Thursday, March 23, 2017

Bigger Than The Diocese Of Juneau?

A visitor takes exception to my characterizations of the OCSP, saying it's already bigger than the Diocese of Juneau. I'm not sure about this -- just for starters, the diocese says it has 10,600 Catholics. In my view, even with the addition of OLA, any estimate of five-figure membership in the OCSP is still a stretch, and the diocese has roughly a dozen full parishes that own their buildings. I don't see it.

But beyond that, this is an apples-to-oranges comparison. The Diocese of Juneau is territorial, with a sparse population, many of whom are native Alaskans or other off-gridders. This is a true mission situation. The Catholics in the diocese must in many cases make great efforts to get to any mass at all, much less find one that has intinction served in a way that suits their tastes. The only comparable situation in the OCSP, as far as I can see, is the group that meets on an Ontario native reserve, and this is among the smallest and probably the least representative.

Compare that to the OCSP, which is attracting some portion of its membership by poaching cradle Catholics from diocesan parishes. In the case of OLA, it is poaching them by propaganda that tells them the nearby diocesan parishes are liturgically inferior, when the BDW mass is in fact an ugly innovation, and features like compulsory intinction, by violating USCCB policy, constitute liturgical abuse.

I may never get back to the Diocese of Juneau, which I visited twice in my Episcopalian days, but I would much prefer to go to mass with Catholics there than go in, say, Irvine, with people who'd probably never want to set foot in Sacred Heart, Haines.

I would say that not only is the OCSP still smaller than the Diocese of Juneau, but finding a mass in the OCSP is proportionally a much, much harder proposition, and once you get there, it may be quite a bit less pleasant.