The Self-Appointed Snitches Who Keep Our Priests Informed

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Terry, the region's Doppel Blogger who blogs at Abbey-Roads and Rome-ing Catholic, will lose a bit of that distinction later this month when the latter blog will become part of a new and revamped Leaflet Missal Company web page. Of course he still will be at least partially responsible for providing posts for the new Leaflet blog, but he probably will have to rein in his enthusiastic and creative impulses a tad so as to not scare off his employers and their customers.

Leaflet Missal, a quite old firm located in a residential section of St Paul, with a somewhat low profile in the local Catholic community, is actually a powerhouse in the national Catholic religious books and goods business. While their catalog is adequate now, their search engine is woefully lacking considering the size of their inventory, especially their book and pamphlet selection. I would imagine that it is costing a bundle for the upgrade but it should be something that we all can look forward to.

I can only imagine what other things might be added. I would like to see more of their "Church Goods" selections, (vestments, sacred vessels, etc.) and their consignment services for statues, artwork and repair of Church items.

One of the problems that a Catholic business has that secular business don't have is that their customers are almost always Catholic and if some hear something they don't like, like perhaps a reference to Harry Potter in a conversation between employees, they might run back down to their parish and turn them in to the pastor.

It's amazing to me that someone would go running to their pastor as a tattle-tale, repeating something they had heard in a private store. But I suppose it's not a stretch for me to think also that such a person would believe that Leaflet is owned or at least controlled by the Church.

I wonder how much of a parish priest's day is taken up with people coming to him with what they see as Tales of the Bizarre?

They probably have to stand in line with the Liturgy Cops making their daily report/complaint about something they had observed when they should have been praying.

I was on a prominent priest's website the other day and noticed an ad for a local protestant church. I screen shot the offending ad and was all set to send it to him with my j'accuse.

Then I shrugged and decided that he was making money of of it and it would be extremely unlikely that any of his visitors were out shopping for a non-denominational church that day.

On a more serious note, I wonder how many accusations of abuse by priests or other church employees have been ignored by priests and bishops who have become just plain tired of all the complaints that they receive each day?

Have mercy on your priests. Leave them alone with your complaints. They probably already know all about the tiny peccadilloes of parish life. Offer it up and pray for the offenders; that is the best thing you can do.

If you suspect real abuse, however, don't hesitate to bring it to the proper individual's attention.