Catholic Tradition Revised

A 148-year-old Catholic university may be getting a take on Church traditions that it never bargained for when a new Franciscan friar joins them in the fall.

“This weekend we offer prayerful good wishes to Fr. Kyle Haden as he departs for his new assignment at St. Bonaventure University,” read the St. Francis of Assisi church bulletin of July 2nd. “Fr. Kyle leaves us grateful for his ministry here at St. Francis.”

“He now looks forward to a new challenge: the opportunity to minister in the field of Franciscan higher education at one of our Franciscan colleges in up-state New York.”

A devout convert to the faith, Fr. Kyle Haden nonetheless holds militant views that he is quite willing to share. “I believe that gay priests should be allowed to serve and I feel so strongly about this that I am ready to resign my priesthood over this,” Fr. Haden said in a homily at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Triangle, Va., early this year. He made this pronouncement despite the scandals over the sexual abuse of altar boys by priests.

To demonstrate his point, Fr. Haden walked off the altar and out of the church after making the above declaration, even though the Mass was far from over. No one followed.

Since it was a Mass celebrated by more than one priest, the service could continue in Fr. Haden’s absence. It was not the first occasion on which he introduced politically correct themes in the celebration of the Eucharist.

“I enjoy privileges solely because I am white,” Fr. Haden told his congregation in another homily. On another occasion, he said, “Maybe we can finally get altar girls,” in defiance of the Arlington diocese refusal to break from the long-time Catholic tradition of only allowing boys to assist in serving the Mass.

Applause followed that line but a look around the parish revealed that about three supportive parishioners clapped at the same time each from a different section of the church, making the outpouring of support look far more impressive that it actually was. Communist operatives who attempted a takeover of the Screen Actors Guild utilized this technique in the 1940s, as recounted by former president (of the guild and, later, of the United States) Ronald Reagan in his biography, Where’s the rest of me?

Perhaps the oddest panegyric delivered by Fr. Haden was his broadside against talk-show hosts during a first communion ceremony. “I don’t listen to any of them, conservative or liberal,” Fr. Haden said. “I don’t listen to Rush Limbaugh.”

“I don’t listen to Pat O’Reilly.” It turns out that Fr. Haden was referring to Bill O’Reilly.

In fairness, Fr. Haden did go on to tell his parishioners whose advice he does value. “I listen to Jesus Christ,” Fr. Haden said.

By his own admission, Fr. Haden has been on a spiritual quest for discovery for quite some time. “I used to be a Baptist,” he helpfully told Catholics in Mass on more than one occasion. “I thought that all of you people were going to Hell.”

In a marked contrast to his denunciations of Limbaugh and O’Reilly before a first communion class of seven- and eight-year-olds in their Sunday best were Fr. Haden’s remarks on confession to a gathering of their parents. Even middle-aged Catholics with five decades of weekly Mass attendance under their belts found Fr. Haden’s talk illuminating.

“All sacraments are supposed to be public and although penance is private it is a public admission,” he said. Also:

“Irish missionaries started private confession,” he explained, adding, “seminaries started with the Council of Trent.”

Students at St. Bonaventure’s could learn much from Fr. Haden. But they have to be able to separate out the facts that he imparts from the opinions that he offers. That he usually labels the latter category for what it is does make him stand apart from the usual run of academics these days.

And yet, offering such observations from the pulpit can lead to confusion in a setting, namely a Catholic liturgy, in which the churchgoer is seeking a primary source for Church doctrine.

Malcolm A. Kline is the executive director of Accuracy in Academia.