Ep. 4.22: The Contemporary Mission: Turmoil, Tension, and the Limits of Reform

In this gripping installment, Monsignor recounts one of the most turbulent and little‑known chapters in St. Louis Catholic history—the rise and collapse of the “Contemporary Mission,” a breakaway group of Montfort seminarians who sought to reinvent religious life in the early 1970s. What begins as an experiment in inner‑city ministry spirals into forged documents, illicit ordinations, national media scrutiny, and a showdown with Cardinal Carberry. The story widens to include Brother Irenaeus Philip Matthews’ attempt to build a Lasallian commune, the tensions at St. Francis Xavier College Church, and the broader chaos of the post‑conciliar era. Through it all, Monsignor highlights the extraordinary burdens placed on bishops, the fragility of institutions under cultural pressure, and the surprising ways the Church ultimately endures.