Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, The Mary Victrix Blog and "More Crypto-Lefebvrism from Rorate Caeli"
+
JMJ
Fr. Greiger (FI) over at Mary Victrix blog has demonstrated a behaviour that is indicative of the problem within the Church.
He banned me, because I hold an opinion at variance with his own.
Since I was banned, I emailed my response directly to Father and reproduced it below in order to respond to the banning publicly.
In the Church there is plenty of room for various opinions on giving Communion to Divorcee's that are living in a public state of sin, evolution of dogma, Same-Sex Marriage, etc.
There is, however, no room for anything approaching the opinion of the SSPX regarding the Novus Ordo Missae, the Second Vatican Council and the reforms issuing thereof.
Because Fr. Greiger represents a sample of a set of cultural assumptions.
I represent a sample of the cultural assumptions held by the SSPX and others that are similar to them (FSSP, ICK, IBP).
A banning.
The message that Fr. Greiger has transmitted is the same message that is transmitted to anyone who dares to question some of the liberal aspects of the Second Vatican Council (ie Ecumenism of Recognition, Religious Liberty, Collegiality, The Church).
Cross any of the lines and the reaction is immediate and sometimes irrational or even violent.
... and completely consistent with Cognitive Dissonance theory.
Fr. Greiger, has a set a cognitive models by which he perceives and assesses the world and actions of the people therein.
This is not unique to Fr, everyone has these interpretative models, without them we'd be paralysed.
I admist that I have not done extensive research on Fr.'s blog, time does not allow a thourough investigation. However, here's what I have concluded from this recent exchange by applying the model.
- Creation of Inconsistency
- Belief: A religious obeys his/her superiors in all things excepting sin
- Action: Appealed to Rome in order to not obey his superiors
- Resulting Dissonance: The reason for the dissonance is that by refusing to submit to the judgement of his superiors and appealing to Rome he has violated the principle of obedience.
- Dissonance Reducing Options
- Change Belief: This is the first option and in this context would require changing the belief that he was bound by obedience. Given that the Franciscans take the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience changing this belief is not really an option.
- Change Action: Unfortunately, this is not an option as the action has been done and the past is unalterable. There is the possibility of admitting that the belief/action interchange that created the inconsistency is a violation of the belief but that would still leave the actor with the need to relieve the dissonance by trying to undo the action.
- Change Perception of Action: This option is chosen by most people as it is the easiest, and quickest way to achive the goal of reducing dissonance. This also appears to be the one that Fr. Greiger has chosen. His action has been transformed into an act of obedience to a 'higher' authority, which he prompted into action.
- The resulting change in the perception of the action has lessoned the dissonance that he experienced.
The model is not absolute and given a sufficiently strong confirmation bias anyone can make an excuse for inconsistent behavior.
When a person goes against the judgement a superior, they are objectively disobedient.
This is where Fr. Greiger has walked the same path taken by Archbishop Lefebvre.
From my perspective Archbishop Lefebvre understood that there was a contradiction between the beliefs of the Catholic Church and the actions undertaken after the Council (ie Ecumenism - Assisi etc) and this created a dissonance.
He was faced with the same three choices.
However, in the case of Archbishop Lefebvre he did not attempt to change the perception of the action, nor did he change his belief. Both of these were in the realm of objective truth and cannot be altered without serious repercussions. Therefore, to reduce the 'dissonance' he undertook to counter or undo the action performed by others. When unable to effect the change Archbishop endured the 'dissonance' that was created by others and refused to change any of the other elements in the model.
Focusing on the key act of disobedience of 1988 made by Archbishop Lefebvre.
- Creation of Inconsistency
- Belief: A religious obeys his/her superiors in all things excepting sin
- Action: Disobeyed order of his superior (St. Pope John Paul II) because he believed that it would sinful to not proceed due to the danger to the Faith as noted above.
- Resulting Dissonance: Because his actions are consistent with the principle of obedience, there was no dissonance created. Eyewitness accounts support this conclusion.
As far as I can see this is the key difference between the disobedience of Archbishop Lefebvre and that of Fr. Greiger: The adherence to principles, their application and the patience to endure the dissonance created by others.
There is only one person who can provide us with further insight: Fr. Greiger.
The combox is open Fr. Greiger if you care to provide further insight to the application of the model.
Tradical
P^3
Prayer
Penance
Patience
+JMJ+
Dear Father,
February: Oh sorry seemed like a long time ago.
pseudonym: Tradical is what I started out with years ago and as you have my email (which I didn't conceal) there was no intent to deceive - as you seem to believe.
I wouldn't bother with the 'ip' blocking as my ISP uses DHCP to ration out their IP address. As a consequence - unless you block out the root IP (an entire domain) that isn't a good option as within a few weeks my ISP will do the automatically refresh my IP address.
With respect to the "free amateur psychoanalyses".
I work with project teams, have studied the area of organizational culture as part of my under-grad and have put these techniques / knowledge to good use in understanding human interactions and conflict.
I have also used them in my interactions with other Catholics who hold similar, if not identical, opinions as yourself.
With respect to my blog etc - that is irrelevant to the conversation. That I have opinions at variance with yours is obvious.
That these opinions cause you sufficient 'dissonance' is likewise obvious as your response is ... well sarcasm, a quotation for C.S. Lewis and a banning.
Even your attempts to justify your actions bely some of your cultural assumptions.
Thank you for your replies, they have been enlightening.
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Tradical
As someone often the target of Fr Judas, all I can say is, let him ban you! He's doing you a favor. The less you focus your tine trying to figure out how a priest becomes evil the better you will spend your time.
ReplyDeleteI understand your frustration and that of other traditionalists who have engaged in discussion with non or even anti-trads.
DeleteIt was through many hours of face-to-face discussions that I learned that patience is required because for some of the non-trads the simple presence of a trad causes an up roar. Sometimes it is dispersed with a simple prayer to St. Michael, others it just takes patience to endure the accusations and reaffirm Church Teaching.
I gave a talk on EENS to a non-trad Catholic men's meeting. A Jesuit was there and we engaged in a fruitful debate and the truth was accepted. Not my truth, but that of the Church. Patience won out for a few minutes, then a number of them set upon me (verbally). The funniest thing happened during the arguing, a man who accompanied the Jesuit stood forth and aided me because he was able to see things from my perspective. Patience calms people and gives grace a chance.
As the chastisement of the FFI provides insight to the motivations of those involved, I plan on keeping an eye on the developments because it provides a thermometer of the crisis. To use an analogy, the patient now has a virally induced fever, when it reaches its peak it will suddenly break.
Anyway, I've gotten too preachy. I have another article coming up on this topic, it should be posted on the 30th.
P^3
Prayer
Penance
Patience