• Home
  • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
  • Contact

JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« From Prairie Village to Shawnee Mission to Blue Valley, the “Post” stakes its claim to Johnson County
The world, as it appears from Meyer Circle »

Puppies and priests…All’s well on the western front

June 21, 2016 by jimmycsays

With all the depressing stuff going on in the world, it’s refreshing to see something positive come along to lift the spirits.

Such is the story of the puppy — a pit bull mix — that two Royals’ fans helped rescue from a hot car at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday.

Michael Warner of Independence and his brother Josh Lee of Overland Park were walking back to their car in the eighth inning (the game went 13 innings) when they heard whimpering and followed the sound to the vehicle where the dog had been left. They summoned help, and team officials were able to get the dog out of the car. (I believe the windows had been left open enough to allow access to the release buttons.)

The dog, estimated to be about 16 weeks old, is at the city’s animal shelter, run by Kansas City Pet Project, and will be put up for adoption if the owner doesn’t claim the dog within several days…It seems unlikely to me that the owners will step forward, partly because of the embarrassment awaiting them and also because they could be charged with animal cruelty under city ordinances.

Warner, one of the rescuers, has expressed interest in adopting the dog. Congratulations to Warner and Lee for stepping into action and possibly preventing this little guy from dying.

pup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**

A little more than a year ago, the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph was riven with conflict stemming from then-Bishop Robert Finn’s controversial reassignment of several priests.

Among others, many St. Thomas More parishioners in south Kansas City were fuming because Finn had reassigned their popular pastor, Rev. Don Farnan, to the hinterlands of northern Missouri. Also, many Visitation parishioners were in open rebellion against the appointment of Rev. Vincent Rogers as their new pastor. He was coming from St. Andrew the Apostle Church in the Northland.

The chaos revolved around Finn’s perceived desire to banish Farnan, with whom he was at odds, and, in a related move, impose a priest aligned with his orthodoxy (Rogers) on Visitation parishioners.

Before the moves were implemented, Pope Francis summoned Finn to Rome and canned him. Finn was singular in an ignominious way: He is the only American bishop who has been convicted of a crime (cover-up) in the priest sexual abuse scandal. A month after Finn was canned, the interim bishop, Joseph Naumann, of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, pulled the plug on the most controversial Finn transfers.

Recently, the new permanent bishop, James Johnston, announced reassignments that apparently were met with uniform acceptance. As part of the transfers that will take effect July 1, Farnan will be going to St. Charles Borromeo Church in the Northland, and Msgr. Brad Offutt, pastor at three rural parishes, will be going to Visitation. (Offutt is a former diocesan chancellor, the highest position besides bishop.)

The current Visitation pastor, Rev. Pat Rush, who had to put off his retirement plans after last year’s upheaval, will now get to stand down. And as far as I can tell, Rogers will remain at St. Andrew the Apostle for at least another year.

…In his first year, Johnston seems to have gone a long way toward restoring peace in the diocese and goodwill at the chancery, 20 W. Ninth Street. Among other things, I understand he recently led a group of people on a march from the chancery to Municipal Auditorium for a recent hearing regarding new federal rules to rein in the payday lending industry.

Takin’ it to the streets…That’s real leadership and, I’m sure, what Pope Francis would have done had he been here.

P1060323

Bishop James Johnston

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

4 Responses

  1. on June 21, 2016 at 2:33 pm Rick Thomas

    Jim:

    Just curious. Wasn’t there ample justification for police to notify the owner of the vehicle — by the license plate — in which the puppy was found that the pup had been taken to the animal shelter?

    Is it not against the law to abuse an animal? This sounds pretty abusive. Who does that?


    • on June 21, 2016 at 3:25 pm jimmycsays

      That’s a good point, Rick, and an omission in The Star’s story. I didn’t try to run it down myself, but I would have to think police were notified and registration has been checked.

      And, yes, it’s an ordinance violation, punishable, according to The Star’s story, by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to 180 days in jail. (If memory serves me from my City Hall days, I think it could be a find and jail time.)


  2. on June 21, 2016 at 4:43 pm gayle

    Yes, the puppy was lucky. Unfortunately there are others (including infants, Lord help us) who have not been and will not be the same. If there’s any justice that puppy will live out his happy puppy days with his rescuer and those idiotic miscreants, his former owners, will have their punishment meted out.


  3. on June 24, 2016 at 6:18 pm St. Agnes Bowling PIn setter

    The turtle we call the Catholic Church crawls another step forward.



Comments are closed.

  • Pages

    • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
    • Contact
  • Archives

    • February 2023
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • September 2022
    • August 2022
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 563 other subscribers

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


  • Follow Following
    • JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC
    • Join 563 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: