’t thriving at all. If Nero or his corrupt Vicar eat a bad pizza before bed tonight you’ll finally get it.

      Hey! How did we get from UiH being “a new way of being,” to today with staffs in disarray in many places, firings in diocesan level (no article in the Catholic Moment thanking Dr. Dora Tobar for her work here until she got fired), to another shift in diocesan policy because they got no more money so parishes get together to plan your OWN stuff because we got no money to help you?!?! And foist it off like that TOO is another development we all expected from UiF!

      Lies. Control. Lies. More control. Did I mention lies?

      My wife says that’s enough for one day, but hey Baeolophus…you’re livin in a dream world!

      PS is there a support group for people who are abused by their bishops and who have to hide from them when they’ve had two little control the day before and they are in a rage?

      17
  14. Noticed my parish had recent Facebook post about the importance of Gregorian chant to praise God, honor Mary, scare away demons, and how we should listen to it at home. How about bringing it into Holy Mass? Also mentioned how chant is often done in Latin, “the language of the Church, unifying us”. A previous music director was trying to add in Latin, but suffered much pushback from some in the pews. Some loud parishioners complained about any Latin, entrance antiphons, communion antiphons, etc saying they wanted no antiphons (even though they were sung in English), flowery, long sing-songy psalms, more Gather songs, etc. Others tried to ask for better music (chant, God-centered hymns, not me-centered, more Latin, but new director not interested.) Hope they can reconsider and bring back the Church’s heritage music, Gregorian chant, and more Latin. Currently, the Church feels more protestant than Catholic at times. White-washed walls, too. No interest by diocese to upgrade sanctuary. Very disheartening.

    11
  15. Four years ago the diocese was in shambles because it had just been totally shut down, not due to COVID, but due to zero leadership by the Bishop. The dying were unattended, those who hungered and thirsted for Christ’s Body and Blood were left starving. The newly born had been denied Baptism, endangering their souls to eternal loss of Heaven. Those in mortal sin were denied Confession. The Church has always respected burying the dead as an act of charity, an act denied during 2020. The dying were denied visits with viaticum and the Sacrament of the Sick. Those intending to enter the Church at Easter were denied Confirmation. In other words, all seven Sacraments of the Church were suspended during the COVID Panic of 2020. I dare claim more Masses were held in the Catacombs of the early centuries of the Church than in the world during the COVID panic, thanks to the pusillanimous leadership of the Church, including our Bishop.

    When the Churches reopened, the lack of confidence of the Bishop in his Priests was reflected in his 15 page decree on how to say Mass, including erroneously publishing that the GIRM stated Communion in the hand was preferred; which was blatantly false. When his hand was forced regarding Communion on the tongue, he refused to state his policy regarding Communion on the tongue was not the teaching of the Catholic Church.

    5
  16. Poor leadership from bishop and his staff trickles down to confuse parishes
    Massive changes in staff while saving money caused deterioration in some liturgy (some did improve but less than what deteriorated)
    Fewer programs of interest to adults
    Some priests and other staff running on empty due to expectations from bishop and his staff
    Less collections, mass attendance, lay liturgy participation

    4
  17. Poor leadership from bishop and his staff trickles down to confuse parishes
    Massive changes in staff while saving money caused deterioration in some liturgy (some did improve but less than what deteriorated)
    Fewer programs of interest to adults
    Some priests and other staff running on empty due to expectations from bishop and his advisers
    Some unqualified staff due to frequent turnover
    Less collections
    Less mass attendance
    Less lay liturgy participation

  18. Poor leadership from bishop and his staff trickles down to confuse parishes
    Massive changes in staff while saving money caused deterioration in some liturgy (some did improve but less than what deteriorated)
    Fewer programs of interest to adults
    Some priests and other staff running on empty due to expectations from bishop and his advisers
    Staff turnover
    Some unqualified staff due to frequent turnover
    Less collections
    Less mass attendance
    Less lay liturgy participation

    1
    1. Hamilton County is the place to be. Lafayette is not. I feel sorry for our priests who are too close to the chancery’s prying eyes. No transparency for the people to see where our money is going. We are suffocating and there seems no help for us. Even Rome seems not to care.

      2
      1. Yeah the big problem is Rome. Let see when the last supper Debacle at the opening ceremony of the Olympics a few weeks ago it took the Vatican about week plus a day to even respond to it, and yet I haven’t heard a outcry on our pulpit about this. Even the closing ceremony was bad enough even there a report they ban the Mass at the Olympics.

        This show Francis is more focused on social issues than even his own faith, the one he supposed to shepherd, and the true wolves are showing their cards. It’s Trickling down all the way to even our local parishes. Like Bishop Baron says we need to call this out.

        1

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