Rembert Weakland dead at 95
  • vansensei
    Posts: 215
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembert_Weakland
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    May God have mercy on his soul.
    Thanked by 5ServiamScores francis Brian Michael Page dad29 veromary
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,933
    I try not to speak ill of the dead but may he rest in whatever peace there is for him.
  • madorganist
    Posts: 906
    Just a reminder that he was sometime president of the CMAA and should be added to the memorial list.
    Thanked by 1Jeffrey Quick
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,045
    I try not to speak ill of the dead


    I predict this will be a short thread. Either all will follow that example, or they won't, and things will heat to the point where the boss has to shut things down.
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,721
    Let us also remember that a personal failing, no matter how grievous, does not negate the good done elsewhere. (Save, of course, one’s salvation) That is to say, if his service to liturgical music be of any value, we may still be grateful for it, even if the rest of his past leaves something to be desired.

    I was reading St. Bridget of Sweden’s visions a few years back, and she asked our Lord, [paraphrasing] “why do you permit sinners to continue to sin grievously and wound Your heart? Why not just put an end to them before they can sin even more?” To which Christ replied (with spine-chilling simplicity,) “I am patient, for I have all of eternity to exact My Justice.” We shall all receive our just reward, and therefore we needn’t fret about anyone else’s…
    Thanked by 5M. Jackson Osborn CharlesW CHGiffen a_f_hawkins mmeladirectress
  • kevinfkevinf
    Posts: 1,183
    Weakland wrote a book that was published in 2009. It is a fascinating tour of the liturgical wars and discussions of the 1960s-1990s. I would urge anyone to read it as he also goes into some detail regarding the sexual abuse problems in his diocese and the Church in general. I do not condone his behavior in any way, but his story is proof of the classic incompetence of Church officials in this arena and the lack of depth of understanding. I did meet him once and heard him play some Brahms (he was a very fine pianist). I liken him to a brilliant mind that had bad formation (the heady and turbulent times of the 50s and 60s). I know that he asked to return to St. Vincent Archabbey in his final years and was refused. My Benedictine friends saw him as a pariah and that is sad. I suspect he died a very broken person, but I do not know. Fr. James Martin wrote of him yesterday and it was a pathetic attempt to regularize his behavior. But, I also know him in some other contexts for which I understand him more. Again, I am not excusing his behavior. His book is on Google: "A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church."
  • Chaswjd
    Posts: 254
    He was my ordinary for quite a number of years. He celebrated the mass honoring the 150th anniversary of the founding of my parish there on the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. He always conveyed an optimism. I would have liked to ask him how the fathers of the Second Vatican Council could have such an optimistic view of the modern world, when modernity had also given us the Holocaust and atomic bomb within their adult lifetimes. It would have been interesting to have heard his answer.
  • dad29
    Posts: 2,217
    We should not blame +Weakland for the entirety of the Milwaukee Archdiocese's priest-predator problems, as his predecessor emplaced some very evil people in key positions in both the Minor and Major seminaries--and they did what you'd expect. Further, some of the criminals were members of the Salvatorians; he didn't ordain them, either.

    As to his liturgical silliness (and that of his priests)--there were only a few "horrible" incidents; he did attempt to maintain some order, working within the OF. And recall that it was +Weakland who allowed the Old Rite Mass on a 'regularized' basis, weekly. He also allowed the use of the Minor Seminary's chapel for several years.

    On economics, he was a disaster. Seems like Order priests who gain Church office have that problem. (Wink-wink.) But since he thought Mozart's 'Coronation Mass' was an atrocity, I programmed it for the dedication of our new parish church. He was the celebrant. Heh.
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