Become a Patron! Wherein Fr. Previous Next. View Larger Image. Z — John Zuhlsdorf — had some important news Friday night: I have found things, dear readers, interior and exterior, that have to change. And he is making a geographical move, as well: My years in my adoptive Diocese of Madison have be fruitful on many levels. God cannot be deceived and I tremble for them. I have a lot of details still to work out.
This is obviously a difficult time for him. I don't know what the present bishop knows. I haven't been in touch. Zuhlsdorf, whether consciously or not, has also mastered the art of projecting his own psycho-spiritual pathologies onto his fragile-minded followers. The clinicians would be fascinated with the heavy transference and counter transference of psychoses, neuroses, fixations and fantasies going on in this rather bizarre and unhealthy relationship between Zuhlsdorf and his followers.
There is nothing adult to be said about the dynamic. Zuhlsdorf is also the complete Pelagian. He has recently vented very petulantly about Francis' categorization of Trads by proclaiming: "I am a Self-Absorbed Promethean Neopelagian"[3] Despite his own disinformation, Zuhlsdorf is not a professional theologian, liturgist or canon lawyer.
Regardless of that, he has made a cottage industry out of conveniently distorting and reinterpreting Church Councils, doctrines and disciplines to his own ends. He describes this as his divine destiny, an essential ministry and the work of orthodoxy.
As long as he can argue that he is an authority his naive disciples will believe him and pay him handsomely for the deception. Zuhlsdorf's script and behaviour betray him as a snob, a name dropper, a brown-noser of epic proportions, a gossip, an indolent, pampered sook and a coward. He has become lost in the fog of his own self-confected mystique and mythos. Zuhlsdorf continues to do what he does best and the only thing he is qualified to be.
He is the quintessential clerical gossip, nag, pedant, dilettante, manipulative entrepreneur and, above all, an enormous bore. It is precisely these things, among others, which is of interest here. It is clear that Zuhlsdorf watches the blogosphere closely and especially to those that place him under close scrutiny.
Two things are a giveaway on his website: he has abandoned the old graphic depicting Francis being deconstructed and deciphered by the Papal Emeritus and he has taken to acknowledging his benefactors.
Despite this it continues to be just as obvious that Zuhlsdorf: harbours deep resentment, anger and even hatred for Benedict for resigning the papacy. He and many of his disciples regarded the abdication as a kind of apostasy. Now his displaced anger and rage are directed at Francis.
It is manifestly obvious that he utterly despises Francis, dismissing him with the ad hominem peasant routine. Just a thought. It was the photographs of the nice meals that finally did it for me. He is a priest of the diocese of Rome, and might perhaps show a little more respect for his bishop.
On the other hand, I have heard that that diocese has a saying about its own — that 'Rome is full of odd priests'. Chances are that eventually he will implode upon himself under the sheer weight of his own hubris, dissemblance and greed. Did America Magazine ever post one of Coghlin's diatribes in the s? Charles Coughlin, covering the period Enclosed in the green envelope are four printed items of interest.
Magil and 2 pamphlet entitled "Father Coughlin on the Air" by Msgr. John A. Charles Coughlin for the year This correspondence is in response to an article criticizing Coughlin, authored by Father Wilfrid Parsons, Editor of America Magazine Too bad that the editors chose to not follow the tradition of this magazine.
Elizabeth Durack. This is thoroughly ridiculous. What hysteria. I am a woman and I assure you he is very respectful of me and of other women. I suppose you can say practically anything about Fr Z to your readers in Australia since he is on the other side of the globe and no one has met him and know one knows firsthand the gravity of the problems in the USA with some of the religious sisters there are others who are Wonderful and whom Fr Z praises highly , and make of him an ogre and a monstrous caricature of, I presume, a certain kind of priest you do not like in your own country.
He has been respectful and generous to me and great to talk with. You make wrongful attacks on Fr Zuhlsdorf's character and baseless accusation apparently of heresy "complete Pelagian".
You have dug into everything about Fr Z and your lack of any serious information justifying your jihad against him amounts to a vindication: he stands guilty of nice meals. Well, so do the best of us from time to time. George D. Bottom line is that this ministry is not "just like a parish". Where is the spouse dying of cancer, the woman with her fourth pregnancy and no health care, the child who just died, weeping with families, celebrating baptisms, being involved with the real life of the community?
