Sacramento Bishop excommunicates priest<\/a><\/p>\nIn his letter, Father Leatherby expresses deep remorse for having violated boundaries with an adult woman.\u00a0 Priests make a promise of celibacy which is only possible to fulfil with God\u2019s grace and the healthy habits the priest develops. It is difficult.\u00a0 In some way, however, the fact Father Leatherby had a fall in this area should not be a shocker.\u00a0 Men are attracted to women, and women to men.<\/p>\n
Father Leatherby writes about the deep pain and loneliness he has experienced over the past four years ever since he was removed from active ministry.\u00a0 As I mentioned on my previous post, canonical processes and investigations can be excruciatingly slow.\u00a0 I have learned from working closely with my previous bishop, that when action is needed, it is best to act swiftly and decisively.\u00a0 Otherwise, the priest falls into the category of \u201cunassignable\u201d where nobody knows what to do with him.\u00a0 Drawing from his account, Father Leatherby has been living a true purgatory without knowing when this ongoing uncertainty would end.\u00a0 I feel for him.\u00a0 That is no way to live.\u00a0 He has been unable to return to pastoral ministry, and at the same time, has been unable to move on to something different and new.\u00a0 A final decision should have been made within a reasonable amount of time.<\/p>\n
Up to this point, it is reasonable to understand Father\u2019s plight.\u00a0 Could he have taken recourse to the Congregation of the Clergy in Rome?\u00a0 \u00a0Was the process stalled by the Bishop, Father himself, witnesses, or a combination of all three?\u00a0 I do not know Bishop Soto, nor do I presume to know his intentions, but with the shortage of priests we face, there must be a serious reason to keep a priest away from ministry.\u00a0 I am certain that we do not know the whole story.<\/p>\n
The end of Father Leatherby\u2019s letter breaks my heart, not just because of the situation he finds himself in, but because it illustrates what is happening within our Catholic Church right before our eyes.\u00a0 It speaks of schism and separation.\u00a0 It speaks of anger and rebellion.\u00a0 If there is something that keeps me awake at night sometimes, it is this.\u00a0 The fracturing of the Church in our midst: rather than the faithful coming together, there are forces within that are pulling us apart.<\/p>\n
\u201cBishop Soto\u2019s sentence of excommunication again [sic] me is consistent with my relationship with Jorge Bergolio (Pope Francis), with whom I cannot morally, spiritually or intellectually, in good conscience, align myself.\u00a0 Bergoglio\u2019s act of idol worship in Saint Peter\u2019s Basilica in October of 2019, his consistent promotion of religious syncretism, and his violation of the Church\u2019s constant sacramental tradition regarding the reception of Holy Communion by the divorced and remarried, among other things, has left me unable to consider myself in ecclesial communion with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wow.\u00a0 This deserves so much discussion.\u00a0 Has Pope Francis truly done all these things?\u00a0 Are there not reasonable responses to all these accusations?\u00a0 Many today refuse to see the good of Pope Francis, and interpret his every move in the worst possible light.<\/p>\n
Father Leatherby, who has no faculties, has been celebrating the Eucharist without praying for his local Bishop, and praying for Pope Benedict XVI rather than Pope Francis.\u00a0 This is an official act of schism.<\/p>\n
\u201cI deservedly incur excommunication if Bergoglio is indeed the valid Successor of Peter, and I am guilty of causing great division within the Mystical Body of Christ\u2026 No longer being in union with the church over which Bergoglio reigns, I am seeking a dispensation from the clerical state in the church.\u201d<\/p>\n
We must pray not just for Father Leatherby, but for the greater movement within the Church that this specific case illustrates.<\/p>\n
Many are angry, frustrated and disappointed.\u00a0 Yes, many of the faithful are angry at the many moral failures of our leaders.\u00a0 We need a Saint Francis.\u00a0 We need a Saint Benedict.\u00a0 We need faithful who will rise to reform from within, and not from outside.\u00a0 The Catholic Church is amazing because of her ability to reform herself throughout the centuries.\u00a0 The 21st<\/sup> century is no exception.\u00a0 We must pray for men and women of communion and vision, men and women of God who will draw us closer together rather than pull us apart.<\/p>\nSacramento Bishop excommunicates priest<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I am saddened by the continued unfolding of Father Jeremy Leatherby\u2019s story in the Diocese of Sacramento.\u00a0 Catholic News Service recently linked a letter written by Father Jeremy Leatherby\u00a0addressed to his bishop, his brother priests, and the lay faithful.\u00a0 In summary, his recent actions speak of a greater division that everyday becomes more evident in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":5506,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[205],"tags":[1360,208,1363,844,1366,1390,1372,1393],"class_list":["post-5500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","tag-bishop-soto","tag-catholic-church","tag-diocese-of-sacramento","tag-division","tag-excommunication","tag-father-jeremy-leatherby","tag-priest","tag-schism"],"yoast_head":"\n
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