Beware Yon Dragons

A regular running monologue of opinions and ideas from a "country priest".

This blog represents the personal opinions of Fr. Chori Jonathin Seraiah, and is not necessarily representative of the position of St. George Catholic Church, in Republic, Missouri, the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, Bishop Steven Lopes, or the Catholic Church as a whole.

Misrepresentations, Mistakes and Outright Malfeasance

April 29, 2026

Maybe you have read some of the comments and articles online recently about what is happening in the Ordinariate. I have read some as well, and I can tell you a large portion of it is not true. Most are not slanderous, but they are not accurate, and that is not for anyone's good. I am not going to go into all the details because there is so much out there that I am certain to miss something you consider important.

Suffice it to say, not everyone who says "Bishop Lopes said this" or "the Ordinariate is doing this" is actually aware of the truth. A foolish comment, a leaked half-truth, or a speculation go a long way to get more readers. If, however, people who write on the internet were concerned primarily with truth and not with the "number of hits" on an article, then they might not look so much for sensationalism in what they write. I decided long ago not to have a "counter" on my blog, because I did not want to know how many people were reading it. Popularity is not the goal, but truth.

Sadly, there are so many outright lies, and mistaken ideas on the internet today that there very well may be more falsehood than truth in the overall content. This means you must limit your confidence to reliable resources. Not everyone who claims to have a "source" has a "source" who knows what he is talking about, and some sources do not have all the facts (and that can cause things to be severely misconstrued).

A good rule of thumb would be: do not believe anything about the Ordinariate, or the official teaching of the Church unless it is from the official source. If you are speaking to Bishop Lopes, he is the Pastor of the entire Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter; you can trust him. I, as his priest, will tell you accurately what he has said when he gives me permission to do so, and if I say something that is just my opinion, I will let you know it.

It may seem like a "juicy tidbit" to hear secret information that was told by the Bishop to the Priests behind closed doors (or on a private zoom meeting!), but anything not spoken with proper authorization is likely suspect. The sin of improper curiosity is plaguing our society, and we each need to do our best to pray that we will know what we actually need to know, and stop trying to find out what we do not need to know. The devil loves to deceive people and he does it quickly and easily by twisting reality. Do not listen to him.

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