Volume > Issue > Note List > "Do You Have to Say 'And God Bless You'?"

“Do You Have to Say ‘And God Bless You’?”

Recently we were re-reading Mary Vincent Dally’s 1988 book, Married to a Catholic Priest (Loyola University Press), about how her husband, Peter, an Episcopal priest in the state of Washington, became a Catholic priest under the Pastoral Provision.

The book contains a most revealing vignette about the priorities of the Episcopal Church. Peter, when still an Episcopal priest, was summoned to an important meeting by his Episcopal bishop, with two archdeacons present. The conversation went like this:

“Another thing, I don’t like that recorder on your telephone,” Bishop Cochrane growled.

“I’m out a lot, and I don’t have a secretary….”

“It’s that message you have on there. Do you have to say ‘and God bless you’?”

Peter laughed. He thought the bishop was joking.

“Don’t laugh, Dally. I’ve had complaints about…your message. People don’t like it; they’re offended.”

“I don’t know what to say, Bishop. I am a minister. What’s wrong with saying God bless you?”

“Peter, it’s just offensive to some…,” Archdeacon Langpaap explained.

Enjoyed reading this?

READ MORE! REGISTER TODAY

SUBSCRIBE

You May Also Enjoy

The Non Serviam of the Episcopal Church: Unsex Me!

The Catholic Church will never capitulate to the times, and those among her members who do generally do not remain within her for long.

A Slow-Motion Implosion

The recent history of the Anglican Communion shows that shedding virtually all of its distinctively Christian moral teachings in order to achieve "relevance" has disastrous results.

The Malines Conversations & What Was Malign There

Keep in mind St. Paul’s dire warning that heresies would of necessity come so that the genuine faith of the elect may come to light all the more strongly.