Monday, August 28, 2006
MORE OPUS ANGELORUM
They are located at 13800 Gratiot Ave, Detroit, as can be seen in their website where you can read the "Priest's Prayer". Assumption Grotto church is also located on Gratiot Ave. in Detroit. This is a very old and very traditional parish. The story of the blending of the Canons of the Holy Cross with the Assumption Grotto parish can be read here. It is the Canons (priests) of the Holy Cross who operate Opus Angelorum. The parish has a well-respected orchestra.
Tapes for Opus Angelorum are published by Grotto Press, as are the recordings of the parish orchestra. The name would tend to indicate an association with the church, but I haven't confirmed that.
Assumption Grotto was the site for a retreat on the liturgy conducted by Fr. Joseph Fessio.
Fr. John Hardon was associated with the parish as his obit confirms.
A side issue--the evidence that there is more than one order with the same name...I have emailed the Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross in Rome to inquire if Opus Angelorum is associated with their congregation. J. Hentges. O.S.C. responded that "this is not our Order. There is another order with a name similar to ours. I believe this group is the correct one. They are a refoundation of the Order in Portugal." So there are definitely two orders in the Roman Catholic Church with almost identical names.
Looks solidly Catholic so far. But there is, perhaps, an "except"...
Fr. Eduard Perrone is the Pastor of Assumption Grotto Church. You can see a picture of him at this website. I have linked the "catched" website since the original is no longer online.
Opus Bono Sacerdotii (another "Opus"--hmmm.) is an organization founded by Joe Maher, a parishioner at Assumption Grotto, for the purpose of defending priests accused of sexual abuse. You can read about the organization here.
I find this particularly interesting because back in 2004 I did some research on a Rev. Donald Weeks who turned up at the Opus Bono Sacerdotii website. Strangely enough Rev. Weeks is not a Roman Catholic priest. He is a priest of the Old Catholics. You can read the story in my blogs on Monday, August 02, 2004, on Tuesday, August 03, 2004; and on Wednesday, August 04, 2004 in my blog. (Just scroll down to find the entries.) As of this morning the Opus Bono Sacerdotii website was still showing the article "Oakland priest cleared of sex charge."
You can read Joe's response to my inquiry as to why the Opus Bono Sacerdotii organization was defending a non-Roman Catholic priest in the blog dated Tuesday, August 3, 2004, which reads in part:
In this case our researcher included it because of the belief that he was a priest in union with Rome. The article has since been removed from our site until we can verify the validity of the Reverend Weeks as a legitimately ordained Catholic priest.
The charges were dismissed, but there are other concerns as spelled out in this article about Reverend Weeks. The significant point, however, is whether or not Rev. Weeks is a Roman Catholic priest. What do you think based on this article?
Next is an article at the Bishop Accountability website by Brooks Egerton at Dallas Morning News, dated March 2, 2003. It tells the story of Rev. Richard T. Brown, one of 10 Catholic priests removed from pastoral jobs in the Diocese of Dallas, and it looks like another cover-up. From the article:
But at least one man identified by diocesan leaders as a perpetrator has been allowed to keep working as a priest: The Rev. Richard T. Brown. Bishop Charles Grahmann and his aides will say little, though, about where Father Brown is and what he has been doing since he left his Rockwall parish nine years ago.
The Dallas Morning News investigation has uncovered some answers. Father Brown, it turns out, has been working under the wings of two prominent priests in other states - both champions of conservatism with connections at the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church.
One, the late Rev. John Hardon, was a Vatican adviser, prolific author of religious books and spiritual director for Mother Teresa. The other, Father Benedict Groeschel, leads the New York Archdiocese's retreat center for clergy and has counseled clerics from around the country about sexual misconduct and other matters, arranging for many to return to duty.
The article describes Father Brown's help with spiritual retreats. Egerton indicates that information about Father Brown surfaced in the trial of notorious abuser Rudy Kos. The article continues:
...those at Detroit's Assumption Grotto were kept in the dark about his past. Father Hardon, a Jesuit, had an office there. Father brown did not formally work for the parish but lived with a group of Holy Cross order priests who help staff it, parish council president John Doyle said. ...
Although the priest took pains to keep his name out of print, he was known in conservative circles because of his connection to Father Hardon. "He was his right-hand man for years," Mr. McNally said.
An article by Alan Cooperman, Washington Post, dated Oct. 13, 2002 describes Joe Maher's first case:
Maher said he never doubted the innocence of the first priest he defended, the Rev. Komlan Dem Houndjame. A refugee from Togo, he was a visiting priest-in-residence at Maher's Assumption Grotto Church.
Houndjame, 47, was arrested in April on charges of raping a woman who sang in the church choir. He was acquitted after a friend of the woman testified that she had ated "catty" with Houndjame on the night of the alleged assault. The judge ruled that the jury could not hear testimony that Houndjame had made unwanted sexual advances toward two other women.
Interesting place, Assumption Grotto, with an interesting order of priests in residence.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
