Sunday, March 05, 2006
EMAIL FROM DR. BOND
Dear Friends,
The Scranton Times has published an article today on the Society of St. John's claim to be operating with canonical approval under a bishop in Paraguay:
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16239878&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=6
This article confirms that the former SSJ priests have not been given permission to reestablish themselves in Paraguay, and that these priests "are still bound to directives issued by Bishop Martino upon the society's suppression." This includes a prohibition against raising money.
The article notes that the SSJ's website has deleted a page that pictured four priests previously part of the SSJ, including Carlos Urrutigoity and Eric Ensey, both of whom were accused of sexually molesting a St. Gregory's Academy student. Those of you who received and read my letter yesterday may have already noted that the SSJ website has also deleted the link and letter which I brought to your attention.
There is a new letter on the SSJ website, however, making the same claim of canonical approval. The letter can be found through the "History" link on the SSJ homepage (www.ssjohn.org), or you can go directly to the letter at
http://www.ssjohn.org/documents/pdf/060101_letter2.pdf.
The letter's author, self-proclaimed "brother" Anthony Myers, falsely claims that the SSJ now has "the same level approval we previously had in the Diocese of Scranton." In the Diocese of Scranton, the SSJ, prior to its suppression, was a Public CLERICAL Association of the Faithful. Myers neglects to mention that the new SSJ is not a clerical association and, as I mentioned in my previous letter, anyone can establish a non-clerical Public Association of the Faithful without the approval of a bishop. Hence, to claim that the SSJ has the same level of approval it previously had is intentionally misleading at best. Indeed, Myers goes on to explain the SSJ's relocation was perfectly normal: "As has happened with many new communities in the Church, our own community was forced to look for another Bishop willing to support our work." Myers sanitized "history" leaves out the fact that Eric Ensey raped a boy and that Carlos Urrutigoity has been accused of homosexual molestation wherever he has gone. Myers also forgot to mention that the SSJ wasted over five million dollars that it raised by deceiving and defrauding Catholic donors.
Pax vobiscum,
Dr. Jeffrey M. Bond
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A note from your blogger:
Dr. Bond's letter is dated Sat, 4 Mar 2006 21:05:20. The SSJ website where the letter Dr. Bond speaks of is supposed to be located shows an "error" message this morning. However, if you go to this link, which I reached via the "history" link in the website, you can read:
Still, our branches can reach you and offer you the fruits of our apostolate as we did before, because we still are a Catholic community supported and approved by a Catholic bishop.
For me personally, the expression on the face of the bird symbol on the website wallpaper (a bird which I presume is a symbol of St. John) just about sums up this whole situation!
