UPDATED: 5 August 2025 at 1014:
I received this important note.
Hi there, dear and Reverend Father! I know Chris Hall pretty well. He often visits our abbey, and I am happy to report that he converted to Our Holy Catholic Faith a number of years ago. So yes, while he was Protestant in the past, he is now safely within the embrace of Holy Mother Church, and he is a good and orthodox believer. Yes, a clerical speaker would be a much better choice for a convocation of this kind, but I can attest that the priests will be in good and orthodox hands with Chris Hall as their speaker. God bless you and all your great work! Oremus pro invicem.
I am glad always to be corrected. Thank you. I am very happy to hear that Dr. Hall has entered the Church.
At the same time, it speaks to the times we are in and that particular place and the goings on there that it would be entirely plausible that a non-Catholic layman would be chosen to address the presbyterate. Please, Lord, help us through these confusing times to an era of clarity and confidence, unmarred by our scars.
Originally posted 4 August 2025 at 19:25
Most of you in these USA are probably aware that every few years a diocese will call all of the priests together for a convocation. It will last a couple days and there will be a main speaker.
This October, the Archdiocese of Detroit is having their convocation. Their main speaker will be…
…
…
… an Episcopalian layman. [SEE UPDATE ABOVE. The link that follows – HERE – takes us to his wikipedia entry which at the time of this writing indicates that Dr. Hall is/was Episcopalian. ]
Christopher A. Hall.
What message is being sent by this decision?
Hall is, I believe, a good scholar. He participated, for example, as an editor of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series and has done some work in Patristics.
But the priest convocation is not about Patristics, even though lots of “Fathers” will be there.
I wonder if there will be an Q&A opportunities. One might be tempted to ask:
Since you are Episcopalian, you may not be familiar with the Church’s document called Dominus Iesus, which clearly states that ecclesial communities which do not have a valid episcopate and genuine Eucharist cannot properly be called churches. How is it that you, a theologian, want to be a member of something that isn’t properly a church, given that, despite its name, you don’t have valid orders and what happen in your liturgies never confects the Eucharist? Is that a problem?
I’m sure the priests of the Archdiocese will be deeply edified in their sacred vocations by this well-planned convocation.
UPDATE:
HEY! Wait a minute. If the Archbishop wants a layman for the priests convocation, I think
RALPH MARTIN is available!
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I wonder if there are any obvious ways we are likely to find out if anyone asks Dr. Hall something like that, and, if so, how he answers?
Again, I wonder how easy it might be organize a fringe debate between Professor Martin and Dr. Hall on the subject?
We had a class on Buddhist prayer class in our priestly meeting, an episcopalian might be a bit better…
Years ago a young adult group I belonged to did a unit on yoga. Several of us including myself left. Many of us, both men and women, considered it a waste of time.
Of course, any Priest who asked such a pointed question would be on the Chancery’s “list” and would soon find himself in a parish in Siberia.
In my diocese, I’ve been told that the homosexual Priest in charge of getting speakers for the annual Priest Convocation would bring in ostensible Catholic speakers who nevertheless were “flakes,” which I think is the technical term for speakers who were not interested in teaching the faith.
Skipping the convocation, however, earned a black mark for the Priest.
In 2022, I attended a “mandatory” off-site retreat when I was with Catholic Charities. Given by some Franciscan sisters clad in pantsuits, it was, shall we say, interesting. I wouldn’t have known they were Catholic. We didn’t start with prayer, which wasn’t a surprise and then they went into what can best be described as New Age theology. They lost me almost immediately as soon as one of the sisters decided to tell us to find our chakra. I stopped participating then and thought about leaving. When I approached the CC director on this, the response I got floored me. She said, “What was wrong with it?” I couldn’t get to my car fast enough as soon as the session concluded – I didn’t even stay to walk the premises. Needless to say, that started my regret of my decision to join Catholic Charities.
It’s not unreasonable to expect that Catholic groups have Catholic guest speakers. Usually the kind of people who invite non-Catholics are the ones who are busy flattening the Church by pretending doctrine matters less than the outside perception that they are nice, welcoming and not rigid in the least.
