It has been brought to my attention that a letter written to me by Father Martin Stepanich. O.F.M., S.T.D., about the situation at Saint Gertrude the Great Church has been circulated rather widely, including on the newly revived blog of Father Anthony Cekada, who was not pleased last year with Father Martin's criticism of his, Father Cekada's, "The Grain of Incense" article on the issue of assisting at Masses offered una cuм Benedicto.

It is interesting to see Father Cekada quote Father Martin at this point given the fact that Bishop Dolan was so incensed at Father Martin's support for Mrs. Kathleen Plumb and The Four Marks in September of 2008 that the bishop read Father Martin's letter to him, called it "extremely disedifying" and then threw it in the waste paper basket, which he called "the round file." Bishop Dolan has yet to heed Father Martin's request of him to apologize publicly to Mrs. Plumb.

I have made my own response to Father Martin on the controversy engendered by Bishop Dolan's firing of Father Ramolla and the lies and misrepresentations that have been spread thereafter, including the work of character assassination that was undertaken by Bishop Dolan's and Father Cekada's good friend, Joseph Charles McKenzie, on the "laypopes" site. My response to Father Martin will remain private as I associate entirely with the response to him made by the editors of the SGG Info website in A Question of Perspective.

I do, however, hope that Father Cekada's citing of Father Martin's letter to me will prompt him to review the letter that Father Martin wrote in 2008 to disagree with the erroneous stand that Father Cekada and Bishop Donald Sanborn took in support of the withdrawal of food and water from the Mrs. Theresa Marie Schindler-Schiavo. In sharp contrast to the conclusions reached by Bishop Sanborn and Father Cekada, Father Martin wrote the following about the murder of Terri Schiavo:

But whatever may have been the real or pretended reason why Michael Schiavo had Terri's feeding tube removed, it was all done in a very ugly way that it is sickening just to think about it. And it cannot be repeated too often that the merciless termination of Terri cannot possibly be justified before God. If Terri had bene already close to death at the time her feeding tube was removed, the only decent and humane thing to do would have been to continue providing her with what food or drink and medication she could still handle, and as long as it did her any good, and at that the same time to do the best to lessen her suffering until she peacefully expired. But to finish her off with a cruel starvation and dehydration? Never! (Father Martin Stepanich on Terri Schiavo.)

 

Friends of moral truth do indeed hope that Father Cekada will take to heart the rebuke that he was given by Father Martin and declare publicly that he was wrong to support the murder of Terri Schiavo by the removing of her food and water.

Insofar as the current matter is concerned, I rather doubt that Father Martin Stepanich is aware of the fact that the "Laypopes" site, with which I do not believe he is entirely conversant, was run by a good friend of Bishop Dolan and Father Cekada, neither of whom have said a word in protest of the character assassinations that characterized that site or of the fact that the initial posting of "Ballad of an Armchair Pope" read as follows:

Thomas Drolesky and Markus Ramolla - For breaking from the Holy Roman Church and setting themselves up as their own authority. (A Bull of Excommunication from An Anonymous Excommunicator.)
 

I am sure that Father Martin Stepanich, for whom we have nothing but the warmest of personal fondness and a profound gratitude for the courageous witness that he has given in defense of the Holy Faith, would not agree that those who have left Saint Gertrude the Great Church have left the "Holy Roman Church" or that they have set "themselves up as their own authority." Yet this is what Mr. McKenzie, who lied to at least two correspondents as he denied any involvement with "Ballad of An Armchair Pope" and the Laypopes site itself, wrote initially. Would Father Cekada have us believe that Father Martin Stepanich agrees with the use of the word "apostate" by many of those who remain at Saint Gertrude the Great Church to refer to those who have left?

His Excellency Bishop Robert F. McKenna, O.P., has been kept closely informed concerning the injustices that have been visited upon Father Markus Ramolla and those who have sought to defend him and others against the lies and misrepresentations that have been spread in the past six weeks. Bishop McKenna has read every article that I have written on this subject. He has read the postings that I have made on this home page. Bishop McKenna has read much of the material on the Laypopes site, telling me the "Ballad of An Armchair Pope" could have been penned by none other than Satan himself. He has, in light of Father Martin's letter, given me permission to reprint here the words that he wrote to me in his Christmas card to my family:

"I cannot compassionate you enough for the persecution you have had to suffer and still do, in the battle of St. Gertrude's, nor praise you enough for defending the good name of those innocently victimized. May your sufferings redound to the conversion of those persecuting you and Christ in you."

 

I can assure my readers that the work I have done on this matter has been reviewed prior to publication and that it was undertaken with great sadness and regret following the injustice visited upon Father Ramolla on November 5, 2009. Those who see things differently can come to whatever conclusions they desire. I have, however, done my due diligence in seeking the advice and counsel of others in this difficult matter.

Let us continue to pray for all involved as we turn our attention in these final days of Advent to the coming celebration of Christmas.