Guido Colla
Taylor’s Rd Meredith Vic. 3333
21/10/2001

Bishop Denis Hart
P.O. Box 146
East Melbourne Vic. 3333

Your Eminence,

I write to you a third time your Lordship, as I have not yet any reply to my previous letters, re our situation here at Meredith and our Fr John Haines. I write out of concern for our Australian Catholic church.

As you know dear bishop, since the early sixties the church has gone through a myriad of changes, many of them I would venture to say are modernist changes, and not at all of these changes recommended or even advocated by the second Vatican council. St Pius X and every Pope since his pontificate has declared modernism as a heresy. Why is it that the Bishop continues to put up with e heretical practices and teachings?

I can only see a very small part of the world obviously, and therefore I will restrict myself to speaking about my own experiences in my own parish. I came to this parish about fifteen years ago. When we came here with our large families, the parish church was full to overflowing and there was talk of extending the church to accommodate the large crowds. At last nights mass there were barely twenty people in that same church. A decrease in the order of about 80%, do not believe the census figures, they are doctored. During that time I have written many times of abuses and heretical teachings to the bishop’s office, I have not once received the courtesy of an acknowledgment or a reply.

I will give a few examples of what has happened to me personally. Our previous parish priest gave a homily some years ago and I went to him privately after mass and I referred to his homily to say that what he had quoted from the Old Testament was not what it said in the scriptures. He agreed with me and offered in defence that he did not believe that part of the Bible. I asked him how could you be selective in what he would and would not believe. How could we have anything in common if we did not have basic common beliefs as taught by the word of God? The very next Sunday he hammered the Holy Book with his fists as he laboured a point that he personally felt very strongly about.

On another occasion I asked his to give a homily on the ten commandments, especially on the third commandment, the reason being that one of our nine sons had come home from St Mary’s technical school in Geelong, where one teachers had said that they no longer needed to go to Sunday mass. Father flatly refused, he said that is too hard and besides I do not believe the same thing myself was his answer.

Let us talk about our present priest. Last night he was wearing a large, gold and shiny earring in his left ear. Some weeks ago he appeared on the altar with a hippie hair cut. He had had his hair shaved bald in a two inch band from front to back and from side to side. This is not the first time this has happened. He has proudly and personally told me and in public that he is happy to carry a grudge for many years, and that he will get revenge if it takes a lifetime. Ask him yourself about the story he told us about some man with a right of way on his property in New Guinea. Nearly every week we have a homily about community and the importance of charity to our neighbour. What hypocrisy. Outside that same church only half an hour later, Father will not give you the time of day. Not even the normal courtesy of a good morning. No greeting as we don’t seem even to exist. Where is charity now? Where is community now? It seems terribly selective now. It is terribly hard, but I have persevered, to show respect for a priest when he treats a person like dirt year after year.

All of our nine sons served as Altar boys, some until they were eighteen years old. But the day that our second youngest son Matthew came and told us that Father John had forbidden them to genuflect at the foot of the altar after they processed in. I told Matthew I think it would be better if he did not serve any more.

All these many years I have been offering my pain of the irreverence’s, the humiliations, the hypocrisy, and the defiance of basic morality. I have watched many of our children leave the church with tears in my eyes. I have had to console my wife in her tears of pain, as all of our own devoutness, the rosaries that we prayed in the home with them.

The high moral standards that we set for ourselves and wish to pass onto our offspring.

All seems to be lost.

It has got to the point that many of our children no longer recognize us as their parents. I have never had to joy of holding some of our nineteen grandchildren in my arms. We are strangers to them. They call us old "fuddy-duddies". They themselves live pagan lives quite unaware of the God who created them.

When dear bishop is enough, enough? When will you act? When will you exercise your God given powers as successors of the Apostles? When will you teach your priests? When will you start holding up the teachings of Holy Mother church? Many souls are falling into hell daily because there seems to be little leadership. When will you communicate with me when I ask for help? I will no longer be brushed aside. God has strengthened my Soul and I will no longer be quiet. No I will not leave the church, I know full well that it is the ‘one true church’ and I will not leave a sinking ship.

I know man is weak, but I also know that each man is given enough grace from God to fulfil his mission in life if he asks for it in prayer. Please, will you act now? When will you help me to be a father to my children? When will you back me up so that I can hold my head erect with my own children. When will you teach them that ‘Honor your father and mother’ is one of the Ten Commandments? Most of the church in Australia seems to be twiddling its proverbial thumbs while Rome burns.

I could go on and on. The stories are endless. I will tell one more as the pain of that occasion is so grievous is still brings tears to my eyes when I think of it. We were visitors in a parish in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne on the occasion of one of our grandchildren’s baptism. Mass was a complete shambles. The choir was on strike. There were kids on the sanctuary doing all sorts of antics. Father did the Baptism, Consecration and the homily in which he mentioned that he thought that his congregation was part of the remnant church. There were endless special ministers of the Eucharist dispensing our Lord’s body. Father sat. The precious blood was placed on the four corners of the altar in glass goblets. People were milling all over the altar helping themselves to our Lord’s Blood. But the real Sacrilege, and I could not believe my eyes when I saw it; the left over Precious Blood was tipped down the sink. Can you believe it? I could not even speak after mass I was so upset. Tears would not leave my eyes.

You see dear Bishop. You must act. Souls, eternal Souls are at stake. You must act now to clean up the mess.

The responsibility now rests on your shoulders. You must be strong! I am not surprised any longer at the question Our Lord asked. "When I come back will there be any faith left?" At the moment it seems that there will be precious little.

I hold myself available at any time should you wish to speak to me personally.

From a pain filled and what seems to be an abandoned son of the church.

God bless and strengthen you, and may the Holy Mother keep you close to her Immaculate Heart.