One thing to read about it and even pray about. Much different about actually being present. It is that kind of solidarity that softens and sensitizes and from what I see he requires it.
Also, a heavy emphasis on "masculinity" is odd. As they saying goes, the only definition of an alpha male, if you have to try to be one, you're not one. And then he says this, "as far as sharp and divisive is concerned, sometimes sharp is what is needed to punch through the veil of falsehood, or the veil of dumb.
The fascination with guns, at his age, and given his station, and what he proports to be is off putting to say the least. Helen Smith.
The question I have is: Where did Fr. Z learn how to be a priest? In the seminary? We do not know, at least he has not revealed what seminary he attended. Seems to me that he thinks being a priest means I can do my own thing, That is not the way that priests I admire live their lives. There are people with all these sorts of serious problems who comment on Fr Z's blog, read the prayer postings, I am also aware of other similarly serious problems people have, known also to Fr Z, that don't necessarily get aired on the blog publicly.
Yes, Elizabeth My point is a larger one. He said that his work on the blog is a ministry. Ministry is done in the name of the Church or in the name of some kind of corporate body. It is not done in the name of charismatic individuals creating blogs and who are unaccountable to the people of God in any meaningful way.
In the context of the Catholic church, clergy are related differently to the church; a change in relationship to the church, not change in existential status although, of course, I know Fr. Z will disagree with that but obviously his blog will not go into long dialogue around the theology of the priesthood and different interpretations.
And that is a further point. He misrepresents the breadth of Catholic theology that exists in the church and presents a very narrow view. As far as masculinity, I mean hyper-masculinity and an over affect of it.
You would not suggest that women batting their eyes, giggling, slightly flirting, demurring, slight cleavage, is a model of femininity would you? I think you would call it a caricature and a woman affecting in that manner in middle ages would signal a crisis of identity. Same for men. That is my point. As a man, as a Catholic, and a Christian, I decry violence against women which is why when I read him refer to them "humorously" as "cows" , I recoil as should every person of good will.
That is inappropriate, wrong, disrespectful, misogynist and he should be called on it by every "real" man particularly his bishop and you, his friend. Finally, on guns. The priest that was killed in Phoenix by the attacker was killed by a gun owned by his colleague Fr. The assailant was able to tear the gun away from the one priest and ended up shooting Fr. So here is a case where the presence of a handgun contributed directly to a priest's death.
The assailant did not have one but got it away from the priest. Had there not been a gun in the rectory, Fr. Walker would likely be alive today. But Fr. I know this priest in person and he is a normal, cheerful, healthy priest whose bearing and demeanor is that of a normal man.
He has an unusual ministry, though which he makes a substantial positive contribution to the mission of the Church. He is close with other truly fine priests. Rather breathtakingly callous that you want to criticize a victim of an absolutely brutal near-fatal beating with a tire iron for having a weapon in a rough neighborhood, do you really want to blame Fr Terra who suffered badly broken hands in the attack for the death of his parochial vicar?
Look, don't go there. There is nothing unchristian about self-defense, or defense of other innocent people. This is a well established moral principle. I don't have a gun and I recommend to others to freely choose not to arm themselves, but you have chosen a particularly unreasonable line of argument to advance your position, and you've lost me.
It is dreadful to criticize Fr Terra about this. Have you an anticlerical antagonism? I am trying to understand the ferocity and uncharitableness of your criticisms. I have no antagonism and I am certainly not blaming the victim. I am, however, pointing out that people, particularly priests, who have public platforms should be arguing positions based on reason and evidence; not emotion.
There is documented and clear evidence of "the weapon effect". The presence of weapons increases aggression in people. That has been tested time and time again. As this article states, "A review of 56 published studies confirmed that the mere sight of weapons increases aggression in both angry and nonangry individuals.
I don't know the details of this case but I do know that the presence of weapons escalates and does not de-escalate the situation. But I stand by my statement that referring to women as cows is inappropriate.
Is it for your consumption? I am aware sometimes he does things to materially help people in serious difficulty--and in Christian fashion his personal charity is usually not public knowledge. A man's emphasis on masculinity is odd? Am I not allowed to emphasize enjoying being a woman and what is good about women, either? Let us be reasonable--and let us appreciate men and women and their complementarity. I am content with Fr Z and other men being happy about being men and having male sensibilities.
