Part of the reason for Modernist Collegeville's present temperamental outburst must have to do with the fact that Marker has been critical of Father Jerome Tupa, whose pornographic art featuring the use of real gold was recently criticized, along with some credible accusations against Tupa..
We hope some will remember that Tupa testily attacked Marker's work as "calumny" and "being libelous talk" and even attacked the University Newspaper for publishing Marker's words. [Tupa never specifies how Marker's efforts are libelous, but they must not be if the Abbey hasn't taken him to court yet and only resorts to slander.]
Marker was actually invited to his reunion, and was then asked to leave after he had arrived, and was speaking to friends. We're reminded of the strange behavior of other Bishops in the Church.
Here's the story from the St. Cloud Times, where Marker was invited to his High School reunion, but then asked to leave by security subsequently. We think that such pettiness really speaks to the kinds of men who gather at St. John's Abbey.
In defining its core values, St. John’s Preparatory School lists “Community” as its first one — followed by these words:
“Our school is community, providing hospitality and demonstrating citizenship. Life together in this place is built on trust, love, respect and a genuine interest and concern for one another, which includes welcoming, helping, listening, caring and being present to others.” [Words don't mean what they say, clearly, they can't even abide by this mealy 501-C style statement.]
Framed against those words, it’s hard to understand why the school, led by the Order of St. Benedict, decided now to ban a prep school alumnus from all of the order’s property for a year — even if the alumnus is highly critical of how the order has handled clergy sex abuse cases.
As reported in the Times, Patrick Marker — a member of the school’s Class of 1983 — first was required to leave the prep school’s Class of 1983 reunion on June 29 despite it inviting him to attend. About a week later, on July 8, he received a letter from the order barring him from its property for a year.
Read further...St. Cloud Times...