And why should you be interested in Addison Hart, you might say.
Well here are two reasons for starters. First, he is one of the Hart brothers. There was a time in the early 1980’s at the University of Maryland in Maryland County when all three Hart brothers ((Fr. Addison Hart, Dr. David Bentley Hart, and Fr. Robert Hart) studied under Aristeides Papadakis and they have had, to put it mildly, an interesting history since.
Second, Addison Hart is one of my seminary classmates from Trinity School for Ministry and served as a distinguished member of the Episcopal diocese of South Carolina in years past. Did I say he is married with children? Hmmmm–KSH.
Kendall, when Addison left for Rome in 1997 I found it rather perplexing. He had served in two orthodox dioceses Rio Grande under Terry Kelshaw and South Carolina Fitz Alison. In seminary he seemed to me to be much more a protestant Anglican than anglo-catholic one. It just prooves you can never predict with any certainty the path a personal spiritual journey will take.
“Did I say he is married with children? Hmmmm–KSH.”
You’ve used the wrong tense of the verb “to be” in this sentence.
Fr. Hart was one of many who fled the Episcopal Church, horrified at the unregenerates and prodigals in leadership. Many went to the Roman Church, Orthodoxy, Continuing Church, PCA, Lutherans and other groups. It was probably the same horror that has led him to leave ‘Rome’…in his comments, he mentions sexual abuse and cover-up and now Vatican bank mafia money-laundering has hit the news.
There seems to be no really safe, perfectly orthodox or perfectly led group anywhere. The enemy specializes in corrupting the church and her leaders.
May the Lord take Fr. Hart to the place where he can love and serve God and bring forth the best and most fruit for God’s glory.
These two comments appeared on a Catholic Blog (Fr. Z’s Blog: What Does the Prayer Really Say?) at
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/01/when-heresy-leads-to-apostacy/
I forward them for the benefit of Dr. Harmon and others who may know Addison Hart.
Michael in NoVA says:
3 January 2011 at 9:09 am
… I knew former(?) Fr. Hart when he was an Associate Pastor at the NIU Newman Center. I am greatly disturbed to hear this news of his reversion … While there, I knew Fr. Hart to sometimes critique the operations of the Church … but to be quite forceful in his proclamations of Catholic doctrine. In fact, his homily on the Assumption in 2007 was one of the most profound and memorable that I have ever heard…. Perhaps he was trying to convince himself of the Truth as much as to proclaim it to everyone else.
I will pray for Fr. Hart. He is hurt and confused by something, and he has responded by lashing out against and abandoning the Church.
nhaggin says:
3 January 2011 at 12:10 pm
Like Michael In NoVA, I knew then-Fr. Hart through the NIU Newman Center, and this does not square at all with what I knew of him then; he was a devoted priest and a wonderful preacher who knew better than to make these mistakes. Prayers are urgently needed here.
Is Father Hart currently married?