Police force Priest to do job

[Limeoutsider]

Police in a small Italian town had to break into a church to let a priest take up his new job, thwarting a six-month blockade by parishioners devoted to his predecessor. The faithful in the mountain town of Trasacco had jammed the church doors shut in protest after the Church transferred their Capuchin monk and sent a non-Capuchin to replace him. So attached were parishioners to the Capuchins, who had served them for the last 430 years, that they briefly bricked the last friar into the local monastery to try to stop him leaving their town about 60 miles east of Rome. The newcomer, Father Duilio Testa, was appointed in September but only entered his church on Monday when police broke in through a window to let him in, deputy mayor Vincenzo Retico told Reuters by telephone.
He said Testa would have his spiritual work cut out for him. "How can the people welcome him now, arriving flanked by police?" he said.
"Everything that there is in this town today was built with the toil and sweat of the monks. They were part of our being."
The Capuchins are a branch of the Franciscan order, famed for their long white beards.

 

[His Divine Shadow]

That's......new......very, very new.....

 

[Krokus]

Those crazy religious fanatics, what will they come up with next?

 

[TklDuo-Ann]

Something to keep in mind when looking at events like this...

Over the course of history, the vast majority of order priests (esp. the Franciscan orders) have been very faithful to the people. They lived and toiled with them, fought with them and died with them. They stayed put in times of persecution, risking their lives to continue serving the people. In contrast, the majority of secular (diocesan/non-order) priests have turned their backs on the people when the going got rough, leaving them to fend for themselves.

One example of this is in Yugoslavia. When communist or Muslim control was in place, most secular priests left their parishes and headed for cover. The Franciscans in the area stayed with their people. Many of them were discovered, tortured and killed for their trouble. And this still takes place today.

While most of us who are here in the States haven't experienced this persecution of the Church, most other places in the world have to varying degrees. The parishoners' choice of actions is highly questionable and lacks in charity. But, I can understand their not wanting to give up on those who they could trust to be faithful to them and their faith.

Ann

 

[nellen]

Capuchin Monks

Limeoutsider..... Are Fra. Testa and the other Capuchins getting an early start on April Fool's Day?