Greetings. I’m on the board of the local Catholic radio station, KCRD-FM, in Dubuque, IA. A couple of months ago, we decided to have Father Altman be our keynote speaker for our September Fundraiser. (Go to the web page and click on the Fundraiser button for more information.) As someone somewhat controversial, we expected people might pay good money to hear him speak. Then, the same day we announced he was going to be our keynote speaker, we recv’d word that the Bishop had removed his faculties. Our web traffic immediately shot through the roof, and the chair of Aquinas Communication (which owns the station) started receiving non-stop phone calls for tickets. Mind you, we didn’t even have the web page set up for actually buying the tickets yet, but demand was unbelievable. We have three levels, Premium, Preferred, and General. The Premium tickets cost $100 each (remember, this is a FUND-raiser) and gets you seated close to the stage. In the two hours since I’ve returned from the board meeting tonight, when this information was discussed, we’ve sold 20 more of these Premium tickets. With 10 seats per table, people are buying entire tables for their friends and family. And as I heard all of this information, I started getting an uneasy feeling. First of all, we’re looking at getting a lot of priests coming. We’re close to the Diocese of Rockford, and many of these cancelled priests were friends of the people supporting the station. If they come, though, we’re encouraging them to come dressed in civilian clothes. In addition to providing VIP coverage to the announced priests (Fr. Altman is only one of several that have committed to come), we’re going to have to provide people who make sure that the guests talking to the priests only take their 90-seconds before moving on. I understand that if given the chance, Fr. Altman will spend 20 minutes talking with you. Nice in a pastoral setting; not so nice when there’s a line of people waiting. But what really got my ears perking up was hearing that we’re also going to have to provide bodyguards for the priests. That’s when it hit me: that we are going to be a ground zero for spiritual warfare; that every witch and warlock in a three-state area will be focusing their spells and hexes on us at that time, as well as a host of demonically-motivated actors who might choose to be physical with their disapproval. So as Sept. 22 approaches, please, PLEASE take some time to offer a prayer for the safety and protection of all those who will be attending the event. Thanks!
Fellow Iowan here. Things sure have changed in the 30 years I've been away, but in hindsight "things" were already changing when I left; still mostly Christian, with some New Ager types.
