Update: What happened at St. James
This is an extensive follow-up to the story I published yesterday about the desecration that took place in St. James Church in NYC on January 15th. This information has been cobbled together from the contributions of many readers who have helped me get to the bottom of this.
One reader says: “There was a second concert scheduled at St. James on January 30th. That concert has now been canceled, and according to the parish office, the concert organizers lied to the pastor about both the first and the second concerts. The pastor, Father Walter Tonelotto, says he was misled.”
As I’ve written before, we Catholics and especially Catholics who work at parishes need to learn a lesson from this about keeping close watch over what is done in our churches. Outside groups should not be allowed into a Church without supervision! (It’s not like this was a quiet event.)
Another reader writes: “The group who deceived the parish, an outfit run by Ariel Panero, Less Artists More Condos, has been shut down and operated illegally with other venues before. This is a group that needs to be stopped, for they are deliberately misleading venue owners and then bragging about it.”
A third reader confirms: “Ariel Panero is the organizer and man responsible for misleading St. James Catholic Church in NYC. His organization is Less Artists More Condos and apparently they have been crashing other venues as well and misleading many.”
The original page on MetroMix New York I linked to has been removed, but you can still see it on the Google cache. Most of the videos are being removed from YouTube. Those responsible for this attack on a Church are quickly trying to hide the evidence of their misdeeds.
A local blogger, Zach Baron, who seems to have some association with the groups involved here, writes:
That said, respect is a two-way street, and those who flock here to tell us, say, that we should know better than to write about shows happening in various semi-unlicensed venues in Manhattan might also think about how bragging in public about desecrating churches is probably not the best plan for long term sustainability.
Manhattan is just about the most visible place in the world to do anything like this. So do it right or fully expect outrage from quarters whose very existence might be a complete surprise to you, right up until the exact moment they get you shut down.
Zach could obviously use some tips on how to communicate with the written word, but I think what he is trying to express is that what Ariel Panero and his friends at “Less Artists More Condos” did is probably illegal, and there will be consequences now that they have been discovered.
Zach said I called on my readers for “prayers in reparation for this outrage.” I did. But I also think legal action should be taken, if only deter future pranksters from trying this sort of thing. I hope the St. Thomas More Society gets involved.
Tito Edwards at the American Catholic has a very good update on what is being done by the pastor and the parish to begin making reparations for the harm sustained:
Father Tonelotto is deeply embarrassed and sorrowful for the turn of events. He has written to the Archbishop Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York expressing his remorse by apologizing for this. He also wants to apologize to the parish and everyone else that this has caused scandal to. Father Tonelotto recognizes what has happened, has taken responsibility and apologized for it.
Update I: Father Walter Tonelotto will be holding a prayer vigil of reparation this Saturday (01-30-2010) at Saint James Church for what has occurred at the parish. If you are a parishioner or wish to join in this prayer vigil contact the parish here.
Update II: The Archdiocese affirmed the actions of Father Tonelotto’s resolutions to the situation.
I hope the Archdiocese also assists in pursuing legal action against the parties responsible for this deception and attack against Church property.
I will follow this story in the case of any important updates. But in the meantime please keep the pastor and parish in your prayers.
And pray for those who did this to our Church. I pray they do not know what they did.
update – to the foul-mouthed commenters who keep trying to post replies to this thread: don’t waste your time. I will publish nothing that is violent or hateful. The organization that setup this event lied to the pastor and told his staff that the second concert would be a benefit for Haiti victims. That’s really low. Nothing to brag about. I hope you don’t support events organized by these individuals again. Thank you.
Photo: Rebecca Smeyn
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27 Comments
This will help to make us all aware of the real purpose for the church sanctuary. God forgive us.
[...] can follow the saga over at American Papist. There is no reason to hash it all out here. I will leave you with some photographs, and you can [...]
From what I’ve read, the pastor splits his time between two churches and was at the other church’s rectory.
