On August 17th, the Pittsburgh Tribune posted an article about the Diocese of Pittsburgh and its revitalization plan, “On Mission for the Church Alive!”
If the name of the project alone is enough to activate your gag reflex, congratulations; your hereticometer is in good working order.
Interviewed for the article was the ordinary of the diocese, Bishop David Zubik.
Readers of this space may recall that this is the same Bishop Zubik who hired a protestant to serve as his Communications Director a few years back; a woman who vowed to dutifully “express my Christian faith” in the role; never mind the fact that hers is a heretical faith.
Astonishingly enough, it appears that things aren’t going all that well in Pittsburgh.
According to the Tribune:
Since 2000, weekly Mass attendance has dropped by 40 percent — for almost 100,000 fewer regular churchgoers; K-8 Catholic school enrollment fell by 50 percent; and the number of active priests plummeted from 338 to 225.
So how does Bishop Zubik envision turning things around?
“The No. 1 priority has to be, ‘We need to make our worship better,’” Zubik told the Tribune-Review. “Second of all, we need to do the best job that we can to get not only more ordained leaders, but we really have to open up lots of doors for the lay leaders of the church.”
Sure, more “ordained leaders” (otherwise known as priests, and in NovusOrdoLand, permanent deacons) would be nice, but we really have to open up lots of doors, not just a few, for an army of “lay leaders” (otherwise known as women in NovusOrdoLand).
And what, pray tell, is the key to “better worship” according to His Excellency?
We must focus on “better homilies, better music and more people.”
If you think this means preaching unadulterated Catholic doctrine and the return of Gregorian chant, I’ve got some shoreline property you may be interested in.
Readers may also recall that this is the same Bishop Zubik who joined hands with Franklin Graham at a heretic hoedown in 2014 just prior to issuing a decree warning local Catholics not to assist at Holy Masses offered by the SSPX; even going as far as to threaten those who do with excommunication! (See article at The Remnant.)
In a promotional video posted on the Mission Alive! website, Zubik made it clear that the mission at hand is going to be a collaborative effort between clergy and laity.
To this end, he cited the inspiration of Pope John XXIII, one of the “three wise men” that have influenced him most, and his “call to be consultative.”
“That’s an important message that we have to take a look at as church,” Zubik said.
The other two wise men? Pope John Paul the Great Ecumenist and His Humbleness, Francis.
In a letter on the same website, Zubik writes:
We need to study what it means to be the church, what it means to be parish, what it means to be excited about our faith, what it means to be Catholic.
Seriously? If a bishop, a shepherd of souls, a man that has care for an entire diocese feels the need to enter into collaborative study with laity in order to discover what it means to be Catholic; it’s time to retire.
None of what I shared here is surprising. Bishop Zubik is an Apostle of Newchurch through and through.
What I did find a bit surprising, however, is the applause that Zubik received from Fr. Z.
Honestly, when I saw the link to his post on my Facebook feed and clicked on it, I sincerely expected it to say that these diocesan renewal-by-committee projects are a ludicrously protestant waste of time and money.
Anyway, you can read his reaction there…
For those of you in Pittsburgh, do yourself and your family a favor:
While Zubik and his think tank of many are trying their damnedest to figure out what it means to be Catholic, and racking their creative little brains looking for ways to jazz up the sacred liturgy, avail yourself of the one true faith in all of its richness at St. James Catholic Church, gloriously restored by the Society of St. Pius X as shown in the video below.
“What it means to be Catholic????” How would he know?????
I’m not sure the Bishops could handle the answer. Perhaps the committee could first define what it means to be Episcopalian. That would get them headed in the right direction. Baby steps, Bishops, baby steps.
Man, Newchurch speak drives me nuts- “what it means to be Church”, “what it means to be parish”. Also, when are these guys gonna figure out that it’s not about the people and their entertainment experience. It’s about God and the proper worship that is due to Him.
The monumental collapse of novusordochurch has commenced. I believe the Franciscan papacy has accelerated the process.
Archbishop Lefebvre:
“…you will be the light of the world. Now what is the light of the world? Where is this light of the world? Our Lord Himself gives the answer: “I am the Light of the world.” We don’t have to look for it; it is already there. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Light of the World, Light, that is to say, from God. Could we have a light more clear, more dazzling than one which comes from God Himself, which is God? Our Lord is God, so we will find the light in Him, and He is what you will teach. You will act as St. Paul, who said, “I have wanted to know nothing among you except Christ and Him crucified.” This is what St. Paul said; his entire message is summed up in this – to speak of Christ, Christ Crucified.