The priest, according to the Christian tradition, is another Christ, “sacerdos, alter Christus,” because he is singularly united to Jesus, because he participates in something exquisite, profound, transcendental of Christ our Lord, which is his priesthood.
The priesthood of Jesus is related to all his titles and linked with all his prerogatives; because he is Priest, he is Redeemer, Master Sanctifier, King. And we participate in that divine priesthood by character that priestly ordination imprints on our souls.
And by participating in this priesthood, by having an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, we have a new and very close relationship with the Heavenly Father. He looks at us like he looks at Jesus Christ. I think—pardon my daring— that the priesthood participates in those words that the heavenly Father directed to Jesus Christ on the mount of the Transfiguration: This is my beloved son. Listen to him(Mark 9:7). Is the priesthood not a transfiguration, a transfiguration of our misery that he fills with heavenly light?
And the Holy Spirit, like the luminous cloud of which the Gospel speaks, envelopes our priestly glory.
THE PRIEST: MYSTERY OF LOVE, Archbishop Luis M. Martinez, p 131
I’d be tempted to be sick that week. Or if you have to be there how about a few serious migraines. That would be enough to give you one. Or a metaphorical pain in the neck. These things really are head-shakers. Where have all the good shepherds gone?
To comment on the comment made by “OrdainedbutStillBeingFormed” – I am a Third Order Franciscan.
Right before Covid hit, about 6-7 years ago, my OFS fraternity and two others here in NE Ohio broke away from the worldwide OFS (Secular Franciscans) because of blatantly unacceptable decisions that were not in accord with our Faith. This included the yearly “fair share” stipend on our members – $38 annually at the time – part of which was sent directly to Franciscan Action Network (FAN), which actively and publicly protested against the Knights of Columbus’s support of pro-life activities and traditional marriage, and which, in fact, is a not a Catholic organization but an ecumenical one, with ties to Protestant denominations including Unitarians.
Other sources of unfaithfulness – including Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM and other ultra-liberal organizations and individuals were supported by the OFS and our yearly stipend, such as New Ways Ministries, a notorious pro-LBGTQ organization condemned by Pope Benedict and most American bishops.
We protested respectfully and diligently for years to the OFS American and worldwide leadership, only to end up with them giving us the ultimatum of revamping our formation classes for postulants, novices, and ongoing formation for our professed members – even though it was already being overseen by a very faithful friar of the Immaculate Conception Province of the OFM – the only Province not to consolidate with other American provinces of the OFM because they would have lost their voice and autonomy in the OFM. At that point, we left the OFS and formed the Third Order Franciscans of the Immaculate Conception Province of the OFM and have joyfully and faithfully carried on since 2018.
It makes me very sad to see what you have written, but it does not surprise me.
I have written my comment to let others know that if they feel they may have a vocation as a lay Franciscan, there are other options than to be a member of the OFS. We in the TOF are under the Rule used from the time of Pope Leo XIII to 1978, which places us under the leadership and guidance of faithful Franciscan priests rather than the laity. For further information, our website is http://www.thirdorderfranciscans.com, which includes the Rule and Constitution of our Order. Peace and good to all here.
Hi there, dear and Reverend Father! I know Chris Hall pretty well. He often visits our abbey, and I am happy to report that he converted to Our Holy Catholic Faith a number of years ago. So yes, while he was Protestant in the past, he is now safely within the embrace of Holy Mother Church, and he is a good and orthodox believer. Yes, a clerical speaker would be a much better choice for a convocation of this kind, but I can attest that the priests will be in good and orthodox hands with Chris Hall as their speaker. God bless you and all your great work! Oremus pro invicem.
@OrdainedButStillbeingFormedDiakonos
“They lost me almost immediately as soon as one of the sisters decided to tell us to find our chakra.”
Here was a perfect opportunity to check and recheck all your pockets with increasing anxiety, and then shout “I must have left it in the car!” And then leave. Come back an an hour or two with a coffee and half eaten donut and tell them you couldn’t find it anywhere, Walmart was out of stock, and Amazon only had next day delivery; you ordered two just in case for next time.
Will it ever come to an end?
@TheCavalierHatherly I find a good quality Scottish Whisky does the same thing as “finding my chakra”. If going to a dubious conference, may I suggest to all priests out there a hip flask?