Why Father Cuenin's "supporters" are really mad

The very badly described "welcoming" parishioners of Our Lady Help of Christians claim they are mad because their pastor was taken away from them. The story that Father Cuenin evidently wants to die simply won't. According to gay activist and parishioner Larry Kessler:

"People are feeling really hurt, angry, enraged, and some of them are leaving."

You know why they're mad?

Because certain parishioners were led to believe that they would be the ones to choose Father Cuenin's successor. From the minutes of an OLHC "Voice of the Faithful(sic)" meeting in July, 2002:

“We cannot force the hierarchical structure of the church to change if we cannot coordinate meaningful change within our parishes. That is one of the reasons that OLV [i.e., the parish VOTF chapter] has focused on such issues as the role of the faithful in pastoral selection.”

“Working from existing structures, we can create new processes and structures that will empower us to have some say in who ministers to our community, and some recourse if our views are dismissed. We must begin to implement the pastoral selection process now at Our Lady's, because the process we laid out in the paper will take all the time available until Fr. Cuenin moves on.”[my emphasis]

Over three years ago, the parish activists were anticipating the "moving on" of their pastor and anticipating the power to choose his successor. They got the rug pulled out from under them.

That's why they're so ticked off.

For the Kessler quote and other bilge, check out today's Boston Globe.