Now On YouTube: Bishop Tod Brown Refuses To Give Holy Communion To A Kneeling Woman

This video was first widely seen through The Cafeteria Is Closed blog under title: Mean Tod Brown

It may be productive to share it again here, as some people may not have seen it before.

Here is the description of the event as provided by the kneeling woman:

I was sitting on the side of the Church, 3rd row, where Bishop Tod Brown distributed the Holy Eucharist, (in the video, I am the woman with short brown hair and glasses, wearing a black sweater and long white skirt sitting on the opposite side (from the camera) of the aisle in the center of the church) and upon approaching the Bishop to receive, I genuflected, out of reverence for the Sacred Species and remained on one knee to receive the Blessed Sacrament. Bishop Brown refused to give me Holy Communion. Bishop Brown said, “You need to stand up”.

I was in shock and didn’t move or respond. He then reached out and took hold of my folded hands, attempting to physically pull me to a standing position, and said more sternly, “You need to stand.”

I looked up and whispered, quietly and respectfully, “Please, bishop”, and he then grabbed my arm, and pulled me, as though to physically pull me up to a standing position (although obscured, you can see where he bends down and extends his right arm to grab mine) as he stated more loudly, “Get up”.

Still on one knee, I then asked very quietly and with genuine ignorance, “Why?”

As he stood up straight he responded, very loudly and sternly, “Because THAT’S the way we receive communion. Now, GET UP, you’re causing a scene.’

You can also see the video here: Bishop Tod Brown Refuses Holy Communion To A Kneeling Woman

The event is also described in the Open Letter to Tod Brown, Bishop of Orange

Comments

[Big Mama]

These ultra liberal bishops need to be exposed even if it means a videographer at every mass at every parish in the diocese. Even if Rome does nothing Bishop Brown knows now that every step he and his priests take are being watched.

Hopefully this video and the Halloween Mass video will give other disgruntled Catholics the courage to video or audiotape these crazy Masses.

I think I'll go and dust off my video camera.

[tomjedrz]

Question ..

Christ has given the authority to the bishops.

Is it OK to disobey a directive from the local ordinary when we disagree with it?

I can understand protesting, and complaining up the chain of command, and so forth. But aren't we obliged to obey the bishop withih whose diocese we reside?

[Mike]

Tomjedrz, The Holy See disagrees with it! meaning Bishop Browns directive. We are obliged to obey the Holy Father on Faith and Morals. I believe kneeling falls under this. Bishop Brown gives approval aka "directives" of halloween masses , where the priest dresses up as Barney the purple dino and extraordinary eucharistic ministers as devils or devil cats whatever one you prefer. So by your logic you should have shown up at mass dressed in a costume preferably a devil, purple dino, or witch and then sing along with the choir.. I Love you You love me we are one big happy family with nick nac paddy whack give your dog bone..... Please Tomjedrz, I mean no disrespect but, get your head out of the sand. If you don't, start dusting off your dino suit , Bishop Brown could use you for the opening ceremonies for his new cathedral.

[Nate Wildermuth]

Bringing video recorders into mass with the express purpose of making a scene ought to be shameful. The very intention of bringing the recorder in meant that this was some sort of 'ambush', a pre-planned defiance of whatever sort of rule the Bishop had put in place for his flock.

What I see on this site, consistently, is attack after attack on the bishops. Though we may disagree with them (I for one would give communion to someone kneeling), they are still our bishops. If we are so concerned about what the Pope says, then let us listen to the Pope and accept those he and his predecessor have apointed as our bishops.

It will only be a matter of time before I see attacks on the Pope in this blog. Consider where you are taking yourselves by walking this path. Do you even live in that parish? What is your goal in spreading this scandal as far and wide as possible?

Behind all this I sense a satanic hatred of our apostolic leaders. Don't let yourselves be drawn into it. The bishops need our help, (and lots of it), not our betrayal.

