If Someone Steals $1000 From Me,

it isn't helpful if someone comes along and says, "You need to be reconciled with your neighbor and forgive him. So you should split the difference and see if he'll be nice and give you back $500." I had a most peculiar e-mail exchange with an Anglican cleric over the weekend that I'm increasingly convinced was conducted on his side under false pretenses -- based on some of the things he said in the more than 20 messages he sent me over a 3-day period, I believe he's conducting some sort of discussion with the unelected St Mary's vestry and the ACA over the vacant position there.

One good sign, at least for the unelected vestry and the ACA, is that by his account, he's been something of an ally of the late Anthony Morello throughout their clerical careers. By his account, he recently called the Fountain Valley parish, and the secretary there told him that the late lamented Fr Tony had had him in mind for the rectorship of St Mary's all along. Certainly the best -- indeed, the only thing -- the likes of Brian Marsh can hope for is a Morello clone who'll do what's needed at and to St Mary's while giving Marsh deniability. You heard it here first!

This also suggests to me that I need to continue this blog for the time being, since he seemed to feel 20-plus e-mails were worth the effort if I could be bamboozled. Late in our correspondence, he asked me about reconciliation and forgiveness, and I replied,

It’s a very complex situation, because it’s not as though two dissenting groups of the same denomination can just bury the hatchet and go on. The 80% majority of the parish voted several times to leave the ACA and go into the Ordinariate. The ACA first said it would not oppose this, then changed its mind and seized the parish, using as its excuse the 20% of dissidents who claimed irregularities in the votes. As part of the process, the ACA deposed the rector on the basis of false witness from the 20%. It then initiated legal action accusing him of crimes like forgery, for “forging” the signatures on legitimate checks by authorized signers. Morello and Strawn then excommunicated via letter the members of the elected vestry, as well as other members of the parish who had voted for the Ordinariate.

It seems to me that if the ACA were to want to clear things up, in the spirit of the Catholic sacrament of Reconciliation, it would need to confess to the various sins involved and then, as part of penance, make things right, especially with Fr Kelley. Every homily I’ve heard about forgiveness has said it’s not a matter of just pretending the things that need to be forgiven didn’t happen. Certainly if someone goes to Confession and says he’s stolen something, the priest is going to tell him to find a way to give it back or otherwise make things right.

It seems to me that the process of making things right would involve restoring the good standing, pay, and benefits the ACA took from the rector, dropping all legal action, and restoring the parish to its path of entering the Ordinariate. Strawn and Marsh on behalf of Morello and themselves would need to apologize to the members of the parish they had excommunicated and otherwise offended. This would not be easy, but it would need to be done. It would not be a matter of sitting in a circle and singing kumbaya!

On top of that, several of the dissident party were, in my wife’s and my opinion, unbalanced, unpredictable, and demonstrably capable of violence. For our own safety, we felt it worthwhile to maintain a distance. Morello in particular encouraged these people. The ACA would need to work out a way of assuring the parish that it could come back together safely. This is part of the problem we’re dealing with.

Remember that the reading from Matthew [18:17] involving resolving disputes recognizes that they may not be resolved in this world, at which point the Christian needs to treat the unrepentant person as a heathen.

My clerical correspondent suddenly became exercised at this: he seemed to feel that since nobody's ever 100% right, that means they're never more than 50% right, and oh by the way, those who were excommunicated, although he's not familiar with the reasons, probably deserved it, and anyhow, if they want to become Catholic, they should just march down the street the way you did and stay out of the parish's business, blah blah blah. Internal evidence from his angry reply suggested that he'd had an earful from Mrs Bush et al and, since Mrs Bush held the checkbook, she who had the gold was going to make the rules.

Here's a Catholic perspective on forgiveness, which doesn't appear to deviate from several homilies on the same subject I've heard as an Episcopalian. Some excerpts:

Forgiveness is not a denial that you have been hurt or harmed. It does not mean that it's OK what the offender did to you. If there had been no harm done, there would be nothing to forgive. Forgiveness does not mean tolerating wrongdoing or allowing an injustice to continue.

Forgiveness does not necessarily mean that you will totally forget the hurtful event, nor does it mean that you must continue to be the offender's friend. You might need to keep a safe distance.

* * *

Recognize that you have been harmed.

Acknowledge and accept your feelings about what happened.

Think clearly about who in the situation bears responsibility for what. In fairness, you should not take the blame for someone else's wrongdoing.

I'm afraid that my correspondent seems to have initiated our discussion based on false pretenses -- pretending to be a neutral party, but apparently in some type of serious talks with the unelected vestry and/or the ACA on the basis that he would become rector or a long-term interim of the parish, remaining in the ACA. In effect, he would be the agent of continued injustice, since the parish always regarded the Continuum as a poor second choice, and always wanted to become Catholic if it could. To fully make things right, the ACA would need to recognize it had wronged the parish majority and restore the parish to its path toward the Ordinariate.

This man is a quack and a fraud.