I am not a gun person. Fr Z knows what I think. You are really so worried about that I looked at Fr. Z's blog awhile back, attempting to keep an open mind and see what more traditional Catholics were thinking and talking about. The few time I attempted to offer a comment from a perhaps different perspective, I was harshly ridiculed by both the followers of Fr. Z, and Fr. Z himself. I thought that my comments were kind and fair, and added to the conversation.
Evidently Fr. Z did not like what I had to say and I have been permanently blocked from the site since then. No warning whatsoever. Only a certain color of sheep are allowed in his barnyard. I don't know that his calling to minister to others via the Internet is genuine. His writing is clearly political,he regularly bashes the President and non-capitalist ideology. Though he supports gun rights and brags about his own gun , I have never heard him utter a word in protest of the Death Penalty.
If he is educating Catholics about Catholic tradition and teaching, it is according to his own agenda. His criticisms of Catholic nuns is especially caustic, divisive and hard to read. Though these interviews have been interesting, Sean, and I've gotten some unique views into the thinking of Catholics that I clearly disagree with, I'm glad this is the last one. Something about seeing Fr. Z on the pages of America magazine does not feel right to me. Beth Cioffoletti. When I commented on Z's blog I was not "anonymous" - I used my real name, as here, with a link to my website.
I did not consider my comments to be offensive in any way, but, if I recall, the one that caused Z to permanently cut me off was regarding the psychological wounding of the young men and women in the military who are trained to kill on our behalf. Wayne Lee.
Beth, To ease your concerns, I have used my real first and last names. A couple of observations: I found the interview to include a nice balance of spirituality, humor, and scholarliness.
These are the features I like about Fr Z's blog. Second, for someone who cannot read his blog, you seem to have extensive knowledge of its content! Third, referring to our troops as "trained to kill on our behalf" is as insulting and inflammatory as anything Fr Z has ever written. I'm sorry that you found "trained to kill on our behalf" insulting and inflammatory, Wayne. I'm also sorry that it is true. How would you word it? Good job Fr.
Sean Salai, SJ! Where to begin? Wiley's sermon's concepts get the inter national attention they deserve, Confession, Sacred Liturgy as a founding of our authentic Catholic life, Mother Angelica references, and well-ordered digital New Evangelization.
Very good piece, many thanks to America Magazine for interviewing Father Z. These Catholic blogs play a very important role in this. They tend to speak to a particular kind of audience, against a particular kind of church. Z, can find and consolidate a politically and culturally homogenous audience in a way a parish priest never could. Z, who sees himself in a tradition of Christian leaders evangelizing through technology.
A tradition that includes Martin Luther, who could not have spread the seeds of Protestantism without the printing press, but also Father Coughlin, who used the radio in the s to spread his fascist political beliefs to tens of millions of listeners from the tower of the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Detroit. Z told BuzzFeed News. That force multiplier has allowed Fr.
Z invites them to lavish him with gifts. In exchange for a monthly subscription, Fr. The practice has drawn critics, who say that soliciting money directly from his readers inappropriately insulates Fr. Z from Church pressure. But in the context of internet publishing, even on Fr.
From YouTube stars to writers crowdfunding projects, content creators across a range of internet media are finding that a devoted audience can support a subscription model. And who is more devoted than a group of parishioners? The subscriber model produces a fascinating question in the clerical context: If Fr. Z relies on the generosity of his audience, rather than the support of the Church, how much does he have to tell them what they want to hear?
You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter. Mike Lewis is a writer and graphic designer from Maryland, having worked for many years in Catholic publishing. He's a husband, father of four, and a lifelong Catholic. He's active in his parish and community. He is the founding managing editor for Where Peter Is. Tags: Diocese of Madison exorcism Fr. John Zuhlsdorf.
Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Email Address. Skip to content. According to his post, he has made some decisions that will require him to move away from the diocese: My years in my adoptive Diocese of Madison have be fruitful on many levels. For example, the description for his December 5 exorcism read: Exorcism against Satan and Fallen Angels for protection against demonic influence in the vote certification process.
Please keep him in your prayers as he begins his new chapter. Liked this post? Take a second to support Where Peter Is on Patreon!
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