Your task will be to show these chosen souls how to know Christ, how to unite themselves with Our Lord, meditating on His words, on His life, on what He is; and in this way they will find the light of their life. What a beautiful apostolate! How I hope these souls entrusted to you may profit from your ministry and give to the world the basic principles it needs, the basic principles of our first catechism, the catechism which summarizes the teachings of the Church, all the teachings of Our Lord. This should be the foundation of the life of every individual, of family life, of social life, political life. We must lay this foundation which is so necessary for people and for families, so that peace and prosperity and the truly Christian life which ours should be, may flourish.
And you will not only be the light of these souls; you will also give them life – the life of Our Lord. Not only His light, but His own life, the supernatural life of grace, grace which you will give them in the sacraments and especially in the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion – sacraments which we need almost every day to sustain us in the spiritual life. You will make them understand that they need these sacraments, this life, this divine life. Today, alas, it is so hard to lift oneself up to these spiritual realities, as we are caught up in the material world, the materialistic world which wants to know only earthly joys and closes its eyes to eternal realities.
It is hard to understand that the supernatural life, the divine life of Our Lord in us, is the one thing necessary. It is what will get us to heaven. We should be already in eternity, at this moment. Our soul is eternal and imperishable and therefore we must bathe our soul in the life of Our Lord, in the supernatural life and make it truly full of eternal life. The day God calls us and tells us that our life here below is over, that life will continue, as it says so well in the Preface of the Requiem Mass, “Life is not taken away but changed.” God does not extinguish our life. It goes on, with a change. It changes, yes, in incidental ways, but it does not end; it goes on, if we have been careful to imbue it with the eternal life of Our Lord Jesus Christ. So this is what you will do; you will build this bridge between the life of God, the life of Our Lord, and these souls who will come to you, searching for true life.
And finally you will set an example. As Our Lord said, you are not only the salt of the earth, you are not only the light of the world, but you act in such a way that the world may give glory to God when they see your works: “…and seeing your good works they will glorify the Father Who is in heaven.”
You will set this example, therefore, and exemplify the virtues of Our Lord by gentleness, goodness and perseverance in the priestly life, in the apostolate. And you will do good for souls, for all who come to you. This should be your ideal.
I am sure you already understand this, and I am sure that you realize that what I have been talking about is nothing more than an extension of your Mass. Live your Mass every day, every second of your life, prolong it through the course of the day, that is, prolong the teaching you give us in the words of the Epistle and Gospel, the words of Our Lord. Prolong this life of sacrifice which you will make present, in a few moments, on the altar, by the presence of Our Lord, who is prolonging His Sacrifice of the Cross and showing us His love. Here it is: you will love souls, you will give yourself to souls, you will sacrifice yourself for souls, for love, for love of God and love of your neighbor. This is the whole Sacrifice of the Mass. You will give yourself to souls as you give Communion. You will give Christ to souls through knowledge of Him, Christ in His life. This is your Holy Mass, this is the Communion you will give, this is the Christ you will give to souls. Thus your whole priestly life is a continuous Mass. You are a priest. You have begun your first Mass. But your Mass must never end. Your whole life now will be a continual Mass. May God give you the grace to live your Mass and encourage all around you to do the same, and to understand that our whole lives should be a Mass, an oblation which is complete and continuous, a continuous sacrifice of ourselves for love of God and love of our neighbor.”
In his video concerning this new marketing program the bishop says:
“we have to stop writing each other off particularly when we disagree with each other” which is ironic because he was the first to “write off” the SSPX at St James, so by his own actions he proves he is basically a liar and disassembler.
When speaking about his heroes he says of John Paul II : “…he would not allow anyone to silence the truth of Jesus” failing to mention of course except when JPII was running ecumenical side shows like Assisi where he silenced himself about the truth of Jesus so as not to offend to the heretics and pagans surrounding him.
Men do no follow other men who are soft, indecisive, two-faced and approval seeking. These are not the qualities of a leader that can attract people. I cannot imagine Jesus around a campfire with the Twelves saying “OK guys – what do you think we should do next? – we need to examine what it means to be Church!”
“FrZ” at least tried to push the traditional latin Mass but I am betting he will get no traction with this man – totally immersed in the error swamp of Vatican II
Michael F Poulin
Fr z is a money-hungry ingrate. Go to his “shop” and look at the “zed-head” items that he is selling. He’s a charlatan who should be de-frocked. He’s a disgusting excuse for a Catholic Priest.
The whole “zed-head” thing is a play on the whole “deadhead” name given to the fans of the band “The Grateful Dead”. Google Jerry Garcia, the lead singer of that band, and look at what his views of the Catholic Church were; THIS is the guy who “FR” Z is paying tribute to with his “zed-head” garbage.
There’s an outside chance he might be validly ordained though. Did JPII insert the word “Ut” into the sacramental formula when he laid hands upon him during the ceremony? He would have had to go against the new ordination rite of Paul VI if he did.
What makes one a member of the Church? How hard is it to figure out? All one has to do is turn to the clear and precise teaching of the pre-Vatican II Popes.