[Nate Wildermuth]

Let's just examine this lady's statement for one second. She states:

"The bishop stated more loudly, “Get up”. Still on one knee, I then asked very quietly and with genuine ignorance, “Why?”"

In 'genuine ignorance', she brought a camcorder to document something she had obviously planned on doing - namely, that there's been some sort of controversy about kneeling and the bishop has said that people are to stand. So she decided to kneel anyway and record whatever happened. And yet in her statement, she claims total ignorance of why the bishop wants her to stand. That's a deception at the very least, and a lie at the very worst.

This lady knew very well what she was doing, and so did her cohort with the camera.

The very fact that this lady engineered this entire scene reveals a calculated and measured plan. She wasn't ignorant or naive of what was going on. She knows very well why the bishop wants her to stand. She simply thinks that she knows better.

I don't believe a word she says, and I encourage everyone to take a critical eye towards a lady who isn't above deceitfully recording a pre-planned act of defiance against the man who Jesus had appointed as her leader.

This is truly incensing. Take your complaints to the Vatican, not Youtube.

[Susan]

Nate the lady didn't plan this. The video person was hired by the parish. The lady I believe dosen't belong to the parish she was invited by a friend to attend this mass. This was already posted up on this blog months ago. Perhaps she will report on here all the details. So don't get your knickers in a knot. You better watch what you are saying. Take a pill and relax!

[Nate Wildermuth]

Maybe I'm wrong about everything I said, if it was a video recorded by someone unconnected to this lady.

But in the recording, the man actually rushes past someone who's just received communion, and then zooms in on the bishop and the lady. Whoever was videotaping clearly knew what was happening or what was going to happen, and planned to record it. He simply reacted too quickly for it to be coincidence.

And if this lady and the videographer were unconnected, how exactly did the video get online in the first place? And why only part of it?

You could be right. In the midst of a concerted effort by 'traditionalist' split-off Catholics to undermine their bishop, a women decides to kneel - knowing that this is a huge issue, knowing that the bishop has made it clear that people are to stand. And also, coincidentally, a videographer is right on hand to rush by parishoners, zoom in, and catch the entire thing on tape. And then, coincidentally, this lady knows enough people to get the videotape, and then cares enough to spread the entire story.

So if all this is just a coicidence, then I'm wrong and I take back most of what I said. If all these things are just coincidences, then those are who spreading this video are only guilting of spreading scandal as far and wide as they possibly can, as opposed to sending this to the Vatican and letting them take care of it (rather than splintering our Church).

But if these things are not coincidences (as I suspect), if these events were planned and coordinated, and then sent out into the blogosphere and the internet in order to undermine the bishops (and by association, the Catholic Church itself), then I stand by what I said.

[Nate Wildermuth]

To try to be fair and not so absurdly serious, I think the bishop's stance is wrong. If people want to kneel, then great. I can't imagine a greater scene than person after person kneeling to receive Christ. And from what I read, his stance on sexual issues seems pretty troubling (I haven't read much into him, as I think I'll only find more to disagree with).

But what gets me incensed is this frontal assault that bleeds over into not only the general public, but into our very pews. It's clear that these 'traditionalists' are more concerned with their own personal piety than they are with the Church's. Think of it this way - standing isn't denied by the Church, is it? So all this blowup over not being able to kneel is a blowup over being required to do something that the Church teaches is good - standing.

Now, if I'm wrong, and the Church teaches that standing for communion is wrong - then you've got me. But it a person's sense of piety makes them think that standing is wrong for them (in direct contradiction with actual Church teaching), and then they take this battle public... then they've chosen themselves over their Church. I know I probably haven't expressed myself very well, but this is something that really gets to me - probably as much as it gets to you.

In other words, if a bishop is requiring us to do something that is *wrong*, then of course we don't do it. But if a bishop (or priest, or anyone for that matter) is requiring us to do something *good* or at the worse simply approved by the Vatican, then we have an obligation to follow that requirement. Maybe that obligation isn't according to canon law, or justice, or whatever other word of official obligation. But under love, under our faith and meekness, under our docile submission to our Church, we do what we're told unless we're told to do something immoral.