As I commented over on Father Z’s site, it usually takes a lot to profane or desecrate a church formally. Murder, profanation of the Blessed Sacrament (ie, throwing the Sacrament on the ground “without respect” or otherwise working on physically mistreating Him), performing some kind of Black Mass, that kind of thing. Thank God this doesn’t seem to have been that bad, though it was bad enough.
Kudos and blessings to the Thomas More Society for helping out with this and pursuing action against this group of charlatans.
Excellent analysis Thomas. Might I suggest that any parish or church administrator responsible for activities on Church property, and especially inside Church property, utilize the amazing tool called Google. Unless all of the information provided to the Church was false, I assume the names of the organizers, the band names, and other information could have been sourced prior to granting approval. Finally, where was the parish staff? Or the pastor? Does he live in the rectory, or does anyone from the staff (a security guard!) monitor the goings on during an event. Surely someone must have been seen the cases of beer being carted inside. Ugh…I just can’t believe this was allowed to happen. May God have mercy on us.
Where was the pastor ?
[...] this group, which has deceived other organizations in the past, has now posted videos and pictures of this outrageous event online to brag about its offensive and [...]
Thanks for bringing this to light Thomas. Used to be that a parish could let its space out with a little good faith and rely on the unspoken gentleman’s agreement that even if the group did not share the faith, they would still have an innate sense of propriety. No longer. I hope all pastors and parish council members read this story and do a review of anyone using or proposing to use church grounds.
[...] Thomas Peters has another update on this sacrilege at St. James Church. It appears that the Pastor was badly misled as to the [...]
Kudos to the pastor for taking responsibility.
To me, though, there are still at least 2 unanswered questions: 1) Why would the pastor allow any performance to be held in the sanctuary, regardless of how it was presented? The sanctuary is for the celebration of the Mass, not for entertainment. 2) Why didn’t someone (the pastor or his designate) shut the whole thing down when it became evident what was about to transpire? Shouldn’t someone have be a bit suspicious when the equipment was being wheeled in and sound checks being conducted?
I hope the Archdiocese also assists in pursuing legal action…
I’m no lawyer, but it’s hard for me to imagine a lawsuit against the promoter having any success. Exactly what is the pastor supposed to allege in testimony? That he’s a chump who was rolled because he neglected even the most elementary standards of due diligence? Does the law indemnify for that?
I appreciate the pastor’s remorse and his call for prayers of reparation, but face it: if you were Archbishop of New York, would you trust this man with the keys to one of your churches? If you do, Archbishop Dolan, can we expect the next underground concert to take place at St. Patrick’s Cathedral?
So far as I can tell, there’s no accountability at any level of the American clergy. The only way for a bishop to get fired around here is to point out that he and not the USCCB is the Ordinary of his see. THAT apparently, is intolerable.
I will include St. James’ parish and Fr. Tonelotto in my prayers tonight.
No, the Church/sanctuary/altar does not need to be re-consecrated. The fact that this *is* a consecrated space is what makes it so sacrilegious.
Question: Does the church need to be re-consecrated after something like this, or does it take a lot more than this to make that step necessary? Anybody know?
–Ann Lewis
In a sense, I’m glad that the Pastor has responded to what has happened, and acknowledged that the event was wrong to happen, and I feel bad that he was deceived like he was.
Too often things like this happen with approval from the parish, and I am glad that father is willing not only to apologize but to actually hold a public reparation service
Thanks for the update. I did email the parish and the archdiocese yesterday, as you suggested. I am offering my next communion in reparation. I will pray for all involved, especially the pastor.
Wow! Thanks Thomas for all of your work in making others aware of the scandal. Really sickening how the devil works and how people can get sucked in. Praying for all those involved.
[...] Update: What happened at St. James in NYC « CatholicVoteAction.org Says: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 A.D. at 11:48 am [...]
Thomas, thank you for your hard work on this, and the others involved. I hope and pray that the Archdiocese takes legal action against this group, because it will help prevent other churches, and other people not involved in churches, from being exploited by these guys. It will also send a message that while we love everyone, we’re not going to readily welcome abuse.
Caption of the Day/PPOTD
