Our Lady of Grace rallies for return of Fr. Joe Gorman

February 3, 2015 · 7 Comments

(Cardinal Thomas Collins, right, blesses a student garden at St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic High School in October, accompanied by Father Joe Gorman. Auroran photo by David Falconer)

By Brock Weir

An extended standing ovation from members of Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church interrupted the words of Bishop Wayne Kirkpatrick at last Saturday’s services.

“We know, for the most part, we all love Father Gorman,” said The Bishop, as the packed congregation rose to their feet. This was not an ordinary Saturday service, however, it was the first since members of the Our Lady of Grace (OLG) community learned their pastor, Fr. Joe Gorman, had been asked to “take time away” from the parish by Cardinal Thomas Collins of the Archdiocese of Toronto.

The Archdiocese in a statement cited “financial irregularities relating to the financial administration of the parish and serious civil and ecclesiastical irregularities concerning the celebration of the sacrament of matrimony.”

Following this initial statement, Bishop Kirkpatrick, followed by an amended statement from Neil MacCarthy, Director of Public Relations and Communications for the Archdiocese, amended the comment to underline Fr. Gorman did not gain personally from these “irregularities”, rather “proper procedures” were not followed on “certain special collections.”

According to the Archdiocese, Fr. Gorman presided at a wedding of a couple where a divorced party had not received an annulment, which is against requirements of the Catholic Church. Following this incident, the Archdiocese says Fr. Gorman was assigned a “mentor” to ensure future weddings would follow church guidelines, but this was not the case.

A subsequent wedding was performed by Fr. Gorman between two members of the Our Lady of Grace parish in an Anglican chapel “after being advised on more than one occasion this was not permitted”, and later indicated on marriage records that a minister from another denomination presided over the service.

“This activity was contrary to the laws of the Catholic Church and violated the Civil Marriage Act, putting his own license to celebrate weddings in jeopardy,” said Mr. MacCarthy.

Regarding the violation of the Civil Marriage Act, both the Archdiocese and a source close the issue insist this was not a same sex marriage, rather simply two Catholics he did not have jurisdiction to marry in the chapel.

It has been indicated to The Auroran that Fr. Gorman chalks this up to an “error in judgement”, but the Archdiocese said this has been an “ongoing pattern of disregarding church procedures.”

In the statement read out to the OLG congregation on Saturday, Bishop Kirkpatrick said Cardinal Thomas Collins asked Fr. Gorman to “take some time away from the parish” to “help him reflect on his role as pastor.”

“He remains pastor of Our Lady of Grace and our prayer is that this period of reflection will assist him in his life of priestly ministry,” the statement continued. “We invite parishioners of Our Lady of Grace to pray for Fr. Gorman in the days ahead and support those who administer the parish in his absence.”

In response to enquiries from The Auroran, Fr. Gorman declined to speak further on the matter at this time.

Parishioners, however, were not content to pray privately, and have been taking their prayers – and actions – public with an eye of having Fr. Gorman restored to his place at the church.

Ahead of last weekend’s services, members of the OLG community fanned out around the church handing out petitions and collecting signatures for a petition urging Cardinal Collins to listen to the community and their concerns.

“We, the parishioners of Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, ask for your intervention to help heal our community, which has been wounded by the abrupt removal of our pastor, Fr. Joe Gorman,” reads the petition, which has gathered thousands of signatures since going online midday Friday. “He has been an inspirational and reconciliatory instrument, a role model, especially for our youth, and has been moral support for families in need, particularly the mentally ill, elderly and the poor and grieving.

“Through his joyful Christian spirit, he has brought back to the church many of the members who had left, even non-Catholics.”

Signatories ask the Cardinal to appoint a mediator to assist in Gorman’s return to Our Lady of Grace with “transparency, due process and clear communication to help us through these difficult times.”

These views are reflected in the voices of support offered by members of the congregation, highlighting the need for community involvement in creating a dialogue on the issue at hand.

“We, as the community, should make decisions that impact our parish,” wrote Joe Gajcevic of Newmarket. “The dark ages of secret meetings and backroom dealings has no place in our parish. The alleged evidence should be looked at by all. We should have a say as a community and not by a select few.”
Others suggested complaints were brought forward by “pious, holier than thou” individuals which, in the words of parishioner Mary O’Reilly “steps outside the box.”

“Isn’t that exactly what Christ did?” she asked.

“We have been going to OLG for 30+ years and Father Joe is a breath of fresh air,” added Doug Cork of Aurora, voicing his support to the Archdiocese. “No offence, but not like all the other stodgy, old, unyielding, unfeeling pastors you have put in there before. The times they are changing, so hopefully you guys get it now. Put Father Joe back where he belongs.”

Many members of the OLG community also spoke of their flagging faith which had, they said, been revitalized by the message of Fr. Joe, including youth.

“Fr. Joe singlehandedly kept me interested in my faith and in God throughout my high school experience,” said Genevieve Malcolm, 20, of Aurora. “As a young adult, religion has not always been at the forefront of my mind, as I have had a hard time reconciling it with the entirety of my life in the past. However, Fr. Joe has helped me to see how God fits in with the bigger picture of my life, along with providing me with relevant and interesting homilies to appreciate. I cannot imagine that I would still be an active Catholic without his influence.”

A similar view was offered by Pedro Rodrigues. “Father Joe was the sole reason why my family and I returned back to Our Lady of Grace after a horrible experience with the previous pastor. He gave us hope and strengthened our relationship with Christ.”
Father Joe Gorman was ordained in 2008. He was appointed to lead Our Lady of Grace in May, 2013.

