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Author Topic: Life as a Seminarian was like movie Platoon  (Read 44406 times)

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Offline Pax Vobis

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Re: Life as a Seminarian was like movie Platoon
« Reply #105 on: May 22, 2021, 04:18:13 PM »
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  • Sadly, it’s more proof that infiltration happened at the sspx long ago.  1) +Williamson was liked by the seminarians, but was transferred.  Wasn’t this right after +Fellay was in control?  And a Frenchman took +W’s place?  Seems too coincidental.  2) A 90% failure rate?  Gotta keep the sspx small and controllable.  Only ordain ‘yes men’.  Get rid of normal joes.  3) Find an intellectual seminarian? See if you can control him by psychoanalysis, special promotions and coercion. (See Fr Robinson).  4)  Have the seminary run by negative, controlling, power hungry priests.  Take all the catholic beauty out of religious life.  5).  Focus on obedience and conformity, in an effort to thwart those seminarians who are charismatic, sanguine and creative.  Because those types of priests (St Don Bosch, St Paul, St Peter) make great leaders. 
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    The list goes on and on.  I’m
    Sure this isn’t how +ABL ran a seminary.  This sounds psychotic. And purposeful.  You shouldn’t be a changed person going through seminary.  A better person?  Yes.  An improved person?  Yes.  But changed?  No.  God uses the personalities He creates for the good of the Church.  Everyone has different talents to offer.

    Offline Yeti

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    Re: Life as a Seminarian was like movie Platoon
    « Reply #106 on: May 22, 2021, 08:27:12 PM »
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  • Quote
    My spiritual direction had turned into a patient visiting his psychiatrist. My insomnia and fears had me returning to him a couple times a week, sometimes even after Compline (which is not exactly according to the rule) and stretching into the early a.m. Sometimes I just sat there... Sometimes I vented. He kept poking, digging. I don’t what he thought he’d find. I don’t know what he was looking for.

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    During any of these late night/early morning sessions, did it never dawn on his spiritual director that maybe this guy had a few squirrels missing in his park, and he should have been sent home as not having a vocation? I mean, there's normal first-year-seminary scrupulosity and anxiety, and then there's next-level derangement. This is obviously Box Number Two. If I fault the superiors here with anything, it's for stringing him along for five years instead of telling him he doesn't have the mental balance and emotional stability needed for the priesthood, and sending him home.
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    Quote
    But the more he made me feel that something was wrong with me, the more I believed it. [YOU THINK??!] Thinking back, all I needed was a reassurance that I was not crazy – that I was on the right path. [No, that was the last thing you needed]

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    This man truly didn't understand what was going wrong with himself, and he really was let down by the people who should have told him he was not on the right path in pursuing the priesthood.
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    While his account is intriguing, it's really hard to take it all that seriously, as he is a deeply disturbed man and I don't think he is all that capable of giving an objective account of a lot of these events. I'm sure the basic facts are true, but they are obviously seen through the lens of a terrible mental illness.
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    I feel bad for his mental pain, and I hope he has found some peace.


    Offline Pax Vobis

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    Re: Life as a Seminarian was like movie Platoon
    « Reply #107 on: May 22, 2021, 09:02:51 PM »
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  • Good points.  It goes back to the point that these seminary directors weren't putting seminarian's needs first.

    Offline Matthew

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    Re: Life as a Seminarian was like movie Platoon
    « Reply #108 on: December 22, 2023, 11:59:28 AM »
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  • We have been talking about ex-seminarians lately, so I thought this thread might be good to revive.
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