Jay Damien's Story

And Fr. Emmett McLoughlin.

At Revolution of Love:

It was summer vacation, and I was again at my Grandmother's house, in her bedroom, staring at black beads in a green glass dish. Those mysterious beads! I was drawn to them but didn't dare touch them. Every night Grandma took those beads from their resting-place. Her eyes closed and her lips whispered as the circle of beads slowly moved through her fingers to the swish-swish rhythm of her rocking chair. What did it mean? What was she doing? I watched, transfixed. I was sure she was doing something "Catholic."

I always knew that Grandma was Catholic and that my family was Southern Baptist, but she never said a word to me about the Catholic Church. Except once, when I blurted out, "Why are you Catholic?" Granny replied, "The Catholic Church was the first church, why isn't it the right church?" I would forever remember those thirteen words, spoken when I was seven or eight years old....

A reader referred me to Damien's article in response to my blog of more than two years ago:

Emmett McLoughlin was a fallen priest (of the diocese of Tucson, most likely, or maybe of Phoenix) who made a name for himself in the last century by publishing works directed towards the baser instincts of anti-Catholic bigots, including Crime and Immorality in the Catholic Church, An Inquiry into the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and People's Padre.

A friend has been told that McLoughlin was reconciled to the Church before he died. Supposedly, a Franciscan priest named Father Albert Braun had claimed to have heard McLoughlin's confession, though it is unclear to me whether it was Fr. Braun who had supposedly reconciled McLoughlin to the Church.

If anybody has any information about this, to verify or to refute it, or to point me towards more information, please write to me. Thanks....

Damien's story mentions Fr. McLoughlin several times (emphasis in original):

.... I had such an aversion to the Catholic Church, I had never even considered looking into it. And then, Father Emmett McLoughlin left the Catholic Church and the news was splashed across the front page of my hometown newspaper. He began speaking about the evils of Catholicism at local Baptist churches and introduced his book, People's Padre, at the public library. I was enthralled by his words and reminded of how grateful I had been all my life that my mother had left the Catholic Church before I was born. I purchased his book as a "thank you" gift for her. And I read it....

So I have no doubt that if I had not read that anti-Catholic book written by an apostate priest, I would still be convinced that the truth could not be known through the Bible only, and my story would have ended there. Without Fr. McLoughlin, I would never have found the very author of the New Testament — the Church established by Christ to be my teacher. I would never have known the Church that put the New Testament together with the Old Testament at the close of the fourth century to form the first Bible. It was as if Judas had shown me the way home to the Catholic Church. I will be grateful until the day I die, and beyond.

Fr. McLoughlin eventually came back to the Church, without fanfare; no book or newspaper documented his return. I was privileged to be present when a venerable, old Franciscan priest, Fr. Albert Braun, told a group one night that he had heard Fr. Emmett's confession before he died. Thank you, God, for your great mercy; your mercy endures forever.

I had long since identified what had troubled me about Fr. Emmett's book. He had either been in seminary or in active service as a priest for about 25 years. Why had it taken him a quarter of a century to discover the evils of the Catholic Church? He could have left and written his exposé at any time. Instead, his criticism of the Church and rejection of its doctrines came after his refusal to obey transfer orders from his superior. He was a popular priest, well known and very influential in the community, and he didn't want to leave. He justified breaking his vow of obedience by launching an attack upon the Church. But, like the good Mother that she is, the Church forgave him....

My correspondent also referred me here, and concluded:

I worked in Mescalero, and even after 30 years, the people still revered Father Braun.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 11/18/04 07:42:33 AM
Categorized as Religious.