A few months ago I learned that Father James Doran, who used to say Mass in New York for the SSPX was transferred and was supposed to go to New Orleans. However he never went to New Orleans. Instead he disappeared and left the SSPX. That was the last I heard about him until I saw a post on Archbishop Lefebvre Forums 3 yesterday that said he joined the Novus Ordo Maronites.

He used to be my priest in New York and I was surprised to learn he joined the Novus Ordo because I thought he was traditional and he seemed to have respect for Bishop Williamson even after he was thrown under the bus by Fellay and scorned by many SSPX priests. I though when he went AWOL that he was going to join the resistance.

So the reason I am posting is to ask the posters here if they have any more information about Father Doran. I thought he was a good priest and I loved him and hope he is doing well. Thank you.

Fr. James Doran is now a (novus ordo) Maronite priest.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Anthony-of-The-Desert-Church-Rectory/166952636649308

I remember he complained about how the Roman Rite wanted its priests to look like "12 year old boys" -- he really preferred to not shave, I could tell. One time he had to go overseas for a trip -- he grew his beard 1 month in advance (he had his excuse! lol)

That, and he always had a thing for the East.

Fr. Doran recently spent several days in Australia with Fr. Brendan Arthur (who left the SSPX and returned to his local diocese), with Fr. Doran saying something along the lines of "there was no better place to go?"

Did Fr. Arthur manage to convince Fr. Doran of the "need" to return to the Conciliar Church?

This is very hard for me to understand. I have spent less adult years as a Traditional Catholic than Fr. Doran, and yet.... and yet -- he is willing to give it all up for a fake life as a Lebanese priest with a beard in the Conciliarized Maronite rite?

As much as Fr. Doran admires the East, it isn't him. It's not his true self. It reminds me of a teenager trying to "find himself". But in a man's late 50's, that's kind of sad. It's more like a mid life crisis!

At first I'm sure everyone is intrigued by this Irish-American with a beard who is soft spoken, well formed and educated, and who knows so much about their culture. But how can he truly make it real? Can he really talk to the children in his flock about how his grandmother used to make (insert Lebanese food here)? And what other Lebanese culture has he experienced personally? For that matter, what Maronite ANYTHING has he experienced personally, before the past few months, I mean? Won't they eventually tire of the novelty? Won't he?

I used to be fascinated by Japan, its culture, its Anime, the language, and I self-studied Japanese for many years. When I was 19 - 23. But I'm not even part Japanese, so it was all just a "grass is greener on the other side" fascination with the exotic and the different. Such a fascination must needs be short-lived. Eventually you learn that "they have problems too" plus you get USED TO the exotic elements, and they become mundane and boring.

And I should point out, that even after I entered the Seminary I continued to maintain/study the Japanese language, and I certainly entertained the possibility that I'd be posted in Asia/Japan (because, after all, it isn't every SSPX priest that knows Japanese!) So I can relate somewhat.

But this isn't even a "Traditional Catholic" Maronite group -- this is mainstream Conciliar Novus Ordo here.

I should also point out: Fr. Doran, in one of his many "off topic tangents" in Philosophy class, gave his opinion that when the Crisis in the Church is sorted out, the Church won't be bringing everyone to use the Tridentine Mass (the Mass as canonized in the Council of Trent), or even the 1962 Mass. It will be some 1962/Novus Ordo hybrid, since A) there is nothing perfect or final about the Tridentine Mass, and B) the Novus Ordo Missae has been used for too long

I remember he was applying his rational brain to the Mass, rather than revering Tradition. For example, he criticized the "Ite Missa Est" because the Mass wasn't actually over after that point. How about some reverence for the Tridentine Mass, which organically grew as the fruit of Tradition over many CENTURIES?

Maybe that phrase is meant as "Go and change the world as saints of God, for you have received great graces at yet another Mass, and you have received of the Fount of Grace, Holiness Itself, so you should go out like lions, terrible to the devil, and help win souls for Christ."

As opposed to, "Y'all get out of here. The mass is over. It's closing time, bub!"

Now that he's made this CRAZY move (to return to the Conciliar Church -- his switching Rites is not so much of a problem), I think I need to do a mental purge of various things he taught me in the Seminary...

I have know Fr. Doran for years, though I have not seen him in two years, the priest with the beard does not look like him.  Is there some verification that is him?  I seen the above Maronite facebook page but there are no names identifying the persons.  Can someone give a current photo of Fr. Doran in 2016 to match photos?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Anthony-of-The-Desert-Church-Rectory/166952636649308

Here's a pic from when he was newly ordained:

(That's all Google has, unfortunately! The Internet has really let us down this time.)

I guess now is a good time to discuss it, I thought Eastern Rites aren't technically NO since they didn't go through the same Latin VII upheaval. Isn't this why many trads in missions were advised to attend Eastern Rites nearby rather than the NO on their off weeks?

It doesn't make sense to me that he would leave the SSPX because of its impending conciliarism only to join a currently conciliar group, no matter who they are. Are we to assume this group is traditional? Or traditional enough, anyway, for him to be comfortable there?

I guess now is a good time to discuss it, I thought Eastern Rites aren't technically NO since they didn't go through the same Latin VII upheaval. Isn't this why many trads in missions were advised to attend Eastern Rites nearby rather than the NO on their off weeks?

It doesn't make sense to me that he would leave the SSPX because of its impending conciliarism only to join a currently conciliar group, no matter who they are. Are we to assume this group is traditional? Or traditional enough, anyway, for him to be comfortable there?

Remember that human nature is not easy to understand. Sometimes people do things (with regards to the Catholic faith) that have nothing to do with principle but simply expediency.

There are no "traditional" Maronites. There are no "traditional" Eastern-rite churches anywhere in the United States.

Do you honestly think the Eastern-rite churches were spared the Revolution because they have an elaborate Liturgy?

Obviously I am not saying there aren't good individual Eastern-rite priests.

While I would agree that there are no "traditional" Eastern rite churches in the US (I believe there is a society of "traditional" Ukranian rite priests in the Ukraine that has a relationship with the SSPX. I am not aware of any others.) I think it should be pointed out that the eastern rites, as far as I know, still have true priests and true Bishops and they still have all the true sacraments, unlike the Novus Ordo which most "traditional" Catholics think are at least doubtful or even certainly invalid. To illustrate this, I would never go to confession to a Novus Ordo priest, but if I didn't have access to an SSPX priest or a resistance priest or an SSPV priest or a CMRI priest, I would confess my sins to a Ukranian rite priest and be confident that my sins were actually forgiven. And my sedevacantist firend who goes to the Ukranian rite Church instead of the SSPX agrees as do many of the sedevacantist members of the Te Deum Forum who go to the eastern rites for Mass and the sacraments.

I have heard that the Maronites in particular of the eastern rites has been the most modernized after Vatican II, but I think they still have true sacraments, although I am not an expert on the eastern rites.