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Chicago, Ill., Jun 26, 2018 / 02:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The religious superior of Fr. C. Frank Phillips, former pastor of St. John Cantius Parish in Chicago, recommended last month that Chicago’s archbishop permit the priest to return to public ministry, CNA has learned.
In a May 21 communique to Cupich obtained by CNA, the priest’s superior recommended that Fr. Phillips “should not return to the parish as its pastor,” but supported the possibility that Phillips might exercise priestly ministry in some other setting.
Phillips, 68, has been accused of misconduct involving adult men. He was removed as pastor of St. John Cantius March 16, and prohibited from public ministry in the Archdiocese of Chicago by Cardinal Blase Cupich.
Since then, Fr. Scott Thelander, SJC, has served as parish administrator ad interim.
Fr. Phillips, who is canonically a member of the Congregation of the Resurrection, had served at St. John Cantius parish since 1988.
In 1998, Phillips founded the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius, with the approval of Cardinal Francis George of Chicago and Resurrectionists.
The Archdiocese of Chicago forwarded unspecified allegations to the Resurrectionists in March.
The allegations were investigated by an independent review board organized by the Resurrectionists, and by provincial leaders. The results of that investigation were forwarded to the Archdiocese of Chicago by Fr. Gene Szarek, superior of the USA province of the Resurrectionists, along with his own proposal for a resolution.
Szarek sent on May 21 a “votum”- an official opinion- to the Archdiocese of Chicago, in response to the findings of the review board. CNA has obtained a copy of that votum, which did not specify the nature of the allegations made against Phillips.
Citing “a certain amount of ambiguity between the allegations of the accusers and the testimony of witnesses, including Fr. Phillips himself,” Szarek said he would instruct Fr. Phillips to undergo a psychological evaluation, “and possible sensitivity training in the very near future.”
Fr. Szarek said further that Fr. Phillips should not return to St. John Cantius Parish as its pastor, considering both his age “and out of respect for the Cardinal’s own preference.”
The superior also wrote that it “seems fair and just to restore the canonical faculties of Fr. Phillips” because “no civil or ecclesiastical crime had been established.”
He noted that Fr. Phillips’ accusers “thought that his removal from the parish was all that they desired.”
Fr. Szarek also wrote that since Fr. Phillips is founder of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius, “the ideal would be his restoration as their superior general.”
The Canons Regular are incardinated in the Chicago archdiocese, and their assignments are made by the Archbishop of Chicago, Fr. Szarek noted, so “there is no fear that Fr. Phillips could possibly interfere in some way” with the archbishop’s decisions.
“The historical reality of his being the Founder and his ongoing provision of spiritual leadership would be salutary for all,” Fr. Szarek stated, adding that Fr. Phillips “would obviously not reside” at St. John Cantius Parish.
“If the above recommendation is unfeasible, then at least he and the Canons should not be prevented from communication.” A prohibition on communication between Phillips and the Canons Regular had not previously been reported.
Despite Fr. Szarek’s proposal, Cardinal Cupich declined to allow Fr. Phillips to minister publicly. Ordinarily, a priest prohibited from public ministry is able to celebrate Mass only in private, and not able to hear confessions or celebrate other sacraments, unless a person is in immediate danger of death.
“We accept the Archdiocese’s decision that Fr. Phillips’ faculties for public ministry will remain withdrawn and that he not return as pastor of St John Cantius and as Superior of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius,” Fr. Szarek wrote in a June 24 letter to the parishioners of St. John Cantius parish.
Paula Waters, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Chicago, told the Chicago Tribune June 25 that though Fr. Phillips had not been found to have violated civil or canon law, there was other information that justified barring him from exercising public ministry.
“There are standards for behavior,” Waters told the Tribune.
Stating that the review board recommended that Fr. Phillips not return to St. John Cantius as pastor “and on other factors, the cardinal decided that his faculties to minister would remain withdrawn,” she said.
When asked about the removal of Fr. Phillips’ faculties, a Chicago archdiocese spokeswoman told CNA June 26 only that “it was recommended that Fr. Phillips not return to ministry at St. John Cantius” in the Resurrectionists’ investigation report.
In his letter informing the St. John Cantius community of Cardinal Cupich’s decision, Fr. Szarek wrote: “While we know this news will disappoint some of Fr. Phillips’ supporters, we hope everyone will come to understand that this process was conducted with prayerful deliberation and sincere compassion.”
Protect our Priests, a group formed to support and assist Fr. Phillips had issued a statement June 20 saying that Fr. Phillips had been “exonerated”, saying the review board “concluded that Fr. Phillips has not violated any secular criminal, civil or canon law.”
Protect our Priests stated that the review board, consisting of three leaders from the Chicago area who are not members of St. John Cantius parish, interviewed “the detractors and several witnesses, persons who personally know the accusers, and other individuals who came forward to testify in defense of Father Phillips’ integrity.”
The group added that Cardinal Cupich had directed that members of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius not be interviewed by the board.
