Neocat violation – open letter to Prindiville

“I have sent this letter to Fr Gerry Prindville and I am placing a copy on Church Mouse as the abusive behaviour of the Neocatechuminate priests and their community is vicious, destructive and out of control. It violates the sanctity of our church.”

9 May 2005

Dear Gerry,

Last Sunday I arrived late into Sydney and decided to attend the evening parish mass.

I did nothing at the mass to incite or provoke the unwarranted, aggressive and abusive behaviour towards me by you and the Neocat clergy present.

I am of the understanding that it is a tradition in the Catholic Church to light a candle for the dead. I am at a loss to know why my action to light the candle for my friends Sr Celey Furlong and Nana Judy Gundy, both recently deceased, caused such hostility and abuse.

Four times in the church and in front of the altar I was abused by your Neocat people. I was told “fuck you”, (I lost count after hearing this outburst four times) “how dare you do this (light the candle)”, “get out of this church” and “you are fucking disgusting”. You no doubt heard the abuse as you were present during most of the tirade yet you did nothing. By your silence you condoned this behaviour. I was told by one of your seminarians from Dacyville that you would not allow the lighting of the candle.

Gerry, you claim that the evening mass is an experiment to get the local Redfern people to come to mass. My observations on Sunday were that there were six Neocats and four St Vincent’s regulars. You claim that we are keeping the local community away. I would suggest that you need to look at your behaviour and that of your Neocat priests-in-training because Sunday evening’s events are an example of what keeps people away.

In all the time you have been at St Vincent’s you have preached a religion of sin, damnation and death. There is no sense of the loving, caring God that is reflected constantly in the gospels. My God, Gerry, is a loving compassionate God who brings comfort to us all, especially the poor and oppressed. He gives hope to a world in need of hope. Your god is a god of revenge, fear and judgment who would have us all live in perpetual fear of hell.

I have experienced from both you and Dennis Sudla a sense that the community at St Vincent’s is evil, beyond redemption and to be condemned to hell. This I believe is the nub of why people are not attracted to your Neocat theology. It is dead and lifeless – where there should be joy, love celebration together with liberation and struggle with our broken world, there is only death.

To support this feeling I remind you that when I spoke to you after mass outside the church about the abuse that had just occurred, your response was “are you a sinner?” Gerry, there are many facets of the human spirit. Yes, we are all sinners, but we are also unique and special people. We are God’s people. Yet your only response was to attack. It is easy to denigrate and lay blame onto others as an excuse for your own behaviour. The behaviour in the church on Sunday was an abuse of power and an abuse of the sanctity of the Church.

As time goes by I am coming to the horrifying conclusion that there is an element in the theology preached at St Vincent’s that people with any sort of disability are seen as evidence of God’s punishment. Take, for example, Sudla’s recent attack on a member of the community, singling out his damaged hand. How else would you explain the mindset that informs such behaviour? I would say that Sudla, by his actions, is not a fit or proper person to be a priest. Where is your protest to this outrageous behaviour Gerry? A deafening silence.

This is not what Jesus taught us. The gospels are full of examples of Jesus outreaching with love and acceptance to all; he reserved his condemnation towards church and government authorities that abused their power.

Gerry, you claim authority simply because you are the parish priest. My understanding in life is that I have to earn respect by my actions and in the quality of my relationships. In my profession I deal with people in crisis every day. For me to be respected I need to carefully listen, be empathic, respect cultural differences, and appreciate and respect the world view of others. Then and only then, if I have conveyed an appreciation of where the other is coming from can respect enter into the relationship.

What happened on Sunday was a violation of the church and of me. St Vincent’s has a rich and reflective theology where we have been challenged to share the brokenness of our world with the God who gave himself – “this is my body broken for you”. The community is resolute in its journey and will continue to embrace the Aboriginal people and all those who are on the fringes of our world who find their way to our Church. This is what the gospel asks us to do. Gerry, I urge you, Dennis Sudla and the Neocat fraternity to treat all those who enter our Church with respect and dignity.

In the struggle for justice.

