Conservative Priest Faces Open Rebelion in Berkeley

Editor: Instead of being so violent, rigid and judgmental, they should look within.

Two weeks after more than 100 people protested against Reverend John Direen outside St. Joseph The Worker Church while he conducted mass inside, Direen disputed many of the accusations leveled against him in an interview with Berkeleyside.

While Direen acknowledged he has made some unpopular moves –  including closing meeting spaces and laying off staff — he said the changes have been driven by an urgent need to cut costs in a parish carrying a $1.1 million debt rather than being an attempt to push his own conservative agenda.

“When I came to St. Joseph two years ago I quickly realized we were facing a crisis,” he said. “We owed money to the diocese and to a variety of vendors, and we were being threatened by lawsuits.” Much of the debt was incurred by retrofitting work done at the church and it was compounded by decreased donations from a congregation in the midst of an economic recession.

 Read further, here...

H/t: PS

Smear Job Escalates

Editor: Perhaps if you'd only been more affirming, Father Corapi, and engaged in more Social Justice talk? His Bishop is guilty of worse associations than alleged prostitutes.

Maybe people wanted to know what the slanderous letter contained? Well now you know what the basic substance of the letter was. We're still awaiting Father Corapi's response to this. Since he knew what this was all about beforehand, he'll have a response, no doubt.

There are a number of Bishops, Monsignore , both living and dead, who've had far more wealth than Father Corapi. Sure, a million dollars is sure to upset some people, just as the initial comment by Solt seemed calculated to underscore many people's misgivings about a priest having luxury vehicles or a nice house. He wouldn't be the first.

Here's the article if you haven't seen it on Jimmy Fakin...