On the other hand, it's worth referring to the events surrounding the Friday evening prayer vigils that the now mostly excommunicated parishioners have held on the sidewalk outside the parish this past autumn, as well as the Christmas carol session they held on December 21. A copy of the flyer they distribute at the vigils can be found here.
The prayer vigils are, of course, just that, orderly demonstrations on public property. Most of the participants are in late middle age, normally about half a dozen of them, although I'm told that more than a dozen turned up on December 21 for the Christmas carols. It's an example of the hysteria surrounding the parish conflicts that the "senior warden" appointed by the ACA "priest in charge", Mrs Marilyn Bush, has called the police at least three times in an effort to stop these vigils.
When the police arrive, of course, they find nothing untoward, and the displaced parishioners are allowed to continue the exercise of their free-speech rights on public property. In fact, one LAPD officer noted a 1902 city ordinance, still in force, that specifically allows citizens to carry candles on public streets as an aid to navigation. At one point, in an effort to circumvent this, Mrs Bush reported that the half-dozen or so gray-haired parishioners involved were "lighting up", apparently implying that they were about to inhale controlled substances! On December 21, Mrs Bush called again in an attempt to stop the Christmas festivities, although by the time the police arrived, the carolers had proceeded to serenade residences farther down the street.
I have two questions here. One concerns the position of the newly designated "curate", Fr Nicholas Taylor, who lives on the premises. It appears that he's either unwilling or unable to exercise any responsible influence on Mrs Bush or other members of the rump-parish who are so hysterical that they're calling the police at the threat of quiet and peaceable prayer vigils outside the locked gates of the parish. My surmise is that every move Mrs Bush makes is closely coordinated with Anthony Morello, and since Taylor, as "curate", works for Morello, as "priest in charge", he's terrified of what might happen if he tried to impose any sort of sanity on the proceedings (that is, if he's even capable of recognizing what a sane approach to the circumstances might be).
The second question I have is about Mrs Bush, who is an octogenarian. What on earth does she do around that place all day? "I've called a couple of times and tried to talk to her," said one parishioner. "All they'll say is, 'She's in a meeting'. They must have a lot of meetings." Mrs Bush is a very sad case, but then, so is Fr Taylor. How can he claim to preach the Gospel on Sundays when he's utterly impotent to preach it by his actions on Friday evenings?
