Cleansing Fire Burns Out?

For many years a group of more conservative, orthodox  Rochester Catholics wrote for a blog called Cleansing Fire. The blog focused on a variety of Church issues, abuses, and perceived abuses - both locally and in the broader Church. Being located in the Diocese of Rochester, the Diocese and the late Bishop of Rochester, Matthew Clark, were frequent targets. Sometimes the criticisms were fair; there were a number of liturgical abuses, rogue priests and nuns, Catholic high schools that strayed from Church teachings, and some poor pastoral decisions. Sometimes I thought the criticisms were unfair and crossed the line.

I was not one of the writers, though occasionally my name came up there, and not always favorably. I used to work for the Diocese, so I guess I was collateral damage. And I sometimes got caught up in disputes. (Me? Argumentative???) My previous blog (View From the Choir, and earlier, From the Back Pew) dealt with some of the same issues and abuses, but except when I gave in to sarcasm and satire (one of my flaws) in a more nuanced and charitable way than some of the posts in Cleansing Fire. Still, they did raise some important issues - and I later became friends with two of the contributors - so I popped over there occasionally to see what they were up to.

Over the years, as blogging declined (except for loonies like me) and after Bishop Clark retired, I noted that some of the contributors to Cleansing Fire had stopped posting. For the past few years it has basically been one person posting, but doing so infrequently.

The other day I dropped in to see if they had any reaction to the Bishop Hubbard story (retired Bishop of Albany marries in a civil ceremony!), and saw this: This Account has been suspended.

Most likely the administrators of that blog chose to suspend it. Too few people contributing? Health and age issues? Family and work? Bishop Clark is gone? The number of liturgical abuses in the diocese have decreased? Blogging has become passe? I don't know.

So basically this blog is one of the last Catholic blogs in Rochester? Hmm.

Farewell to Cleansing Fire. God be with you all!

Pax et bonum