The scandalous
events that took place at SGG (St. Gertrude the Great Church) back in 2009 were
the culmination of troubles that had been brewing for some years prior to
that. The first notable sign of that “trouble” was Anthony Cekada’s
disastrous justification of the murder of Terri Schiavo, back in 2005, which
caused a sizable number of parishioners to leave SGG shortly thereafter.
But the thing that caused the biggest exodus (about half of SGG’s parishioners,
including its biggest benefactor) was the surfacing in 2009 of the
scandalous events that took place at its school then and before.
This was probably
the main catalyst for the creation this blog (Lay Pulpit) as well as the
Pistrina Liturgica blog (although there were other factors as
well). Since then, not only have the events of 2009 been documented and
reported, but other ongoing misdeeds (and blunders) of the pastor and his
assistant have been uncovered as well. These include, in addition to Schiavo,
Cekada’s pitifully amateurish attempt at “authorship” (Work of Human Hands),
and his totally discredited attempt at validating his pastor’s (Daniel Dolan’s)
one-handed “ordination.” As a result, much of the “dynamic duo’s”
duplicitous behavior has been exposed – and their one-time “reputation” has
(thankfully) been reduced to “junk status.”
Naturally, all
this has spawned backlash from those die-hards who still support Dolan and
Cekada, and who refuse to accept documented proof (much of which comes
from Dolan’s and Cekada’s own lips). They claim that those who have
written articles providing this documentation “have an axe to grind,” and they
have responded to them with all manner of caustic “comments” (especially
to articles written in Pistrina). [Most have commented “anonymously” --
and in some cases, the anonymous “commenter” has been none other than Cekada
himself. It seems that Tony just can’t keep away from the fray!]*
And in just about
every case, the “commenters” do not challenge what is written -- because they
know they can’t -- but instead do what those with no defense of their
own have always done: they divert. They ignore the subject at
hand, and instead fabricate some new issue (that is invariably irrelevant
and “tangential”). Sometimes they set up a “straw man”; and sometimes
they simply employ the “ignore the message, shoot the messenger” tactic.
But in either case, it’s “diversionary.”
Another “weapon”
in their bean-shooter arsenal is that of playing the “numbers”
game: “You are the only two websites saying what you do. No one else
is!” But the fact is, yes they are. First of all, among the half
of the parish that left SGG in 2009, over a dozen of them – including
some of SGG’s own faculty – did take the trouble to speak out:
they opened a website (sgginfo.com) to air (and document) their numerous
grievances against the SGG clergy and school principal. It wasn’t a
“revolt” by a “small clique of malcontents,” but a grass-roots effort by
the scores of SGG parishioners who were cruelly victimized. And in
addition to them, several parishioners from SGG’s satellite parishes were also
victimized, and joined the effort. In all, over sixty pieces of
correspondence were generated. (It must be remembered, too, that there
was a lot of correspondence generated back in the “Schiavo” days.
If this were included, the total would be well over a hundred.)**
Unfortunately,
because of “political pressure” from an outside cleric, the website was pulled
down. However, it is now back, but under a new title: sggscandal.com; and we have added it as
a link on our “Home” page (see “Links you’ll love”). In addition to
this website, there are others, such as one created by parishioners of St.
Hugh of Lincoln (an SGG satellite in Milwaukee, Wisconsin), that also
detailed the heavy-handed (and typical) mistreatment received at the hands of
SGG’s clergy (see link). Additionally, there is an
abundance of correspondence about Schiavo, which showcases Anthony
Cekada’s trademark arrogance (and ignorance) in an unmistakably clear
way. We hope eventually to incorporate much of it (and the SHL link) into the new website.
Thus, it will serve as a valuable archival resource for those seeking more
documentation on Schiavo -- and as a “memory jogger” for those still in
denial both about both it and the events that took place at SGG’s school.
Speaking of the
latter, there is one series of articles on the new website that we’d like to highlight
this week. They deal with School Dazed -- an article published on
Anthony Cekada’s Quidlibet newsletter -- which was his attempt at
“explaining away” the scandalous events that went on at the school in
2009. In response, a series of articles entitled School Dazed
Revisited was compiled by the sgginfo website’s editorial staff, in
six parts, which are now recreated in the new website (see links 1, 2,
3,
4,
5, and 6).
