Archbishop’s Action Against Priest . . .

Reverberates Throughout Cyber Universe

By PAUL LIKOUDIS

ST. PAUL, Minn. — On Ash Wednesday, March 1, St. Paul-Minneapolis Archbishop Harry Flynn asked a popular St. Paul priest, Fr. Robert Altier, an assistant pastor at St. Agnes Church, to remove his homilies from a web site run by parishioners.

The “silencing” has reverberated across the cyber universe, provoking nearly unanimous exasperation because Altier’s only “offense” — in the view of many — was his support for parents who object to the archdiocese’s “safe environment” programs for children.

As Paul Likoudis and others have rightly noted, it seems that those who openly dissent from doctrinal and moral teachings of the Church are rarely, if ever, "silenced" - nor do they ever seem to be admonished. It appears to many that they are permitted to spew forth their poison unabated, not only in the archdiocese os M/SP, but in other dioceses as well. One may wonder whether some in the Church are even concerned about doing what they ought to do rather than what seems to be expedient.

Mary Ann Kreitzer, the Arlington, Va., mother and editor of the lay publication Les Femmes and founder of the Catholic Media Coalition, observed the silencing of Fr. Altier is part of a growing pattern.

“We’ve moved from ‘Goodbye, Good Men’ [a reference to the book by Michael S. Rose] to ‘Shut up and get out, good priests’. . . .

“Consider . . . Fr. Paul Weinberger transferred by Bishop Grahmann from the Dallas parish he resurrected from the dead — initially given sabbatical with no new assignment, then after public pressure exiling him to a small parish in Greenville (Lucky Greenville!); Fr. James Haley, suspended from the Diocese of Arlington under a precept of silence for exposing homosexual priests with large porn collections (one also helped himself to over 100,000 bucks from the collection). After five years Fr. Haley is still suspended while homosexuals in the diocese continue to flourish. Fr. Joseph Clark also suspended by Bishop Loverde for correcting a deacon after Mass over his mishandling of the Precious Blood. (I know it sounds ridiculous but after five months he continues without an assignment). . . .

“I’m the president of the Catholic Media Coalition (www.catholicmediacoalition.org) and we have started a fund to defend persecuted priests. We are presently focusing on Fr. Clark’s situation, but I’m also in touch with other orthodox persecuted priests who may need help.

Read more here at The Wanderer