Opinion: St. Mary's, Australia. Priest Continues Error, Leads Faithful Astray

Father Peter Kennedy has been leading what appears to be a renegade movement within a parish.

CHESAPEAKE, VA. (Catholic Online) - For several years, a saga of infidelity to the Church has been unfolding in Brisbane, Australia. The Archbishop of Brisbane, John Bathersby, has tried to exercise the heart of a shepherd while dealing with one priest's disregard of the orthodox teaching of the Church and the clear requirements of Canon law concerning the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy. He has demonstrated what could only be called the "patience of Job".

Father Peter Kennedy has been leading what appears to be a renegade movement within a parish, St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in South Brisbane, Australia. He has ignored repeated efforts by the Archbishop to correct his errors in teaching and his infidelity to the proper celebration of the Sacred Mysteries. He has abdicated his duty to properly preside over the celebration of the Liturgy. He does not wear vestments and has completely blurred the distinction between the community and the celebrant. He has collapsed the important distinction between the priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial priesthood. It appears that this misguided cleric has questioned the Catholic teaching concerning the ministerial priesthood and embraced instead a new approach. Finally, if that were not enough, he has apparently promoted explicitly errant doctrines which deny the Trinity, the Divinity of Christ and the Virgin Birth.

There is a Latin maxim, "lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi". Loosely translated it means how we worship reflects what we believe and determines how we will live our lives. The Church has long understood that part of her role as mother and teacher is to watch over worship and protect the deposit of the faith. She does this for the sake of the faithful who deserve to be taught the truth from the Ambo and receive the Body and Blood of the Lord to nourish them from the Altar of Sacrifice. How the Catholic Church worships is a prophetic witness to the truth of what she professes. Good worship draws the world into the fullness of life in Jesus Christ which is lived within the full communion of His Body, the Catholic Church. Good Liturgy attracts all who have been created in love and for love- through beauty to Beauty. True worship informs and transforms both the person and the faith community which participates in it. There is a clear connection between true worship, faithful teaching and preaching - and how the faithful live their daily lives and are able to grow in holiness of life.

Having spent decades in ecumenical work, I find it deeply sad to read of this kind of infidelity from Catholic priests. Right when so many of our Christian friends in other confessions and communities are searching for a deeper encounter with the beauty of the Lord in true worship - for sign, symbol and mystery - they reject it. In doing so they actually think they have found a better way. Right when so many other Christians have grown weary of the questionable teaching in some circles, the old heresies return, preached by these priests from the ambo! These men often act as though they are the "enlightened ones" and gather the faithful around them in defiance. Right when the faithful hunger for a clear connection with the ancient Church in her true doctrine and divine worship, they present themselves as the ones who are teaching the truth while actually leading the faithful away from the real source of truth. They substitute their own liturgy for Divine Liturgy.

The elements which make the formal liturgical worship of the Catholic Church, so filled with mystery and attractive to those seeking a deeper experience of worship, are being jettisoned. The heart of the orthodox teaching of the Catholic Church is watered down or rejected. The truths of the ancient Christian faith, handed down by the Apostles and protected by the Holy Spirit through the teaching office, are compromised. These few misguided priests pass on error and surrender their sacred office to the teaching of recycled old heresies of ages past.

Among the serious errors which the Archbishop addresses in his recent correspondence to this errant Priest are the following. These are taken directly from the Bishops correspondence which is on the Diocesan website. These are therefore public pronouncements:

"1. The disregard of the Church's demand that baptisms use only the traditional Trinitarian formula of Father, Son and Holy Spirit: After my complaint in 2004 I had been led to believe that no invalid formulas would be used again. In a public speech to South Brisbane you yourself admitted that you had not told me the full truth and that the formulas being used were not accepted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Despite St Mary's boast that it welcomes all, its misuse of the baptismal formula has significant ecumenical implications.

"2. Having initially changed the celebration of Eucharist at St Mary's the parish then once again encouraged the congregation to proclaim the words of consecration and reject the use of vestments. Both actions are contrary to the liturgical norms required by the church.

"3. The distribution at South Brisbane of "Jesus the Avatar": a chapter from the book, "God is Big. Real Big" written by Fr Peter Dresser of Coonamble NSW. This was extraordinary. The chapter claimed that Jesus was not Son of God and Savior. When this news broke in the media, Father Dresser immediately apologized for the article and disowned it. However no comment was made by South Brisbane. Even Lutwyche parish, which was also using Dresser's book, immediately stopped its sale. That such an article could be distributed in South Brisbane and promoted by its leadership made me wonder how South Brisbane could possibly claim Communion with the Roman Catholic Church. The action raised a well founded suspicion among many people that South Brisbane was not a Christian community much less a Roman Catholic one."

The book referred to in the Bishop's letter was written by another dissident priest from the Australian Diocese of Bathurst. The author clearly denies the infallible teaching of the Council of Nicaea and the Council of Ephesus. In short, he passes on heresy, the claim that Jesus was not divine, that Mary was not a virgin and that she had at least six children. He writes in this heretical book, "This whole matter regarding Jesus being God ... not only does violence to my own intelligence, but must be a sticking point for millions of people trying to make some kind of sense of the Christian religion ... No human being can ever be God, and Jesus was a human being. It is as simple as that." There is nothing "cool" or "new" about these old lies. They are simply recycled errors which will lead the faithful astray.

The Archbishop's entire letter is set forth below. His behavior toward the priest and the faithful has been exemplary. His most recent decision to allow this priest to retire shows just how merciful he has been. Unfortunately, the priest seems to have demonstrated an entirely different attitude. In his comments to local reporters, Father Peter Kennedy pushed his overt rebellion further saying, "I've been here 28 years and I know this community is solidly behind me, and so we could go elsewhere". He read the Archbishop's letter to the gathered community this past Sunday morning. Sadly, his apparent sin of pride is replicated by some parishioners who insist they will celebrate the Mass in their own way. One of the lay leaders, Margaret Ortiz informed the Press that the community will remain, "They would have to come a physically remove us".

Archbishop Bathersby advised the priest that if he "wished to retire from active service, the archdiocese will assist as it does with other priests who retire". However, reports from Brisbane indicate that the church's lay leadership committee has decided that Fr Kennedy will stay on. They will pay him to continue to lead them astray from the collections. Fr Kennedy has asked the Archbishop to come and meet with the parishioners, hoping to persuade him to change his mind. The Archbishop cautioned the members of the parish that if they proceed in this manner they risk their own communion with the Church. In fact, he told the priest, "Those who follow you should realize that they will not be in communion with the Roman Catholic Church and the Archdiocese of Brisbane".

Please, pray for the Archbishop, Fr. Kennedy, the members of the parish and the entire Church in Brisbane.

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