What Happened to Fr. Gantley?

Fr. Mark Gantley, a canon lawyer and EWTN Catholic Expert who came on as the Parish Administrator of St. Francis of Assisi in 2009, was dismissed suddenly from his position there in June 2010.

Astounded parishioners were given no reason for the dismissal. Many considered Fr. Gantley a very solid priest with efficient administration skills. He had a policy of clarity and openness regarding parish finances (one of his first actions was to publish the parish accounting information in a bulletin insert).

After many inquiries, Fr. Gantley eventually published this letter in the bulletin attempt to answer the questions, although it contained no actual details of his dismissal. The same weekend that this appeared it in the bulletin, a group of concerned St. Francis parishioners circulated an open letter that they had written, encouraging them to let their voices be heard and to tell the Bishop they did not want Fr. Gantley to go. Just days after Fr. Gantley's letter to the parish, the Bishop terminated Fr. Gantley's parish duties on the spot, leaving the parish in turmoil.

After several weeks, the Bishop finally responded with this letter to parishioners.  In a diocese that is very short of priests, why would the Bishop send away a priest that on the surface has done nothing wrong?  Maybe after the financial audit is complete, then a different story may appear but if the audit shows that no funds were mishandled then this just adds to the mystery.

Note: I have just heard from a parishioner at St. Frances that Fr. Urnick is stepping down as Parish Administrator and Fr. John Assalone, who was just ordained to the priesthood last year on May 14, 2009, is now going to be the new Parish Administrator. He and Steven Hoffer, a recent addition to St.Francis (and to the priesthood, being ordained only in 2005), are now in charge of this large parish and responsible for building a church and grade school. This seems like a big task for two priests that only have six years of combined experience.

Stillpoint Center

What is the Stillpoint Center for Spiritual Development?

From their website, "Stillpoint is a non-profit center devoted to spiritual development in Las Vegas, Nevada. Founded by a group of Roman Catholic women, its focus is interfaith and ecumenical."

They offer things like Dances for Peace, Singing Bowls Meditation (Tibetan/Buddhist), and Dream Interpretation and Using Your Hands to Heal.

What is disturbing about Stillpoint is that they set up shop at last year's Diocesan Conference and represented themselves as a Catholic organization. Christ the King Catholic Community even directs parishioners to them on their website.

While they do present Lectiona Divina, which is Catholic, there are also New Age, nondenominational Christian and Buddhist programs on the schedule. They even have a 2-year Spiritual Direction program, which we can only assume must be based on nondenominational Christianity, because Catholic programs occur via the LEMP, and the program description makes no mention of any particular faith whatsoever.