My Thoughts on the Gag Order Put on Fr. Mark Goring by Chriss Rainey

I am absolutely crushed that Fr. Mark Goring has been silenced.  He was told to cease and desist by “his superiors.”  He didn’t say how far up that command went.  Was it only from the head of his order?  Or was it through that head coming further up the food chain from Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, bishop of Houston-Galveston, and president of the USCCB?  Or who knows?  Was it from the Vatican after some whining from Cardinal Donald Wuerl?  It doesn’t matter.  Someone with power to ruin his whole life has put the thumb screws on one of the most refreshing voices I’ve heard in a very long time. 

Naturally, I was all in with his St. Joseph Warriors.  We sent in our photo and listened to his daily You Tube post, but more importantly, we are doing and will continue to do what he made clear was so important---that we get ON OUR KNEES three times a day and pray, however briefly. 

I can’t EVER recall a priest telling me to do that.  Not EVER.  This is exactly what we need, priests willing to tell us what we must do to be better CATHOLICS.  Not just better stewards of the planet, or redistributors of our wealth, or co-existers or pluralists, but BETTER CATHOLICS. 

I see in Fr. Mark Goring a man who woke up one day and said to himself, something needs to be done and I’m going to do more than complain about it.  I’m going to use my talents to gather people together for the purpose of making a difference in our Church and renewing the purity and dignity that has been so lacking in the last 50 years.  To know someone in the Church has said NO to that is deeply troubling.  You can argue that they have the “legitimate” power to do so, but it doesn’t mean it was the wisest decision.  How could you, unless that is, you believe the sheep need to just calm down and move on.  The problems we’ve been roaring about aren’t worth getting so worked up over.  Just go to mass, drop in your money, sing out of your Gather Hymnal, and go home knowing you’ve checked that off your list for another week.  Getting actually involved on the other hand gets so messy and “we wouldn’t want to do that, now would we?”

Do you ever get the feeling you are being treated like a lunatic in an insane asylum?  Don’t worry.  Be happy.  It’s all going to work out.  You’ll see.

Fr. Goring said he took a vow of obedience.  No doubt he like so many others took it seriously and I understand that, though I must confess, I have little respect for it when it comes to subjugating yourself to others who fail to keep God’s commandments. 

I am an obedient wife, but I would not hesitate to rebel if my husband were asking me to contribute in some way to sin, whether it was by deed or by my silence.  As long as he behaves like a Catholic, he can be the boss.  I think the same could be true for all the men and women in service to God through the Church whether they are in an order, a convent, a monastery, or a diocese.  The people they report to and pledge their obedience need to be asking for their submission from a position of deserving it. 

I just finished reading a hair raising book titled The Nuns of Sant’ Ambrogio, by Hubert Wolf, published in 2015.  It is based on the Inquisition trial transcripts from the Vatican archives of a case involving a wicked cult of lesbian initiation rites in a convent in Rome in the 1850’s.  All the incoming nuns naturally pledged or vowed obedience and it was disastrous for all involved.  This is for sure an EXTREME CASE, but it is what I mean when I say obedience should go only so far and no further. 

Another instance is Sr. Lucia who was put in virtual exile for most of her life and forbidden to speak to anyone.  Because of this the Catholic laity has spent the last 100 years speculating over what was in the third secret revealed to her by Mary and assuming it was being covered up by clergy to protect the corruption in the Church.  Sr. Lucia, who had not broken any civil laws, made herself a prisoner.  She was faithful to a vow I think should have been ignored, for the sake of the Church at large.  There are many who would say the people enforcing this silence on her had much to hide.  In other words, they were not deserving of her submission. 

When a priest today has the courage to speak out against the disgusting corruption and filth in the hierarchy, I say God bless him!  We owe no allegiance to those individuals that bring dishonor to the Body of Christ.  It is impossible for me to think I can say what I want and a priest cannot, when both of us see the same error. 

The fact “this is the way we’ve always done it” just may not be working anymore.  Or if it IS WORKING, is it not clear it is working best for the forces that are currently destroying the Church?