If a bishop is asking you to stamp on Christ and throw his body across the room, yeah - don't do it. Certainly confront him on it. Do it privately if at all possible, and contact the higher authoritiese ASAP.

But if the bishop is asking us to do something good - like standing for communion, then we ought to do it.

I'm kicking a dead horse here, but I just wanted to clarify my thoughts. The bishop seems to be overbearing and oftly liberal politically. I'd say the Vatican ought to think about replacing him, or getting him in line somehow. But that isn't our responsibility. And the more we take on that responsibility, the more we hurt the church.

Nate, I think ye got a touch of Stockholm condition! Attacks on the Holy Father would never be allowed here on this blog. The purpose for reporting this is to stop this abuse! This blog is one of the few out there that have the courage to stand up against these scandals! Iam so disgusted by this blasphemy of the Mass! I would be willing to go and expose this stuff with my video camcord. A priest once told me The Vatican authorities want video and pictures of this stuff. It gives them hard evidence to work with. With many people sending complaints to the Holy See about this along with pictures and video, is what is needed. But first for this to happen , it must be exposed far and wide so the many people could do this ! As for Bishop Brown, he is truely loved by all of us who expose these scandals, it is called tough love! We are praying for his conversion and if he dosen't convert his removal. If we don't speak up then we deserve all of this crap! So Nate, get your head out of sand, or you too will need to dust off your Barney suit.

[Fernando]

Nate,

Do you know what is the actual stand from the Vatican regarding kneeling to receive Holy Communion? Also, how is the Vatican suppost to dicipline a bishop if someone does not bring the issue to the Vatican. I personally know this lady, the Church were this incident took place is my parish and I can tell you that she did not have anything to do with "preparing" the scene. Also, I happen to know that this lady is of the habit of kneeling to receive Holy Communion. By the way, I am not a "tradicionalist" but I kneel to receive Holy Communion and I do not believe that standing to receive Holy Communion is bad. At the same time I happen to know that the Pope himself has express more than once that kneeling to receive Holy Communion is a laudable practice and that we as communicants have a right to receive Holy Communion kneeling even at the locations where standing to receive Holy Communion is the norm.

Also, what is your stand regarding obedience? Do I take it that our obedience to our bishop is to be absolute even when the orders are against the laws and mandates of the Universal Church?

[Fernando]

Congregation de Cultu Divino et Disciplina Sacramentorum

Prot. n. 1322/02/L

Rome, 1 July 2002

Your Excellency,

This Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has recently received reports of members of the faithful in your Diocese being refused Holy Communion unless while standing to receive, as opposed to kneeling. The reports state that such a policy has been announced to parishioners. There were possible indications that such a phenomenon might be somewhat more widespread in the Diocese, but the Congregation is unable to verify whether such is the case. This Dicastery is confident that Your Excellency will be in a position to make a more reliable determination of the matter, and these complaints in any event provide an occasion for the Congregation to communicate the manner in which it habitually addresses this matter, with a request that you make this position known to any priests who may be in need of being thus informed.

The Congregation in fact is concerned at the number of similar complaints that it has received in recent months from various places, and considers any refusal of Holy Communion to a member of the faithful on the basis of his or her kneeling posture to be a grave violation of one of the most basic rights of the Christian faithful, namely that of being assisted by their Pastors by means of the Sacraments (Codex Iuris Canonici, canon 213). In view of the law that "sacred ministers may not deny the sacraments to those who opportunely ask for them, are properly disposed and are not prohibited by law from receiving them" (canon 843 ¶ 1), there should be no such refusal to any Catholic who presents himself for Holy Communion at Mass, except in cases presenting a danger of grave scandal to other believers arising out of the person's unrepented public sin or obstinate heresy or schism, publicly professed or declared. Even where the Congregation has approved of legislation denoting standing as the posture for Holy Communion, in accordance with the adaptations permitted to the Conferences of Bishops by the Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani n. 160, paragraph 2, it has done so with the stipulation that communicants who choose to kneel are not to be denied Holy Communion on these grounds.

