Today I share a letter from Jean M. Herman that may help explain the situation regarding Sister Antonia:
Dear Mr. Freel,
Below is some information unknown to most people which I believe should be of use to you.
The early Church had many consecrated virgins who took vows and lived a celibate life in service to the poor. They were not part of a religious community and did not reside in convents.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, society changed radically. Disorder all over Europe gave rise to the feudal system in which women had no independent role in society. Survival was the priority and to live a consecrated religious life, women had to be part of a community.
Centuries have passed and times have changed. Today women do have many opportunities to pursue careers as individuals. Recognizing this, the Roman Catholic Church has revived the role of the consecrated virgin and some generous and dedicated women are serving the poor in the capacity.
These women are not nuns technically speaking because they do not belong to communities. But they still have the title "Sister" because that is what they are to faithful Catholics. To the uninformed they may appear to look and act like nuns. But they are not "masquerading". They are pursuing their proper role, sanctioned by the church, in modern society.
Respectfully,
Jean M. Herman
I also need to add information that came into my hands this morning regarding counseling for Fr. Ted Prentice. A source had told me that this was promised by the Archdiocese and that no one had appeared here.
In fact, Fr. Dave Gutmann, pastor of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Beaverton was asked to take on a mentoring role in July and has been having weekly telephone conferences with the Star of the Sea pastor. In his letter Fr. Gutmann states that there were funds that were inappropriately used for Fr. Ted's personal charities. He states that he does not believe these funds were for personal use, or gain but were used to assist individuals in need that Fr. Ted knows through personal friendships.
He states that Fr. Ted is making arrangements to repay all parish funds spent on his personal charities.
Fr. Gutmann says he will continue in this mentoring role and his wish is that the parish recognize that Fr. Ted has made some poor judgement calls but is taking full responsibility for those and is in the process of making them right. He calls on Star Of The Sea to continue to support Fr. Ted
as Pastor.
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