Friday, May 06, 2011

What up with that?




Money talk.
.
This is so trivial it is not deserving of attention - I know!  But I can't resist asking:
.
What's the deal with Fr. Z soliciting donations - apparently for himself - in protest against National Catholic Reporter? 
.
"I think a good way to show what you think of the NCR would be, first, to talk someone out of a subscription and, then, a spiffy donation to WDTPRS using the donation button below.  If every reader here would pitch in $5, that would make a statement, given the number of readers we have." - WDTPRS

.
I don't get it.  It's his business how and why he asks for donations, but this new angle mystifies me.  Is there an indulgence attached or something?
.
Whatever.  It doesn't matter.

24 comments:

  1. +JMJ+

    Where's your donation button, Terry? I'd be happy to send you all the loose change I don't send to anyone else.

    (ROFL!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. It doesn't matter to me - really - I just thought the angle was kind of weird. I'm reconciled to people putting up a donation button or advertising - it's cool. But I had to laugh at Fr.'s new angle.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I should probably donate to Fr. Z since he inspires so many posts of mine.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We're in desperate need of funds...I'm being so callous here to ask if anyone can help this struggling monastic community, to do so...isjoseph.com.
    As for the Fr. Z.
    Well, we all gotta do what we gotta do...
    sorry, Mr. Terry, if I'm being presumptuous here.
    We're drowning in debt; we don't have "tomatoes from Italy" to live on;
    the tuna fish from Aldi's will have to do. It's okay.
    God is ever greater!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I.....really don't get it.
    At all.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It actually really does matter. Talk about scandal....

    ReplyDelete
  7. Father: Please post your address so that people can send money.

    ReplyDelete
  8. http://isjoseph.com/donations.html

    That's for Father. I know he doesn't solicit, and further I know he won't be jetting around the world on it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous6:55 PM

    Fr. Z. and his constant money grabbing is quite annoying to me. I am a priest myself, and if I did something like that my bishop would have some very strong words for me. I wonder if Fr. Z's bishop knows he does that? And speaking of Fr. Z's bishop, why isn't he in a parish? The Church is in dire need of parish priests, and there he is spending his time feeding the birds, jetting around the world, and being divisive on his blog and in other publications. The troops in the field could use some help. It's a scandal that he is doing what he is doing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous8:35 PM

    Does Fr Z not have a parish to support him? Maybe that's where it 's comin from? He's saying he is a Catholic columnist in the new media, so better to donate a little to read him (if you read him), than to pay for subscription to NCR?

    BTW, I read neither NCR or Fr Z. But I DO read you, Ter. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I DO send him a donation from time to time as I LOVE his podcasts. I travel quite a bit for my job and it is nice to listen to his talks on my iPod, specially the ones about the saints. When things get too heavy I play one of his recordings of the Don Camillo stories.

    His Lentcasts he produced this past lent were nice little 5 minute tidbits to suppliment a busy day when sometimes I don't have the time to listen to a long talk or read a long devotion.

    But YEAH...he needs a parish....we have several here in Utah that he can fill or assist. But no fancy tomatoes or expensive wine here in the Old West...we live on 3.2 beer, salsa, and jalepinos :) P.S. Bring your snow shovel.

    Sara

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks Thom.

    Anonymous: I could not agree w/ you more...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous9:17 AM

    It does matter.

    Father Z could do the same challenge in another way - he could ask people to donate to a charitable cause or one of the traditional establishments of sisters in the diocese - who need the money far more than Father Z does.

    It's a bizarre scandal. Jaw-droppingly so.

    ReplyDelete
  14. THANK YOU! Maria, Thom and Mr. Terry.
    I wouldn't say anything if the situation wasn't so dire.
    My gratitude and promise of prayers for everyone.
    We need one another.
    I am most humbled!

