Weakland set to preside at a confirmation; protests ensue

Nonetheless, Szews said he was surprised about the reaction, saying that St. John’s “has always been what some would call a ‘progressive’ parish.”

“I would have thought that it was a parish that would have been much more sympathetic to Archbishop Weakland than perhaps other parishes in the archdiocese,” Szews said.

Neither Van Vlaenderen nor Weakland were available for comment Friday.

Associate Pastor Gerald Dominiak said in an interview that he did not know how many people in the 2,400-family parish had complained, and that he had not talked directly to any of them.

“I was very saddened by it,” Dominiak said. “I could not believe that Christians could act that way. How do we expect to be forgiven if we can’t forgive?”