[24 hours later: sorry to say, but there seems to be still no reason to change my own eyewitness account as given below. dpm]

Was there a Mens ACTS Retreat-fabricated mini-riot in St. Patrick Cathedral's Blessed Sacrament Chapel after 5:15 PM Mass today, or is Father Fabian Marquez, nuestro padre vicario, in the biblical sense of the word, a fool?

Incident:

Emotional, noisy, screaming exchange between one Father Fabian Marquez & Unknowns, leading to loud emotional babble by dozens of equally unhinged reinforcements for the Holy Spirit -- or so one might suppose -- from the parishioners present as they rushed into the fray, waving their arms on cue and babbling a mile a minute. Even the Teens ACTS Retreat Team Members in the choir loft came down on a run and all breathless and excited, as they, too, flapped their arms and babbled encouragement to all and sundry.

Date: Monday, July 10, 2006
Place: El Paso, Texas
Address: 1118 N. Mesa
Time: Roughly 5:55 p.m., onward.
Phone: (915) 533-4451

Issues:

1) Nobody thought to use his or her cell phone to dial 911, so: "What if this had been the real deal, another Columbine High in the making?" Instead of a carefully planned happening?

2) Had all this been contrived in advance with the permission of the pastor, Father Rick Mattey? To give some Holy Spirit-invoking thrills to the Teen ACTS Retreat Team Members?

3) Was UTEP's Mens ACTS Retreat coordinator, Professor Richard Gutierrez knowingly involved, or was he left out of the loop, as we suspect he was?

4) Why would Bishop Armando Ochoa be so dense as to let this kind of situation continue?

5) What about the Diocesan liability insurance carrier's nightmare involved here?

6) Where was St. Patrick's own security detail? Their truck was parked in the parking lot near the elementary classroom building that is closest to N. Mesa St..

7) The one individual actively involved who we suspect just might have been a member of the bar seemed to be in some sort of panic mode. Apparently on a errand of some urgency for Father Fabian, and with a worried look on his face, he suddenly darted back in the direction of the sacristy. And then disappeared!

[#5 through #7 added at around 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, July 12, 2006]

Suspicious components:

1) Father Fabian Marquez was keyed up during the Mass and called attention to himself during the Consecration of the Wine, for having made an error initially, and asking the congregation for a confirmation of this, which several gave him. He then repeated himself and got it right the second time. Was this because he was bracing himself for the part he would be expected to play as soon as Mass was over?

2) Cell phone business, again! Assuming these Unknowns were pre-existing, as opposed to say, non-existing, how would Father Fabian Marquez have known they would or would not have had a knife or a gun with them?


Conclusion:

What warning might the above give us regarding the possibility that our vicar may be developing an issue himself? One, further, not yet adequately addressed?



Just a few little points for our good bishop to ponder!

[ Dennis eyewitness account, includes equal parts of "100% jaundiced viewpoint & 100% personal opinion!"]

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