    ReplyDelete
  15. A Random Friar3:26 PM

    In these days, there is almost zero chance that such a high-profile priest could go around preaching and celebrating Mass (and repeatedly in NYC), unless he did have faculties from somewhere. Which means, he is in canonical good standing with his bishop. Whether his bishop personally likes him or not is a matter of which I have no idea.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Fr. Z is doing well, by the recent post he has made.
    I shoulda thought of this a LONGGG time ago...
    But we live by the St. Joseph spirituality....just enough for "now" (re:"take the child and his Mother into Egypt").
    It will either be my sanctification or my piled on years in purg.
    Whatever.
    It's one thing when you have yourself to take care; it's another when you've got a "family" to provide for...and sometimes illness and injury provide a veritable crucible where your faith is tested.
    Anyway. God is good.
    And I don't think Fr Z's status is in question here...it's just the fact that he is not in a traditional assignment, per se.
    That can be a real temptation for a priest; no judgment here...
    God is the ultimate Judge, yeah?

    ReplyDelete
  17. To what order does he belong?

    In what state does he live?

    Who is his Bishop?

    What precisely is his "assignment" and who assigned him?

    ReplyDelete
  18. A Random Friar6:39 PM

    Googling led me to this: "Father JOHN T. ZUHLSDORF was ordained by the Pope John Paul II for the diocese of Velletri-Segni in Italy in 1991. He is a former collaborator with the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei and has served in parishes both in Italy and the U.S. He writes a weekly column in The Wanderer on liturgical translation. Fr. Zuhlsdorf is on the board of directors of the Wanderer Forum Foundation." This is at the same wandererforum.org website

    ReplyDelete
  19. Okay, I'll try this again.
    It's "general knowledge" in our area (northern part of the Diocese of La Crosse, WI) that Fr. Z. lives on a farm at the charity of a very rich Catholic layman who also has supported the works of the Institute of Christ the King, who run the Oratory of St. Mary in Wausau, WI.
    How Fr. Z. makes his living is a real question in these parts.
    Not to be a gossip-mongerer, but his request for funds probably means he needs assistance because as far as I know, he has no relationship to our Diocese and is NOT living in Minnesota.
    He is NOT a member of any Order;
    he's incarnated in a Diocese in Italy.
    His status is good, as far as I know.
    But his "independent" kind of situation (1983 Canon Law outdid the "independent" priest, a.k.a. Fr. Malachi Martin) is very strange.
    Even I'm accountable to the Diocesan Bishop, even though I'm a member of a diocesan community; I can't just solicit funds, do whatever I want...

    ReplyDelete
  20. He begs more than most mendicants I know.

    I would say it's the Catholic TBN, but we already have that in Alabama, gold sets and all.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Nazareth Priest,

    I am highly forgetful and will have the best of intentions to donate somewhere before something shiny catches my eye and I'm wandering off.

    Might I suggest a Paypal "Donate" button on your site? It's free, very easy, and makes getting donations SO MUCH EASIER. I went to donate and was saddened it wasn't there.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I like Fr. Z, but this is really weird and rubs me the wrong way. At one point he said something to the effect of, "Perhaps I'll do something really traditional with" the money from this "protest" donation scheme. Maybe if he told us exactly what he intended to do with it--like pass it on to an orthodox order in need, or the new hermit here in NC?--then maybe he'd get me to donate.

    But if it's going to birdseed and fancy Italian tomatoes, I'll feed my own birds and take my own parish priest to dinner, thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous12:30 PM

    Right on Terry!!!! From what I can see, he doesn't donate any of that money back to the Catholic church. When I see the UPS man drop off (approx 5 boxes per day) to his house, he doesn't seem to remove the item from Amazon. For instance, receiving 3 large screen TV's and the item remained on his wish list for several more months. I have been checking Craigslist to see if he has been selling his very pricey donations, but can not confirm that right now. But HMMMMMM, kind of makes you wonder.

    ReplyDelete


Please comment with charity and avoid ad hominem attacks. I exercise the right to delete comments I find inappropriate. If you use your real name there is a better chance your comment will stay put.