Letter from Fr. Stephen Okumu and Deacon Denny Duffell of St. Bridget Parish in North Seattle read to Masses May 9-10, 2014, regarding a meeting at the parish with Archbishop J. Peter Sartain about Fr. Harry Quigg.
Letter from Fr. Stephen Okumu and Deacon Denny Duffell of St. Bridget Parish in North Seattle read to Masses May 9-10, 2014, regarding a meeting at the parish with Archbishop J. Peter Sartain about Fr. Harry Quigg.
Letter from Fr. Stephen Okumu and Deacon Denny Duffell of St. Bridget Parish in North Seattle read to Masses May 9-10, 2014, regarding a meeting at the parish with Archbishop J. Peter Sartain about Fr. Harry Quigg.
Statement to be read after all Masses, May 9-10, at St.
Bridget Parish, Seattle, at the end of the
announcements.
Id like to read for you a letter that Fr. Okumu and I drafted together.
We would first like to thank everyone who came last Tuesday night for the open meeting with our Archbishop about our former pastor Fr. Quigg. There were about 200 chairs put out, and people were still standing all around the sides.
Besides Archbishop Sartain, five others from the Chancery Office were with us on Tuesday, all Directors of various departments, so the Archdiocese was well-represented. [They were: the Vicar for Clergy, Fr. Mulholland, as well as the Director for Senior Priests, David Reynolds, the Director of Priest and Parish Services, Leigh Stringfellow, the Director of the Office of Communications, Greg Magnoni, and the Executive Director for the Chancery, Dennis OLeary.]
For those of you who were unable to come, or who found out about the meeting too late to come, Ill just say that our parishioners were a little angry from the very beginning of the evening, I think understandably, and there was little patience with anything that sounded like an excuse or which went off on a tangent. Archbishop Sartain admitted that mistakes were made, and apologized to our community. He said that several times during the meeting, which went on for two and a half hours; and he stayed until anyone who wanted to speak with him had the opportunity to do so. I think that most people felt that our Archbishop was sincere. At the same time many of those in the room will also be waiting to see what changes the Archdiocese makes in its procedures, in favor of greater communication and transparency.
The Archdiocese has updated the statement that was sent out earlier, and they have posted it on the Archdiocesan web site. They also have furnished us, as promised, with a link to the names of any priests who have been laicized or whose ability to function as a priest has been taken away. We will publish that link in next weeks bulletin, or you can call our parish office to get it, starting Monday.
It is probably accurate to say that there are some parishioners who were and are ready to forgive our former pastor. It is also true that many other people still feel deeply betrayed, and forgiveness will not come so easily. Its a little like a family that learns that theres been sexual abuse within the family. Some family members quickly get to the point where they just dont want to talk about it anymore; and some need to talk about it and work it through. So, please be patient with us and with your fellow parishioners as we work through this. In the meantime, I hope we can all pray for our parish, especially for those who are hurt or betrayed, those who are angry, and those who are broken in any way. We need to stay together as a parish, as a community, and it will be our job, and the role of our Pastoral Council and other parish leaders, to steer a course for our healing as a community.
And of course, Fr. Okumu and I have been and will continue to be available to any parishioners who want to talk with us about this or ask questions, whether by phone, email, or in person. Please do pray for us as well.