“Actually only those are to be included as members of the Church who have been baptized and profess the true faith, and who have not been so unfortunate as to separate themselves from the unity of the Body, or been excluded by legitimate authority for grave faults committed…For not every sin, however grave it may be, is such as of its own nature to sever a man from the Body of the Church, as does schism or heresy or apostasy..”
Pope Piux XII, Mystici Corporis.
Compare this to the defective definition of Francis, which opens the door to the toleration of every heresy:
“All the baptised are members of the same Body of Christ, his Church.”
The first definition by the Pope is needless to say, perfectly orthodox. Baptism and profession of the true Faith are necessary to be a member of the Church.
The second definition by the impostor: Baptism alone is necessary. Heretics are all welcome.
I need to really study what makes a valid ordination and who is validly ordained. I admit that I really havent studied that area nearly enough as of yet (as I need to). Off of the top of my head Id say that he wasnt validly ordained (I dont think any vatican 2 priest is validly ordained), but I cant concretely back that up. As for this guy though (valid or not), I really think that he is about himself before he is about helping to save souls.
“…….but we really have to open up lots of doors, not just a few, for an army of “lay leaders” (otherwise known as women in NovusOrdoLand).
LOL!!!!!
I unfortunately, moved into the Pittsburgh Diocese in 2011 and what has transpired is truly devastating. Biship Zubik initiated the “Church Alive” campaign a few years ago, requiring all priests to pitch the campaign and create a detailed, database driven and targeted drive to acquire 5 year commitments from parishioners. The parishioners were promised they would receive 25-40% of whatever is received back for their parishes by the end of the campaign, the rest would go to the diocese. (The more raised, the higher the percentage.) The parishs are only allowed to use the funds for “special projects,” not to repay debts, hire or pay employees, or any other “normal” expenses. Many parishes have seen great reductions in weekly offertory collections as a direct result of the campaign, driving many of the remaining financially stable churches, into the red.
The Bishop has used $71 million from the Campaign to renovate a high school with “energy efficient and green” improvements, and made many other imprudent choices. Additionally, committees have been established with “parish representatives” to study how to close and combine parishes and schools however, these people were recently informed that their input is meaningless and that they are merely to serve as the messengers to parishioners to inform them of the Diocese plans, while falsly lending “legitimacy” to the Diocese’s decisions due to their service as a parish representative on the committee.
In order to construct projects with the “Church Alive” funds, Churches are required to obtain approval from the Diocese before they can be commenced. The churches that the Diocese intends to close, or may combine, are being subject to mounds of red tape and the Diocese will not approve projects. The result is that many parishes whose parishioners donated to the “Church Alive” Campaign, under the belief that 25-40% would be returned to their parish, will very likely never see most of those promised funds used for their parish because their parish may be closed if it is not financially stable, meanwhile – their offertory funds dried up due to the campaign, leaving them in debt, making them prime candidates for closure.
The Diocese essentially prompted a financial crisis at the parish level to justify combining and closing numerous parishes and their schools. It appears the more traditional leaning parish’s are the ones being targeted for closure. Many of the ideas the Diocese of Pittsburgh puts forth are not grounded in an understanding of doctrine and often contradict Catholic thought and morals. It is really sad. I am very thankful St. James is nearby.
Louie said that this “Fr Z” guy gave “applause” to the bishop’s statements and he provided the link to his blog. I did not read his comments as “applauding” but more as correcting , so I thought Louie mis-characterized the guy’s commentary.
I also noticed “Fr Z” corrected the bishops phrase “….more ordained leaders” with his comment : ” .. vocations to the PRIESTHOOD” which is exactly the same correction Louie had given to the same words.
I do not know this “Fr Z” guy and do not read him, or support him. nor any celebrity priest. I only read the link that Louie gave and commented on what I saw, which was clearly a very emphatic push for the traditional liturgy.
As far as his other crimes, I’ll let God be the judge of those.
You can look up Paul VI 1968 rite episcopal consecration ordination.
Dumb is forever and only God can fix stupid!
Just another conductor of a train wreck rather than a Shepherd of Souls.
I know….I need to. It is a very important subject that I have neglected to fully learn and know. Thank you PS…..I intend to study this fully.
mpoulin
I only wished to set you straight on this guy in case you were unaware of him…..I seriously doubt that anyone who frequents THIS blog would ever take him seriously as soon as they found out what he was about. He is a wolf. I dont read his blog either but I do know who he is. God is the ultimate judge of course (eternally speaking)….lets not let that fact prohibit us from proclaiming what is right and wrong on earth. We live in a society which does that every day. If we didnt judge, as a society, then we would have anarchy.
