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McCaffrey: The plunder of St. James
By Arthur Mccaffrey
Dear friends, I am writing to you as a victim. Usually I write to you as friend, or neighbor, or fellow parishioner. But now I am writing as a victim of plunder and pillage because my home has been raided. I don't mean my home home, the place where I sleep and struggle with marriage and children and taxes, and having to take out the trash while NCIS is on. No, I mean my spiritual home: the place I go to get away from trash and taxes, the place where I think deep thoughts, wonder about my place in the universe, resolve to treat my family better, be a better person, and even pray for my boss to change his ways. I am of course talking about my personal oasis in Wellesley, my refuge from the daily assaults of life, the church of St. James the Great, out there on Route 9, 02482. During the last 10 years, I have often written about this home in these pages, because certain forces have been conspiring to take my home away from me - bishops, cardinals, the Vatican, even the prelate who was just demoted by Pope Francis - Cardinal Ray Burke of St Louis - no, not a famous Bruins hockey player, but a tough opponent nonetheless who should have been whistled into the sin-bin long ago for unnecessary roughness. This guy has been the Supreme Court Justice on the Vatican Supreme Court ("Signatura") during all the years that it was hearing the appeals from us parishioners in 02482 to have the Vatican stop our local cardinal, Sean O'Malley, from closing our patrimony and heritage, our beloved home-parish of St. James. Long, long ago in 2004, in a Chancery far, far away, our newly appointed, tentative leader Sean O'Malley took bad advice from escapist Cardinal Bernard Law and his handlers that the only way to pay for all the excesses (spiritual, criminal, financial) of employees (priests) gone over to the dark side, was to close churches and use their property as an ATM to pay for the sins of the fathers. Well, on planet 02482, we thought differently, and spent the next 10 years trying to prove a negative - bad policy should be opposed by good remedies. We lost. Even though by 2011 the Archdiocese was admitting to the press that "closing parishes didn't work," so their latest buzzword was parish "mergers" instead of "closures." Sadly, even the Peter principle applies in the Vatican (no, we don't mean St Peter!), so O’Malley has become the go-to American guy for Pope Francis - which just goes to prove, better an ex-pat prophet than a bum rap in Boston. Which brings me to plunder and pillage - or what happens when you leave the planning to strangers. I already told you a year ago on these pages about the mysterious stranger who left roses at the statue of Mary in the grounds of St James. Well, the same thing happened again this year: in October (curiously, "rosary month" in the Catholic Calendar, a special devotion to Mary), another large bouquet of roses showed up at the Lady statue, unannounced, no message, no note, just their presence as public testimony to private affection. Our faithful sexton, Teresa, reported the good news to all Jacobite alumni, and we shared a warm glow. Take that Sean and Ray, the force is still with us! We cheered too soon. By November 11, the plunder and pillage had begun - not only the roses, but the statue of Mary itself had gone, along with other effigies inside the church. Again, unannounced, no message, no note, just an absence of private affection. Last year, Pope Francis, in his first papal letter, Joy of the Gospels, spoke of the need of his Church to get down and dirty in the streets, to reach out, of "meeting Catholics where they are." Instead, here at home in Boston, Cardinal O'Malley seems to be working hard to erase their history.So what is Sean O’Malley 's biggest sin in the eyes of the Jacobites of St James, 02482? The most benign would be lack of generosity. We Jacobites are realistic, we have a decade's worth of learning under our belt, we know who and what we are up against. We know things change, not always for the better, but if we have lost the battle, it would be nice for the victors to treat the vanquished with a little dignity, a little respect. If the Archdiocese is going to bury St. James, then it would be nice to be invited to the wake, have a formal ceremony to mark the passing, let liturgy and ritual salve the wounds. But please, not surreptitious plundering in the night, statue-snatching, rose-napping. With no so much as a message, a note, a little private affection.Roses speak louder than cardinals. 02482 deserves better.
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