More On The Orlando Chapel Group

My regular correspondent has found additional backstory on the chapel group in Orlando whose circumstances are so provisional that Bp Lopes must celebrate ad orientem on a windowsill.

I think I have solved the mystery of why the pastor of Incarnation, Orlando began celebrating a Sunday evening mass in the chapel of Nemours Hospital. Jason McCrimmon, a former curate in Incarnation's ACA days who did not go forward for ordination in the first wave five years ago is being ordained to the diaconate on August 14. Presumably, like Our Lady of Grace, Pasadena, St John Fisher, Orlando is a make-work project spearheaded by a sympathetic pastor to create a congregation for his protégé. Although I bet not one single new Catholic has been added to the rolls.

More information came in a later e-mail:

As we see about midway through this story by the ever-thorough Sr Thurley, at the time most of Incarnation's congregation was received into the Church Jason McCrimmon elected to "remain Anglican and live out his priestly ministry as a chaplain in the US Navy." I noticed his name, however, on the list of Parish Council members on the Incarnation website sometime in the past year. I suppose speculating about whether the chaplaincy gig ended would be too cynical.

I gather there is a significant shortfall in Catholic military chaplains. About a quarter of US military personnel are Catholic, served by only 8% of the chaplaincy staff.

Of course, the chaplains fall under a different prelature, which does Bp Lopes no good.

It looks like we're dealing again here with a clergy-focused opportunistic model, wherein Houston stretches every prudence to create billets for favored candidates whose careers are stalled elsewhere. It's worth noting that in the wake of the clergy sex abuse scandals of recent decades, the Church recognized that it was important to cull marginal seminarians and ease doubtful priests out of pastoral roles. By the way, had Mr McCrimmon already been reviewed and passed over five years ago?

Apparently the OCSP goes out of its way to recruit and find posts that will expose Catholics to some marginal candidates and doubtful priests. Er, do I need to list the names of the ones we've already come to know? One more time, I would never go to an OCSP priest for confession, and luckily, it would be easier for me to find an SSPX chapel if I needed to fulfill my mass obligation in some remote place.