In addition to the modernist thinking these bishops keep pumping out year after year, this sort of “fresh new excitement/money-making program-scheme thing has been going all over the country in many dioceses. I’ve often wondered if they’re not motivated by financial ruination from all the huge out of court settlements for clergy sex abuse cases, which are an additional reason many people have given up on the Church in America.
Yes- all the data supports the fact that it is collapsing due to its foundation of sand: the Modernist heresies enshrined at Vatican II.
Jesus said, as recorded in Matthew 7:24-27:
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”
Very beautiful because it is true. Thank you for the quote MaryILoveHer
So, surprise, surprise, the Diocese of Pittsburgh has put on a “Latin Mass” for those who preferred it, in 2015.
http://stjohnxxiiiparish.org/about/
How funny that it just “appeared”, apparently out of nowhere and for no reason.
If the SSPX had never been in there to begin with, Zubik would have never, in a million years, given the people a “Latin Mass”.
They want to bleed off the SSPX faithful from St James’s SSPX, and then, when the SSPX have no faithful to minister to, they’ll pack up, close down and move on.
Once they’re gone, the “Latin Mass” will no longer be provided by the Diocese.
The whole idea of a diocese taxing and sucking up funds from its parishes is sickening, worthless and harmful. These bureaucracies are simply parasites who take and take and take and return nothing. Dozens of ineffectual programs and “ministries” which accomplish nothing but separate people into self-absorbed groups like “Latino Outreach” and “Women’s Ministry” and diocesan “Poverty Programs” that only push the statist, leftist and feminist agendas, all at the same time that the local parishes can’t pay heating bills or afford to keep a school intact, because parishioners are tired of being milked by a faithless hierarchy.
If I was you, I’d go over to St James’ SSPX and sit tight. I would be sure of valid Masses and Sacraments, no heresy, and nothing destructive to my Faith. If there is a crisis of Faith in the Church, and I had St James in my town, I would be there this Sunday and every Sunday.
Thank you!! Finally someone who thinks as I do. Many times I wander why people listen to -who I like to call a big idiot, sorry no much charity here- this man. But, you must know that he prays for his supporters as he states in his blog.
“what it means to be parish”…..why do these guys always sound as if they are chock full of gay?
Ha! That’s *exactly* what I thought when I read it!
And the answer is: Because they are gay.
When you abandon what it means to be TRULY Catholic, you must resort to all kinds of meaningless frills which cannot possibly replace the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (TLM).
Agreed Carlos…..this guy has WAY too many red flags as far as Im concerned.
The implications of this are so shattering that many people do not want to investigate them. This is a position that I completely understand. I knew the issue was out there for many, many years but refused to check it out until fairly recently. It was too terrifying, but it can’t be ignored.
The worship of the Church is an act- a most ancient and noble mystery- and almost nothing is gained by endless updating it, streamlining it , personalising it, and altering it.
Thomas Howard
Evangelical is not enough
Yes, and if the Society had never existed, the Novus Ordo bishops would have never, in a trillion years, given *anyone, anywhere* the received & approved Latin Rite of Mass.
“A man of true Faith will be raised up…”
You meant Jesuit papacy did you not? Bergoglio is a Jesuit.
“Franciscan- as in his name is Francis is – is likely what Akita meant.
Sad really, the bishop has either lost his faith due the disease of modernism , or is a all out modernist heretic. Which can only explain why his Suggestive works of desperation are lacking in the dogma of the faith, to put it mildly at best. that’s what you get when you conform to heresies aka gates of hell.
A need is wanting, in talking more about the moderist heresy movement in the church will certainly put things straight, but if he’s a full blown modernist who don’t have the catholic faith, then his remedies won’t matter, he’s better if going back to the true mass, the church fathers, the catcechism, and the pre VII popes encyclicals, oops that would be too catholic. Not a very good remedy for the modernist who worship with the locusts multi sects aka Protestants.
the Lord said ” Be watchful and strengthen the things that remain, which are ready to die. For I find not thy works full before my God. ”
Sound advise given to the bishop he’s speaking to right there…
Amen the truth of the problem is in Our Lords words.
Norvus ordo means
No to the sacraments
No to the sacred litigury
No to the dogma of the faith
No to the rulership of Christ the King.
No to the sacred traditions
No to Fatima.
The NO creed of the modernist. They can do it without God.
In ourselves we trust.
Maybe the bishop, will put on a whirling dervish n encourage his poor flock to follow suit as a remedy for the sad state of his diocese.
Scary !
Agree. I also wouldn’t listen to a thing 99 percent of these clerics say. They do nothing to support orthodoxy and just hang around eating fine meals and whip the faithful into donating money.
Well…the effete old lady Cardinal Wuerl left Pittsburgh, came to DC and did the same thing. He called his “Forward in Faith” and demanded that every family commit to 10K over 5 years. He then turned around and closed 8 fully functioning parish schools. How can we ditch this effete and arrogant old fart?