Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The Other Life of a Liturgeist; Anti-Catholicism, Again

Methinks the pastor is a prudent fellow.

UPDATE: this incident was played by all three Milwaukee TV channels (complete with live interviews) and has gone national via AP. The amount of vitriol and ignorant remarks directed at this parish priest is incredible. Charlie's program carried a "Bible-believing" woman who actually stated that 'the Bible [approves] of [sex toys] in marriage.'

All the coverage that I saw was sympathetic to the woman, perhaps partly because the parish priest did not make himself available for interviews and issued the standard "personnel matter" statement in writing.

But like the Xavier HS case, (see also here and here) the coverage is really anti-Catholic. Which is why I changed the title of this post. Curious, no, that the "wronged" in both these cases is a woman... UPDATE: The Catholic League agrees that (at least BabaWawa) is another anti-Catholic.

When her parish priest asked to meet with her, Linette Servais thought she was going to get a thank-you for her 35 years of service as organist and choir director at St. Joseph Catholic Parish in rural New Franken, near Green Bay.

Instead, she was given an ultimatum - quit her sales job with a company known as Pure Romance or be fired from her church work.

Pure Romance is a $60 million a year business based in Loveland, Ohio, that employs 15,000 consultants who sell spa products and "romance enhancers" - sex toys - at homes parties attended by women. Think Tupperware parties for the bedroom.

Ms. Servais didn't give up all that much:

Servais had worked for years without pay and did not seek any, but in recent times she'd been paid $1,000 a year to direct the choir and play the organ, a skill she learned from her grandmother, who had also played at the church.

The article does tell us how the pastor found out about her, ah, trade:

Servais said Dombroski's request for a meeting came shortly after she displayed some of what she calls spa products at a parish trade show that also featured other home businesses and craft sales.

The good Father may be able to find someone, equally well-trained, for another $1K/year. It's my understanding that the 'side-job' wedding-organist gigs pay well in Green Bay.

HT: The Provincial Emails

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