Each part is written in “side-by-side” format, with Cekada’s original School
Dazed remarks written in the left column, and the rebuttals to them in the
right column. Those six articles provide perhaps the best insight on what
happened at the school (and on how Cekada’s mind works). And, together
with three other articles contributed by three individual parishioners (click here, here
and here),
not only do they completely dismantle Cekada’s pathetic whitewash job; but they
show how Cekada, by his own words, exposes himself for the liar that he is.
What the newly
resurrected website proves, among other things, is that those who oppose the
dynamic duo are not an “anomaly” or a “small clique of disgruntled crackpots,”
but a sizable (and growing) number of people. By the sheer number of
those who have contributed to this website, Dannie and Tony (and their hacks)
cannot “write them off” as “insignificant.” More importantly, they
cannot, no matter how much they try to belittle or discredit these folks,
ignore fact. Much of the evidence presented by them is irrefutable
(some even coming from Dannie’s or Tony’s own lips); and even the “anecdotal”
evidence (not strictly “provable”) can be corroborated by dozens of witnesses
(including some who are still at SGG).*** In short, too much evidence
exists for all of it to be “swept under the rug.”
In future, we
hope to highlight even more articles – especially those dealing with Schiavo
(when they can be incorporated into the website). In these articles,
again, Cekada’s arrogance and ignorance come through unmistakably.
In fact, he does such a great job of hanging himself with his own words, that
little further commentary is necessary – even perhaps for those “lowest common
denominator” die-hards who still fall on their swords for him. But,
regardless of what he and they say or do, rational people should
have no trouble in seeing the evidence, in comprehending the facts,
and in drawing the right conclusions.
____________________
* It is common (and accepted) practice for someone to comment
“anonymously” on a blog; but for Cekada
himself to come on as an “anonymous” commenter – to pose as someone else, on an article written
about him -- is deceptive, for it
gives the impression of his having an independent “outside” supporter, when none
really exists. Secondly, it shows
a true lack of professionalism: a true professional defends himself on his own forum (and Tony has one -- Quidlibet), and doesn’t stoop to playing
“heckler” on someone else’s. But,
as we said, Tony – the classless Blunderer
-- just can’t “keep away from the fray.”
And when he does “jump in,” he invariably gets annihilated – especially on Pistrina,
where he is woefully inept at matching wits with them. (The idiot doesn’t seem to realize that,
when he does try to “spar” with them, he only succeeds in giving them the opportunity to reinforce their point – at his expense.)
But how do we know it is he who
was the “commenter”? It’s fairly
easy: some of the comments contain information (or phraseology) peculiar to him only,
and to no one else. And why does
he himself comment? That’s easy,
too: many of those who offered their “commenting” support for him and/or Dannie
were actually an embarrassment for
them – they turned out to be some of SGG’s semi-literate bottom-feeders. Their
comments were actually so damaging that,
for a time, Dannie put out a “gag order” to silence them – so Tony had to come
in and “fill the vacuum.” Lately,
however, a few have popped up here and there to have their say – but only the
chosen few articulate enough to get Dannie’s and Tony’s “imprimatur” to do so.
** It must be remembered that, for every grievance put in writing, there are usually hundreds (and, in many cases, thousands)
that aren’t. Most people -- especially “traddies” --
are reticent, and not prone to
“speaking out.” The written
response at SGG (and its satellite parishes) was overwhelming, both in
numbers and in intensity. And, as
it was, of those who were victimized, most were reticent, and responded not publicly, but simply by leaving. Perhaps if they hadn’t been reticent but more “vocal,” most of SGG’s parishioners – not just half of them – would have left. Dannie and Tony should “thank their lucky stars” that the
response was as muted as it was, or they would be left sitting there by
themselves, with only Puccini, Vivaldi, and Caravaggio for company.
*** One bit of evidence that is both irrefutable
and well witnessed is the
“bell-ringing incident” at SGG on Palm Sunday of 2009. The church bell, being rung by an usher
during a procession that day, got “stuck” (the usher, by the way, left SGG that
day, but for unrelated reasons). Both
Dolan and Cekada gave accounts of what happened with the bell – both of which
contradicted each other. Dolan
gave an accurate account – at least about the bell; but Cekada did not, lying
both about what happened, and why. The fact that the incident was witnessed by most of those present that day adds even more “fuel” to Cekada’s
lies. (As
it turns out, Dolan also lied – not about the bell, but about the usher’s
reasons for subsequently leaving SGG.)
(For a more detailed account of what happened (and more), click here.)
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