Rhonda A

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2 Responses to Neocat violation – open letter to Prindiville

Church Mouse says:

May 16, 2005 at 3:05 pm

From elisabeth –

Yours is a really strong and eloquent letter. I am shocked and sorry this happened to you.

It stands as yet another testimony of powerful writing, documentation, and elucidation on the nature of corrupting power, written by members of the St Vincent’s community, in a language that is at once accessible to atheist and believer.

But I’m not penning that with smugness or joy. It is heart-breaking stuff. As I read your account one’s first reaction is inchoate disbelief, almost numbness. (The same with the hand story, the eucharist stories, etc etc.) The effort to wade through the numbness, the pain, the anger, the disgust, the feeling of a sort of spiritual rape to forge a telling of story in this way, must be commended.

Church Mouse says:

May 20, 2005 at 10:56 am

From Clare –

This comment results from the fact that I was at Mass on this same evening, and I wish to state that I both support and verify what Rhonda has written. Moreover, I am able to broaden the scope of her report, and offer a background of its context.

It happened that I had arrived at St. Vincent’s for this Mass before Rhonda; I did not know she was coming to Sydney nor to Redfern. When I entered the Church, the only other woman present was M1; she was to read the Scriptures at that Mass. Fr. Gerry was standing in front of the Altar, and there were Neocatechumenate Seminarians “speckled” about the Church, each seated alone. I can remember, at least, M2 [Brisbane], A [Philippines], W [Poland], and the recently arrived R [from Columbia]. I believe that all these people belong to the Neocatechumen sect.

After nodding a brief greeting to Gerry who seemed to be glowering at me when he noticed a box under my arm (it contained flowers, a candle, and cross), I made the simple preparations which form part of our liturgical contribution to a Parish Mass (as has been traditionally done at Redfern).

I placed six frangipani blossoms on the central front-edge of the Altar; Gerry quickly came and removed them, stating curtly, “There’s no need for flowers, Clare”. He took them off somewhere. Without speaking, I lifted forward the small Community Altar Table; again he removed this. Then I went down to the Organ, and took its burgundy coverlet, placed that on one of the black armchairs, and lifted it forward to use “as” “our” usual extended Altar-Table. On this, I placed the Aboriginal Cross, at that time there being no Aboriginal people in the Church.

Gerry came forward again and, after stating loudly, “There’s no need for that Cross, either”, he threw it in a short tempered style so that it clattered on the second pew (toward the Sacristy). Then M2 stepped forward and removed the “table” which had held the Cross.

Then I lit our Community Candle, & placed it on a front part of the [main] Altar, all this time not speaking. Next was W who came forward, blew out the Candle, and took it right away from the Altar.

I said nothing, but, by this time I was feeling quite upset, so I sat down on the middle of the front pew to collect myself and to stay calm. It all seemed orchestrated and felt like these men were a group of snipers who were “picking me off” one-by-one from different angles of the Church seating.

After a few moments, I looked up and there was Rhonda entering the Church. She was followed by Mary, Angel of Redfern, and her son, Trevor (both together for Mothers’ Day), and also Tonina, all of whom joined me on the central front pew. After this, another slim young man entered and sat behind us; I greeted him and welcomed him to the Church because he said this was his first visit to St. Vincent’s. I do not know his name, but he proved to be the same young man who spoke so roughly to Rhonda later after Mass without being checked by the Parish Priest or the other men – i.e. Seminarians – in the Church.

At about the point of Rhonda’s entry, M2 was asking me if I was defying the Parish Priest who “had said he did not want flowers, crosses, or candles”; I remember Rhonda (who had heard at least part of what he was saying) said to him words to the effect, “Who are you to be questioning our parish ways; I’ve been coming here for 35 years and I’ve never seen you before?”

Rhonda remained extremely calm throughout later exchanges; she also indicated to Fr. Gerry that she was deeply saddened by what was happening in St. Vincent’s after it had been such a place of warmth, welcome, and refuge for so many people over 35 years. She did not show either anger or frustration; she did not raise her voice over others, even when she replied clearly and strongly to questions or negative comments.

Neocat violation – open letter to Prindiville

2 Responses to Neocat violation – open letter to Prindiville

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