and for our Saturday-afternoon schismatic liturgy,...

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Sep 02, 2006

Check the weekly bulletin of St. Joan of Arc parish in Minneapolis, and-- right next to the item on "Eco-Spirituality"-- you'll find this notice:

Call to Action Minnesota: Womenpriests Celebrate the Eucharist. On Saturday, September 23, 4-8 pm. Call to Action invites you to a Eucharistic Celebration with Regina Nicolosi presiding. Rev. Nicolosi was ordained as a womanpriest this summer. Following the Eucharist is a presentation by SJA parishioner Dr. Dorothy Irvin on "Ancient and Contemporary Models of Womenpriests and Deacons". Supper is included.

(Notice that the parish is not endorsing or sponsoring this parody of the Eucharist. Oh, no; certainly not. They're just announcing something that Call to Action is doing.)

Elsewhere in the bulletin the pastor tells about something he hears in Confession. Which is odd, not only because a priest is bound by the confessional seal, but also because the bulletin gives not a hint that confessions are actually heard at St. Joan of Arc parish.

Not that it's a quiet place. Just look at this line-up of the "Sunday Gym Liturgy Ministers:"

Presider: Fr. Jim DeBruycker
Welcome Giver: Pam Oleson-Kremer
Reader: Pat Greene
Hosts: Nona and Bob Bergh, Steve Cross, Lois Ebnet, Marge Thurin
Slide Projectionist: Sam Kent
Wine Ministers: Donna Diepolder, Laurie Encinas, Mary Kay Dooley, Peggy Langeslay, Joan and Jon Schaefer

Wine? They're serving wine? I guess we shouldn't be surprised, because wine is what their friends will be serving at the Womenpriest liturgy, after an invalid consecration by a sham priestess. What's the difference, really, between the Womenpriest mockery and the liturgy at St. Joan of Arc?

Maybe the parish mission statement will help us answer that question.

We transcend traditional boundaries and draw those who seek spiritual growth and social justice.

We welcome diverse ideas and encourage reflection on the message of the Gospel.

There's more, but you get the drift. You might get a suspicion that something's wrong at St. Joan of Arc. But you'd be wrong, because Archbishop Harry Flynn-- who is quick to take action when pastors question Church authority-- has not taken action.