Ordinarily, that’s not newsworthy. A new pastor arrives and people are let go; that’s nothing unusual. In this case, Joe Nadeau of St. Agnes Church in Roeland Park, Kan., found himself out of a job and at the center of controversy over homosexuality this past spring. Under a previous pastor, he had mentioned his main job was directing the Heartland Men’s Chorus, an organization that attracts many homosexual men. He offered to withdraw his employment application but was instead given the position of overseeing five weekend Masses and three choirs. Eight years later, a new pastor responded to unhappy parishioners whose previous petition to have Nadeau removed had been rebuffed. After a two-hour reception line at his farewell, Nadeau was released from service for noncompliance with three directives: quit his primary job, publicly concede homosexuality as a disorder, and promise to live as a celibate.

Within a week, another area church hired Nadeau, but the Catholic Church doesn’t come off too well in the aftermath. First, note that a parish job involving a full set of Sunday Masses and multiple choirs pays less than running a single choir for a half-dozen annual performances. Second, you have to wonder who’s really in charge of a parish that makes personnel decisions by petition drives. And third, no bishop would dare make such public requests of its clergy. No wonder Catholics are weighed down by low morale.

Music to Katrina- battered churches

In the aftermath of last fall’s hurricane, food, money, and clothing poured into hard-hit Gulf States. While considering a possible trip to the recycle bin, one Iowa woman religious thought of something more useful. Sister Nancy Wooldridge wrote to a friend of another sister, Phil Beining, music ministry director at the cathedral in Biloxi, Miss. Would he be interested in sheet music, music lesson books, and a host of other materials now taking up space in the convent storage? Definitely so, came the reply.

Sister Nancy organized collections from various Davenport, Iowa, parishes, sending old hymnals, sheet music, tapes, CDs, DVDs, and religious education materials south. Beining promised that he would distribute the shipment to other Biloxi parishes, most of which were harder hit than the cathedral.

“It’s a big process for her to go through 60 to 70 years of choral music and piano methodology music,” said Beining. “It’s a delight that she wants to help.”

Warning: Fake organist abroad

St. Peter’s Basilica issued a public warning about various agents who are attempting to pass off other musicians as the “official organist of Pope Benedict.” There is only one official organist at St. Peter’s, James E. Goettsche, an American, who has held the post since 1989. “I have been advised to take legal action,” said Goettsche, “but for now I am looking more for clarification and correction.” So far he has received at least one apology from one promoter who posted made- up details about an Italian organist available for concert tours in Germany, the United States, and New Zealand.

World Cup prayers

The world went soccer-mad for a month this past summer, but some of the festivities included prayer. Munich’s Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady hosted a nationally televised ecumenical service on the eve of the World Cup opener. Children clad in soccer jerseys of the 32 participating teams joined religious leaders in procession. Songs were sung in many languages, and prayers were offered for a celebration of sport that would bring understanding and cooperation to the nations of the world. One of the Scripture readings was St. Paul’s athletic advice from 1 Corinthians 9:24–25: “Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win. Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.”

Sadly, no players were present.

Reclaiming Holy Hill

Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan celebrated a Mass of Reparation to reclaim a 150-year-old shrine from satanic desecration suffered on 6-6-06. “Satan had his moment,” Dolan preached. “But Satan is crushed now because the entire community has expressed its outrage.”

The vandals (along with others who obsessed over that date) might want to reconsider their math, especially since the real date, 6-6-6, actually happened 2,000 years ago, before the Christian numbering of years. At least since Y2K, most places recognize that we’re in the year “2006,” not “06” or even “6.”

Father Cyril Guise, director of the National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians, told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that cleanup efforts will purge the shrine of any lasting damage from the desecration. Thanks to the archbishop, the emotional healing was quick to begin.

God already knows …

A parish priest in Milano, Italy, put up a sign on his parish church that read: Dio conosce gia’ il tuo ombelic. Translation: “God already knows about your navel.” I guess he probably wasn’t talking about oranges, as Milano is considered one of Europe’s centers of high fashion. ML