The group stated June 20 that “We … remain confident that in this process, justice and truth will prevail over the mendacity, falsehoods, spitefulness and malevolent connivance from which this unpleasant episode originates; and that the accusers, who recklessly have besmirched their own reputations in this matter, will too choose to make themselves ‘free’, by each of them individually presenting an unconditional retraction.”
St. John Cantius parish was founded in 1892 by the Congregation of the Resurrection, according to the church’s website, and each of its pastors has been a member of that congregation.
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Vatican City, Jun 26, 2018 / 01:42 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The heated debate over immigration in Europe was a central topic of discussion in a meeting between Pope Francis and French President Emmanuel Macron at the Vatican Tuesday.
The June 26 meeting marked the first time the two had met since Macron’s election in May 2017.
During the 57-minute conversation, which took place in the Vatican’s apostolic palace and was described as “warm” and “friendly,” Francis and Macron spoke on a variety of topics.
Europe’s ongoing migrant crisis was a key part of the discussion. Macron has made headlines in recent days by vocally opposing the Italy’s new Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Matteo Salvini, who has turned away refugee boats at the harbor and called for strict immigration policies.
Pope Francis has repeatedly spoken on the topic of immigration, calling on nations to find ways to welcome and protect migrants.
The pope and the president also discussed other topics of global interest, such as the contribution of religion to the common good in France and a multilateral commitment to prevent and resolve conflict, especially related to disarmament.
The two leaders also exchanged views on conflicts happening around the world, particularly in the Middle East and Africa, as well as the status and future of Europe.
Macron and Francis exchanged gifts before the president moved on to a meeting with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.
Macron, a baptized Catholic but not a regular churchgoer, is France’s youngest president. He had never been elected to political office before running for president, and ran as the head of a new political party “En March!” He has described himself as a “centrist liberal” who hopes to transcend political boundaries.
In comments during his campaign last year, Macron at one point said “we have a duty to let everybody practice their religion with dignity,” though he voiced his belief that “when one enters the public realm, the laws of the Republic must prevail over religious law.”
Speaking to the French bishops in April this year, Macron underscored the important role of religion in fighting the relativism and nihilism present in the modern world. He praised the contribution of the Church in public life, especially in upholding human dignity.
In a telegram congratulating Macron on his election in May 2017, Francis prayed that God would support the leader, “so that your country, faithful to the rich diversity of its moral traditions and its spiritual heritage marked also by the Christian tradition, may always endeavor to build a more just and fraternal society.”
Washington D.C., Jun 26, 2018 / 12:23 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pro-life groups applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision on Tuesday in favor of the free speech rights of crisis pregnancy centers in California.
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Washington D.C., Jun 26, 2018 / 08:19 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked a California law requiring pro-life pregnancy centers to post information on programs to obtain and free or low-cost abortion.
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Vatican City, Jun 26, 2018 / 07:11 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican announced Tuesday Pope Francis’ appointment of Bishop Michael Gerard Duca, of the northern Louisiana diocese of Shreveport, to be the newest bishop of Baton Rouge.
Duca, 66, who led the Shreveport diocese since 2008, will take over in Baton Rouge from Bishop Robert William Muench, whose resignation the pope accepted June 26 after Muench turned 75 in December.
In a June 26 statement on his retirement, Muench said his 16 years as head of the Baton Rouge diocese were “a profound honor and joy,” and that he will forever hold the clergy, religious, seminarians, and lay Catholics of the diocese “deep in heart and mind, in spirit and prayer.”
Bishop Duca, as his replacement, will be welcomed “with open hearts and open arms,” Muench continued, noting the Louisiana bishop’s training in the areas of theology, spirituality, canon law, psychology, seminary ministry, health care, ecumenism and administration.
“By nature, person, character, disposition, education and experience, Bishop Duca is eminently qualified for this position as one who radiates the love and joy of Jesus Christ,” he said, also extending his personal support.
Duca’s installation as the sixth bishop of Baton Rouge will take place Aug. 24 at St. Joseph Cathedral.
Born June 5, 1952 in Dallas, Texas, Duca studied at the city’s Holy Trinity Seminary before being ordained a priest for the diocese April 29, 1978.
From 1994-1996 he studied for a license in canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, also called the “Angelicum,” in Rome.
In addition to his ministry at various Dallas-area parishes, Duca has served as the diocese’s vocations director, the director of ongoing formation of priests, and as a campus minister at Southern Methodist University.
He has also been a member of the diocese’s personnel board, priests’ council, and College of Consultors. In 2004 he was given the title of monsignor by Pope John Paul II.
Duca was rector of Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas from 1996 until his appointment as bishop of Shreveport in 2008. For two years he served as president of the National Association of College Seminaries.
The bishop is currently a member of the United States and Louisiana bishops’ conferences and was formerly president of the Louisiana Interchurch Conference.
He is a fourth degree Knight of Columbus and a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
© Catholic World Report