Spartan4 says:

From the outset it was very clear to me that someone with an axe to grind had advised the Archdiocese, and we know who it is. The financial irregularities? were they that he gave all the proceeds of the special collection(s) without giving the Archdiocese their cut?? Just asking! Remember the Archdiocese shot down Stronach’s offer so that they parishiners could carry the whole cost

1:13 pm on February 3, 2015

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Concerned RC says:

I know Fr. Joe and admire his energy and passion. While I was initially upset with his removal from Our Lady of Grace (OLG), I took the time to seek out the facts. While I pray for Fr. Joe to continue in his vocation as a priest (I believe he has much to offer in this role), he took it upon himself to decide which ecumenical and administrative rules he would follow. The Roman Catholic Church is not a club; members do not get to vote on the rules. The Pope is Peter’s successor; the Vicar of Christ, “who has supreme authority … over the whole Church,” and while Fr. Joe has clearly struggled with his vow of obedience, repeatedly ignoring the instructions from the Archdiocese warranted his temporary removal as head of the parish. Cardinal Collins did not make this decision lightly, in fact repeated efforts, I have learned, were made to avoid this difficult decision having to be made. Fr. Joe’s actions (not all of which were for pure altruistic reasons; elevated him to a level above all other authorities within the church) have disrupted the Parish, as well as the schools which fall under the OLG Parish; parishioners have voiced alarming comments against each other and, against the Catholic Church, dividing and upsetting the OLG community on the whole.

As a Catholic, I pray for Fr. Joe, the parishioners and community, who have been impacted by the decisions he made. I also pray for the leaders of the Church on whom the burden is placed to make those unpopular decisions.. This has been a difficult timed for All concerned.

9:59 pm on February 4, 2015

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Wilson100 says:

Among all this situation with Fr Joe Gorman there is an article to be reflected upon:
“The priesthood is the last place we would expect to find a narcissist, that is, a person with a Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and it certainly ought to be the last place where we should actually find one. But the reality is otherwise. There are indeed a percentage of priests that manifest varying degrees of narcissism throughout the Church. The fault for this is certainly not the priesthood itself; it has everything to do with the basic characteristics of the narcissist as well as aspects of the priesthood that the religious narcissist finds attractive and convenient to him in his quest to hide his true self and procure a hefty and steady dose of narcissistic supply: adulation, admiration, attention, approval, and awe.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a pervasive pattern of grandiosity that is characterized by a radical need for admiration, a lack of empathy, and which begins by early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five or more of the following criteria. The narcissist:
(1) has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
(2) is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
(3) believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
(4) requires excessive admiration
(5) has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
(6) is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
(7) lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
(8) is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her
(9) shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes”
http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/mcm/mcm_219narcissisminpriesthood.html

6:30 pm on February 5, 2015

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Wantfatherjoeback says:

Wilson100 couldn’t be more wrong. Cleary either Wilson100 has never met Father Joe or lacks any social intelligence. FJ has restored people’s faith in the catholic religion. He relates to, inspires and impacts children so deeply and makes them proud and excited about the catholic religion. I have been a practicing Catholic for over 40 years. … Church has never been more enjoyable. He has restored my depleting faith. Sorry the church didn’t get their cut. He is leading the church to a place where they NEED to be. In 20 years from now the church may catch up. Do you remember when black people weren’t allowed in church?

9:11 pm on February 6, 2015

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Wilson100 says:

Responding to “Wantfatherjoeback”: First of all I know Fr. Joe, I just don’t place him above Our Lord. I attend Mass for Our Lord, not to celebrate Fr Joe. Secondly “lack of social intelligence” is the attitude of those that have developed tunnel vision, therefore not seeing that Fr Joe was asked to leave the Parish for his own good and the financial irregularities are not the only issue faced by Fr Joe… if you can not see the whole picture you are the one that lacks of any social intelligence… (the wrong doing of Fr Joe are not brought publicly to help himself move forward during this difficult time. But the wrongdoing was there! And this is not “leading the Church where the Church NEEDS to be” like you said). Finally, the Catholic Church has black people as Saints (models to be followed)…. so what with your comments about “remember when black people weren’t allowed in the church” comes from??? I think you have been a Catholic in the past 40 years but don’t even know what the word “CATHOLIC” actually means… (just for you: it is a greek world that means Universal) so, it is not a club where you like the manager, so even if the manager does something wrong you keep him there because you like him and he is a cool guy 🙂 I don’t want to see Fr Joe back exactly because I like him, he should go to a completely different environment with humility. I don’t want to see him go down the hill even more.

3:14 pm on February 7, 2015

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Spartan4 says:

re Wilson100 the financial irregularities were Fr. Joe didn’t give the Archdiocese their “cut” of the special collections. He gave it all to the poor and the Huntsville Food Bank; so what? it did more good that way than sitting in the coffers of the Archdiocese. Why do you attack wantfatherjoeback on such a personal level

9:08 pm on February 7, 2015

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Wilson100 says:

To Spartan4: Fr. Joe’s financial irregularities were not just giving all to the poor and the Archdiocese missing out on their “cut” as you mentioned. There is more to the story… actually the Archdiocese would never ask a priest to go for a “sabbatical” just for that reason.
I wish the best outcome for him. A good retreat and time to reflect. If he had done that, he wouldn’t be in this situation now.

8:24 pm on February 10, 2015

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