In fact, as His Eminence, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has recently emphasized, the practice of kneeling for Holy Communion has in its favor a centuries-old tradition, and it is a particularly expressive sign of adoration, completely appropriate in light of the true, real and substantial presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ under the consecrated species.

Given the importance of this matter, the Congregation would request that Your Excellency inquire specifically whether this priest in fact has a regular practice of refusing Holy Communion to any member of the faithful in the circumstances described above and -- if the complaint is verified -- that you also firmly instruct him and any other priests who may have had such a practice to refrain from acting thus in the future. Priests should understand that the Congregation will regard future complaints of this nature with great seriousness, and if they are verified, it intends to seek disciplinary action consonant with the gravity of the pastoral abuse.

Thanking Your Excellency for your attention to this matter and relying on your kind collaboration in its regard,

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Jorge A. Cardinal Medina Estévez
Prefect

+Francesco Pio Tamburrino
Archbishop Secretary

[Fernando]

Congregation de Cultu Divino et Disciplina Sacramentorum

Prot. n. 1322/02/L

Rome, 1 July 2002

Dear Sir,

This Congregation for Divine Worship gratefully acknowledges receipt of your letter, regarding an announced policy of denial of Holy Communion to those who kneel to receive it at a certain church.

It is troubling that you seem to express some reservations about both the propriety and the usefulness of addressing the Holy See regarding this matter. Canon 212 ¶2 of the Code of Canon Law states that "Christ's faithful are totally free to make known their needs, especially their spiritual ones, and their desire: to the Pastor of the Church". The canon then continues in ¶3: "According to their own knowledge competence and position, they have the right, and indeed sometimes the duty, to present to the sacred Pastor; their opinions regarding those things that pertain to the good of the Church".... Accordingly, in consideration of the nature of the problem and the relative likelihood that it might or might not be resolved on the local level, every member of the faithful has the right of recourse to the Roman Pontiff either personally or by means of the Dicasteries or Tribunals of the Roman Curia.

Another fundamental right of the faithful, as noted in canon 213, is "the right to receive assistance by the sacred Pastors from the spiritual goods of the Church, especially the word of God and the Sacraments". In view of the law that "sacred" ministers may not deny the sacraments to those who opportunely ask for them, are properly disposed and are not prohibited by law from receiving them" (canon 843 ¶ 1), there should be no such refusal to any Catholic who presents himself for Holy Communion at Mass, except in cases presenting a danger of grave scandal to other believers arising out of the person's unrepented public sin or obstinate heresy or schism, publicly professed or declared. Even where the Congregation has approved of legislation denoting standing as the posture for Holy Communion, in accordance with the adaptations permitted to the Conferences of Bishops by the Institution Generalis Missalis Romani n. 160, paragraph 2, it has done so with the stipulation that communicants who choose to kneel are not to be denied Holy Communion on these grounds.

Please be assured that the Congregation takes this matter very seriously, and is making the necessary contacts in its regard. At the same time, this Dicastery continues to be ready to be of assistance if you should need to contact it again in the future.

Thanking you for your interest, and with every prayerful good wish, I am

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Monsignor Mario Marini
Undersecretary

[Carol Blankfield]

Nate,
I'm the woman in the photo and video.

No one was more shocked at the video than I was. The fact that that camera man actually moved and zoomed in was more than surprising to me, also. I didn't know for 2 weeks after the event that it had even been videotaped (and by someone hired by the parish, a brother of the religious sister who teaches at St. John's). I don't know the man. I've never even met him.

Please go to the Cafeteria is Closed blog

"The "kneeling incident" with Bishop Tod Brown" and read the comments - my story is there posted 4/9/06 at 2:19 pm - the kneeling older woman

http://closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/2006/04/kneeling-incident-with-bishop-brown.html

and then search for "Mean Tod Brown" for more info.

http://closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/2006/04/mean-tod-brown.html

I've told this story to hundreds of people and there is NO ONE human who could have planned all this - no HUMAN. Only God Himself could have orchestrated this one.

