03/15/09: Michael Oswalt Departs
Dear Parishioners,
Last weekend, I spoke at all the Masses (except the Saturday, 4 p.m., Crane Road Church—it wasn’t appropriate during that mass for Here I Am Lord vocations conference) about the situation with Fr. Michael Oswalt. It is important to put those words in print so that they are properly remembered…
On Tuesday morning, March 3, I found a letter on my desk from Fr. Oswalt informing me that he has left St. Patrick Parish and the Diocese of Rockford. He intends to join a traditionalist movement that does not consider Pope Benedict XVI, or any other pope since the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, to be a true pope of the Roman Catholic Church. It is also a movement that totally rejects the changes enacted by the second Vatican Council. Because of those two points, this movement maintains that the Catholic Church as we know it is not the one, true Roman Catholic Church of Jesus Christ.
By doing this, Fr. Oswalt has left the priesthood. I informed the bishop of this situation and he has asked me to personally deliver this letter to you:
“My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: It is with great sadness that I write this letter to you regarding Father Michael Oswalt and his leaving St. Patrick Parish and his assignment as your Associate Pastor. We must be grateful to our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, for his heroic efforts to reconcile disaffected and dissident groups with the one true Catholic Church.
Our Holy Father’s efforts are intended to avoid incidents such as Father Oswalt’s erroneous and unfortunate decision to abandon his present assignment.
“I request most sincerely that you offer daily prayer for Father Oswalt that by God’s grace he will realize and recognize his error and peaceably return to and be reconciled with the Catholic Church. Moreover, I ask all of you to continue to remember in your daily prayers, your good and faithful parish priests here at St. Patrick Parish, all the priests of the Diocese, both secular and religious, and finally I ask you to pray for me, your Bishop, that I too may humbly fulfill all the duties entrusted to me by the Lord.
“Please know that I am praying for all of you at St. Patrick Parish that you will grow and prosper in your faith, hope, and charity before God our Father.
“With every good wish, I remain, Cordially yours in Christ, The Most Reverend Thomas G. Doran, Bishop of Rockford.”
Obviously, this situation has had profound effect, not only on Fr. Simon and me, but on our entire parish staff. I understand that Fr. Oswalt has mailed a letter to several parishioners and that that letter has been summarized and emailed to other parishioners. That is unfortunate, especially the email because what Fr. Oswalt states in that letter does not need to be widely disseminated.
In that letter, Fr. Oswalt writes that he has done nothing wrong nor has he left the priesthood. Both of those statements are false… they are wrong… they are not true. Perhaps not from Michael Oswalt’s point of view, but from bishop Doran’s point of view and even from Pope Benedict’s point of view—what he has done is wrong and he has left the priesthood.
I only wish that Michael would have been truthful with me in this situation. It would not have changed the outcome, but things could have been handled in an honest, straightforward way. I must admit that this incident did not catch me by surprise. In fact, several weeks ago, I told Msgr. Barr (the Diocesan Vicar for Clergy) that I expected Michael to be leaving. Because of that, we already have another priest assigned to the parish. His name is Fr. Nicholas Federspiel and his appointment became effective on Friday, March 13… things don’t usually happen this quickly.
It is important that I mention my appreciation for the support and encouragement I am receiving from Fr. Simon and the parish staff. They are a wonderful group of people and we are fortunate to have them ministering in our parish. I also want to express my appreciation for the support I receive from Fr. Joe Lutz and the Benedictine priests of Marmion Abbey. We would be hard pressed if it wasn’t for their faithful assistance.
Finally, I want to thank you, the parishioners of St. Patrick, for the support and encouragement you have given me, not only in this situation, but in the many other areas of parish activities. It is hard to believe that I have been your pastor for sixteen years and all throughout those years, I have felt your support… for that, I am very grateful!
Please remember what Bishop Doran wrote in his letter… we need to keep Fr. Oswalt in our prayers.
I end by quoting the late Paul Harvey… “now you know the rest of the story.”
May God bless you!
Cordially,
Msgr. Joe Linster
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