The assessors finally came almost exactly three months later, on March 25th, the Feast of the Annunciation. All the churches were either condemned for earthquake or water damage, or sold. Most of the movable goods had disappeared immediately after the earthquake. No one, at least this was said, really knew where all the chalices, patens, candlestick, ciboria, vestments, Missals, relics, etc. had gone. Someone did. Some families did. Suddenly, in a few months, there was a underground movement of recusancy. Mostly, the younger families took charge of certain aspects of home prayer groups, home catechesis, and home rosary groups. There was a rumor that one house had a make-shift Adoration chapel, which some knew about, perhaps.
The diocese was forced into bankruptcy as well, and the Bishop's letter on this indicated that for all practical purposes, there was no longer a Diocese of Seaview. All administration would be done through the diocese east of this one. The Vatican would decide on a formal merger.
The Bishop and his Vicar-General were in hiding, some said. It is true that no one actually knew where Bishop John and Fr. Andrew actually were. That the Bishop had ordered all churches to become shelters after the earthquake was well-known. The official stationery had to be used for months as no communication by phone was being implemented by any priests or the Bishop. The Bishop had ordered this rule for all his priests under obedience.
James knew where his brother and the Bishop were. No one else seemed to know.
In February, Carole and Tomas had moved successfully to the Florida condo. Carole's shop in Seaview had been declared unsalable, the other one missing, and so she had to tell her good assistant the Seaview sites were not to be recreated. The girl moved into her parent's house in another town. Carole took Tomas and a truck-load of worldly goods and moved out of the area.
Parts of Seaview simply did not exist anymore, like the town of Waveland after Katrina, houses just disappeared into the sea.
Without churches, without a diocesan structure, many Catholics felt abandoned, but the regular letters of the Bishop encouraged them. Those in the TLM group had quickly created a small, low-key community. Others, not trad Catholics, were joining them. Someone said there was a TLM weekly, somewhere.
Some priests had been arrested for supposedly refusing entrance into the churches. Seven out of the 38 remaining priests in the diocese were in prison. Two had died in the earthquake. The rest were ministering to people almost unseen. Novus Ordo Masses were intermittent in someone's home somewhere. Phones were not being used by the new recusants, as they called themselves. Some whose houses had been ruined, moved in with other families. At least one priest was living with a home schooling family.
All the seminarians of the diocese had been moved to the Denver seminary. But, there were only six for the entire State. However, they were being trained for Washington.
James had eventually flown back to Washington D. C. working to get more aid for his constituents back in Seaview. His face, for weeks, was on the main stream media as The Senator from the heart of the earthquake.
David and Anabelle had moved to Arlington. But, the ramifications of the Supreme Court decision left Catholics in many areas without hope for protection in the future. Other dioceses had gone bankrupt and the Vatican was beginning to merge dioceses.
At least twenty dioceses were in the process of disappearing. In Iowa, for example, where four dioceses had served the Catholics for over a hundred years, there were now only two. Lawsuits undermined even the largest diocesan endowments.
In Wyoming, the Diocese of Cheyenne was absorbed back into that of Omaha. In Nevada, Reno and Las Vegas joined to form one mega-diocese. In Montana, where the bishop had died, there had been a seat vacant for over a year. Catholic rumors buzzed, stating that the diocese was to merge with Portland. These scenarios pricked the consciences of some Catholics, and a sizable number of fallen-away Catholics came back to the Church. Conversions were reaching extraordinary levels in the southern states. The Catholic Church was experiencing a spiritual revival while seeing a physical decay. Many Catholics woke up to the fact that their government was no longer a friend of the Church.
The worse thing, however, and James had confirmed rumors, was that the entire group of dioceses in Massachusetts and New York were about to enter into a schism, creating the Ecumenical Catholic Church of America. One bishop had objected. Catholics in those areas were in the process of deciding, through their parish councils, whether to join the new church or not. Two Catholic Colleges, once both Jesuit, were considering allegiance to the new church. After all, the Vatican had never understood American intellectual Catholics, so why not?
There was also a rumor that this church would join with the Episcopalian congregations in some eastern states. Carole was glad that her parish was made up of Cuban refugees in Florida. At least for now, she felt safe, and was considering setting up a new shop and hire some great young people in the area. And, to Carole's surprise, a man phoned her from Seaview. He identified himself as the mysterious man who had come to the shop so many months ago, in another age, before Christmas. His name was Mark Levi. Carole knew who he was. They were to meet up in Florida in June. He had a business proposal for Carole. She was intrigued.
In April, James heard from Father Andrew. He was in Rome...
To be continued....