The comments written by me are the truth, and some of my friends corroborated the story.

Yes, it was truly amazing to see God's work.
Any questions, please email me.

Thank you.
carol

[Fernando]

Nate,

You need to keep one thing in mind when it comes to the way the Vatican deals with complaint against bishops. They alwasy give the benefit of the doubt to a bishop of who he is: a bishop. If some sends a formal complaint about an incident such as this one and then the Vatican contacts the bishop. Who do you think they are going to believe if the bishop denies the incident, the complainer or the bishop? We both know the answer. But how can you refute video evidance? You can't and that why this is needed. If you notice in one of the responses from the Vatican it states, "The reports state that such a policy has been announced to parishioners. There were possible indications that such a phenomenon might be somewhat more widespread in the Diocese, but the Congregation is unable to verify whether such is the case." Do you think they would be making such comments if the complaints were to be delivered along with video evidance?

[Lewis Tillis]

This whole setup seems like blaspheming in the presence of Christ. You approached the communion with our Lord with an attitude of defiance and treachery toward the bishop. He is the Pope's representative, and should be given the honor and obedience his position deserves. Your pride at defaming the body of Christ is reprehensible. You should be ashamed of yourself.

[Thomistic]

Lewis,

You cannot have read the woman's account to have said what you said. It isn't defiant or wrong to kneel for communion. Although Bishop Brown's policy was and is that people stand for communion, this policy was never widely promulgated.

Moreover, kneeling for Holy Communion is a right guaranteed by the Church, so a Bishop can't deny it.

I would expect more from someone who pretends to know so much about such things, and especially from someone who claims papal authority should be respected.

I agree that papal authority should be respected, and that's why Bishop Brown should have given Carol Holy Communion.

So I am left to conclude one of two things, either you haven't read the material presented here, or you are being willfully obstinate. Perhaps you are even a troll, posting something contrary to get attention.

In any case, your comment reflects a good deal of ignorance.

God bless you.

[ron richards]

Its So Blatanly Obvious that the Church has been corrupted, infiltrated & perverted since Vatican 2.
The Shepherd no longer Guards his flock, but is in fact-THE WOLF
Pre-Vatican this never happened, the Mass was a Reverent, Holy Sacrifice.
Fridays offered prayers to "The faithless Jews" of course this was dropped & changed Post vatican 2. I will Never attend an Archdiocesan Mass again, I attend both a Latin & Orthodox Mass. The fruits of that are Holy. Tape if you wish, but it wont change a thing. The Vatican doesnt care, nor does Benedict or anyone else-they are in fact the problem-he has been called a Krypto-Rabbi.
Novus Ordo Watch details the abuses.

[Magnolia]

Nate,

I have one question for you, if the video taping of the bishop refusing someone communion was all just a setup then wouldn't it have been better for the videographer to be positioned on the other side of the church? If it had been a set up then I would think someone would have told the videographer which side he should be standing on to get the best shot. In my opinion he did not have the best shot. If someone hadn't pointed out to me what I was looking for (the bishop refusing communion) I probably wouldn't have seen it.

Maybe someone should show the whole video in its entirety to prove to these people that this was not just a set up to get the bishop in trouble. Does anyone know if the video records the entire Mass and if so was the lens always focused on the bishop trying to catch him in some heterodox or defiant act?

Any person who would dare deny the legitimacy of the Church today and the Novos Ordo should be burned at the stake for their heresy. And by the way, the liturgical norms of recieving Holy Communion in a country is decided by the Bishops conference only! They want us to all stand because, if you can imagine, some people find can't kneel. We are to be unified in our posture in America, because that what Our Lords the Bishops said so. Outrageous videos and being bitter about the Church today will not only help no one, it will damn us all. The liturgy should be carried out perfectly, absolutely! And one of the norms for that liturgy in America is to stand while recieving communion. And furthermore, if we can't be patient and trust this time of liturgical turmoil, then we will never get anything our of Mass, and even if a priest asked a host of women to say the eucharistic prayer in the sanctuary with him, it would be the valid sacrifice of Calvary, however illict it may be!!!! Get over yourselves.

