From the trenches in Phoenix: FSSP parishioner offers testimony on his pastor

I endorse and affirm this 100%. Reprinted here with the parishioner’s permission.

14 thoughts on “From the trenches in Phoenix: FSSP parishioner offers testimony on his pastor”

  1. Thanks be to God, for Priests like Fr. Passo. The restoration of the Roman Catholic Church is through them, by the Grace of God.

    We are led by Priests such as these. This is how God ordained it when he said he would not leave us orphans.

  2. Mark,

    Please thank this gentleman for me.

    NoraLee Montemarano-Klein

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

  3. Thanks for this, Mark. I’ve been disturbed since I read what had been written by the unhappy blogger. I felt there had to be another side to his story since I know Fr. Passo and have never found him to be anything like he was portrayed. In fact, I often wonder how he runs this bursting at the seams parish. He never seems to get a minute to himself. He added Masses last year where everyone else was cutting back. Mater Misericordiae is my return to normalcy every week. My oasis in the desert thanks to Fr. Passo.

  4. St John Vianney, pray for Father Passo and all priests of the SSPX that they soon are the norm and not the exception in our sinking Barque.

      1. Sorry. Both really. However, the FSSP is not able to cast the deserved aspersions on that “on-the-spot” creation, the Novus Ordo. They must tow-the-line. That is very sad.

  5. Thank you Mark for posting this parishioner’s testament of Father Passo. I am a member of Mater Misercordiae parish and have watched this parish grow in number and in visibility. I do not have social media and when I had read the screed of a Catholic blogger who, with some respect anonymously referred to his pastor and parish, I knew as others would have, who the priest was in his very long article.

    I was at the parish when Father Passo was the assistant pastor and then was given the mantle of leadership to feed and tend his sheep. He has done so with great acts of courage, stamina and patience. The very small church is burgeoning at the wall beams. He has prayed for a larger church for years. He apologizes profusely to his flock for having to endure the separation from being outside the sanctuary when attending Holy Mass. He added more confessionals to accommodate the long lines of people wanting the Sacrament of Penance before Mass. He added more Masses to accommodate the growth and the number of families with young children. There is a long list of things he has done that cannot be enumerated in a combox.

    What I do believe is that now Father Passo has joined the big leagues — the public persecution of being a Catholic priest. Sure, one can accuse him of “clericalism,” but then St Paul, St Peter and the Apostles are guilty of the same clericalism. They were establishing a new religion in Jewish and pagan lands. People had to abide by traditions of which was handed down to them… I don’t think it was easy in those days to be a practicing Catholic. For those who read the Catholic blog and took at face value the angst filled words of the blogger without even considering there may have been some mischaracterization or disingenuous portrayals of Mater Misercordiae Mission, I will pray they may have a change of heart. And for the writer of the article, I pray his faith in the Lord is restored and reconciliation with his pastor is the fruit of divine mercy and forgiveness.

    1. Sicut_Servus:

      Wonderful addition. Thank you for it. I have been following the situation closely since I found out about it, as these are my Brothers and Sisters; the Priest like so many I’ve grown to love who embody timeless Tradition, the Majesty of the eternal and not least the love and grace of God. I am not at all surprised at your experience and am encouraged to hear it. God is good! God bless you all there.

      I found this article on the topic particularly edifying, from a Professor of Philosophy, Ed Feser: “Do Not Abandon Your Mother”.

      https://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2021/05/do-not-abandon-your-mother.html

      1. Thank you Aqua for the link. Professor Feser’s article was extremely thought-provoking and genuinely kind while addressing a very difficult topic with referencing two very strong personalities in the Catholic blog world.

        It is a sad day when more people are scandalized by the actions of both Catholic lay and clergy alike than they are inspired by them. It means as authentic Catholics who love Holy Mother Church we must ask the Lord for the grace to be more like Him in these dark and evil days no matter how difficult it is to confirm our wills to His. Jesus said the world first hated Him and it will hate us. That means if we are loved and embraced by the world, we may be doing something wrong!

        Father Passo is a good and holy priest. He is not perfect. We parishioners know that no man is perfect this side of heaven, but we are richly blessed for having him shepherd us through what is quickly becoming a revolution both in the Church and in our country. Professor Feser says it so poignantly: “do not abandon your mother.”

  6. Thanks for this post, Mark. We have a similar blessing here where I live. Our FSSP pastor is phenomenal, never shut down during the pandemic, told people who were upset with him that masks were not being worn by the congregation, “Why are you here? Go somewhere else.” He’s adamant about baptism for infants ASAP, to the point of stating during today’s Homily (as it being Holy Trinity Sunday and having two Baptisms today to boot) that if you put off your child’s Baptism that you are committing a mortal sin.

    In a word, he’s phenomenal and we’re very lucky to have him.

  7. While some people sat on their @#%es the past year, taking advantage of the discernments from lukewarm bishops to pick fights on social media and dupe people into funding their whiny negative blogs, the priests of the FSSP, SSPX and ICK worked overtime to keep their churches open and provide for their flock. May God Bless this priest in Phoenix and every other priest who stood up to covidism and kept the salvation of their parishioners souls atop their priority list.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.