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The Branch Theory’s Demise

The Branch Theory’s Demise

Last updated on: October 5, 2005 at 7:27 am by Fr. Joseph Huneycutt

The Branch Theory’s Demise 2005-10-05T07:27:00-05:00 Fr. Joseph Huneycutt

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Roman Catholic

“I am the heterosexual priest who stood before the people of the Diocese of Arlington on Holy Thursday — the day we celebrate the institution of the priesthood, the First Communion of the first priests and bishops, and the first unbloody Mass in which Christ willingly gave His life for the Truth.

“And, with the full integrity and honesty of my words and life, I renewed my commitment to priestly service and the demands and sacrifices of priestly life, which includes celibacy and thus chastity, modesty, prudence and, of course, the avoidance of the near occasion of sin. Even if I fail, even if I sin, the validity of my promise and the means to achieving it will always be valid.

“But I do not understand what the homosexual priests were promising, because they can’t give up what they can’t have and don’t want in the first place – marriage to a woman. I don’t know why the people in the pew were clapping for them, because it certainly wasn’t their prudence or modesty, and they certainly do not avoid the near occasions of sin. In fact, they immerse themselves and are forced to live in many serious and secret occasions of sin throughout their priestly lives by living and constantly associating with those to whom they are sexually and emotionally attracted.

“Would anyone be concerned if, now four years after being inexplicably removed from the priesthood, I were to show up living with the Sisters of Poor Clare in Arlington? Would anyone be concerned if I took all my vacations with women, had parties only with women, played sports only with women, went to movies only with women, had breakfast, lunch and dinner only with women, and all at the advice and recommendation of my superiors and the dictates of canon law — even if these women were all under that ‘memorable’ vow of celibacy?

“Why, then, is no one screaming in horror at the living situations of ‘our’ homosexual priests who do all of the above with other men, and even more patently and blatantly, the homosexual religious priests whose very charism is to live in communities? They certainly seem to be very ready to protest their ‘right’ to live in such occasions of sin. Why is there no equivalent protest from the faithful Catholics to this moral outrage perpetuated in the name of so-called non-discrimination?

“Yes, my head is spinning in disbelief at the acceptance of the total illogic of it all, and in the horrendous acceptance and silence of Catholics to the obvious double and duplicitous moral standards required of heterosexual versus homosexual priests. And yes, my heart is sickened by the hypocrisy, the immorality and the outrage of the ordination of homosexual men as priests and bishops.

MORE.

Anglican

It was another week of shock and awe for the Episcopal Church USA when the rector of the second largest parish in the DIOCESE OF FLORIDA — one of the top 50 Episcopal churches in the country — announced that he was quitting his parish, the diocese, and the Episcopal Church and was heading down the road to start St. Peter’s in Tallahassee, coming under an African bishop.

In one fell swoop the Rev. Eric D. Dudley, 46, gutted St. John’s church with its 2,000-plus members paving the way for other orthodox parish priests to follow his lead. At least a dozen or more are contemplating following his example.

Following hard on the heels of Dudley’s action to leave, several clergy in the Diocese of Florida formed the Anglican Alliance of North Florida, under the authority of a yet another unnamed Anglican archbishop.

This is yet another example of a specific solution to affirm Biblical truth and state that orthodox theology matters more than affiliation with the Episcopal Church, said the Texas-based executive director of Anglicans United, the Rev. Todd Wetzel.

“Moderate and revisionist bishops in ECUSA just don’t get it,” Wetzel said. “They keep trying to trump faith with power politics and squash the orthodox with creative but incorrect application of canon law. Increasingly, they are coming up short, prompting this type of response from faithful priests and parishes.

The loss of more than 1,200-dues paying Episcopalians will not go down well with Howard, who has already begun belt-tightening procedures in the diocese. And if what VirtueOnline has learned comes true the number of those departing the diocese could be five times that number in the coming months.

A STATISTICS WONK wrote VirtueOnline and said that according to the official statistics of ECUSA, in the year 2003 (the last stats available), ECUSA lost 36,368 confirmed members. That is an average of 100 PER DAY! If the average Episcopal Church is only about 100 members, (it’s actually 77), then we are losing one congregation each day! One can only wonder about the statistics for 2004 and 2005. The end can’t be far off.

MORE.

Orthodox

ROME, October 4 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Orthodox Church considers current discussions at the Catholic Synod of Bishops assembly in the Vatican to confirm the Orthodox Church’s traditional values, a Russian bishop said Tuesday.

[Bishop Yegorevsky] Mark said changes made 40 years ago had substantially relaxed access to Catholic communion.

“The aim of the Catholic Church to adapt to the modern world, to make Christianity more understandable and ‘easy’ for the world has had serious negative consequences,” he said.

According to Mark, this situation has also caused a reverse reactionary process, geared towards returning to the same traditions the Orthodox Church has faithfully observed.

STORY.

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