I meant to say if we can't trust THROUGH this time of litugical turmoil, sorry. But I am not sorry, obviously, about my comments.

[ron richards]

If there is Heresy, I see it at the Halloween Masses, not in the Latin Mass community.
The Assisi Fiasco in 1986, PJP2 kissing the Koran, Pope Benedict taking in prayers at a Synagogue recently & imperiling the lives of many Christians in the Mid East on 9/12 are just some of the abuses by the church, as well as the failure to address & standarize the Mass for the faithful. I stand by my statement.

[Fernando]

Anonimous, who posted the comment on 11-9-06 @ 12:47 p.m.

How you do reconcile your comments with these statement from the Vatican?

"Even where the Congregation has approved of legislation denoting standing as the posture for Holy Communion, in accordance with the adaptations permitted to the Conferences of Bishops by the Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani n. 160, paragraph 2, it has done so with the stipulation that communicants who choose to kneel are not to be denied Holy Communion on these grounds."

Who has the final word, the local bishop or the Vatican? "Roma locuta est, causa finita est."

[Mike!!]

Yeah! uniform in posture, well tell that to Corpus Christi parish the only uniform policy going on there are devil, withches ,Dracula, and good old Barney uniforms! Sounds like someone in here has Stockholm condition. Everybody start getting out your purple dino costumes!

People I in no way deny that there is a serious problem with out liturgies today. But there is also a radical humility problem too.If we think we know better than the Church, well... Anyways, #160 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal:The norm for reception of Holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing.Communicants should not be denied Holy Communion because they kneel. Rather, such instances should be addressed pastorally, by providing the faithful with proper catechesis on the reasons for this norm.

Now, did the Bishop act pastorally? I thinkn a reasonable person would say no. But he did not deny her Communion. I don't think the woman who went to Communion sinned, but I would wager that she believes uniformity to Church norms precedes our desire to perform acts of piety. We are no more holy if we recieve standing or kneeling, and as everyone here can agree I'm certain, the mass is no place for individual styles. (GIRM 95) Thus, they [the congregation at Mass] are to shun any appearance of individualism or division.
People, I am not saying you should tolerate any of these wrongs committed, but I am not sure that taping these events or sitting around being bitter will help anything. God will be the judge of His Priests, not us. And no matter what happens at Mass, Jesus Is in the Eucharist. Our seminarys are transforming across America, and if we hold out, we will see a new face of the domestic Church of America within twenty years, and that is a promise from someone who knows, a seminarian.

Sorry for the harshness in my first post, but I had a feeling you all would respond to some truth with fire.

[Mike]

I believe the GIRM 95 means individulism like the "Halloween Mass" at Corpus Christi. Clearly that mass was division from GIRM and LA documents. Whoever you are, no one is forcing you to kneel for Holy Communnion, if you don't want to or can't for physical reasons no one is beating you up for it and calling you Holier than thou! So stop judging those who do kneel. You tell us to hold out!! Man have you read "Good Bye Good Men" the book by Michael Rose. The Bishop is in charge and if he ,well should say is not following The Holy See, then those young seminarians and priests can't do a darn thing! Look if you live in Los Angeles and Orange County Diocese , the Cardinal and Bishop are getting ready for priestless parishes, they want and are going to put "lay ministers " in charge!! They have created the priest shortage deliberatly! Wake up!! Iam not bitter, I am deeply sad! and I am not going to sit around for the next twenty years, watching our Lord be blasphemed! Iam going to be a solider of Christ and pray like there is no tommorrow and take action like there is no tomorrow! Because there is no tommorrow!! Remmeber the seven churches in the Book of Revelation?? The Holy See wants us to take this action! We have a right and duty to do it!!