Shut Up, Good Priest!
As Les Femmes
went to press we learned of another persecuted priest. Minneapolis-St. Paul
Archbishop, Harry Flynn, has silenced Fr. Robert Altier, a faithful orthodox
priest, ordering him to cease his commentary on Relevant Radio and to delete
his homilies from A Voice in the Desert, www.desertvoice.org.
The popular website was established in 2001 by a lay couple, secular Carmelites,
who wanted to “make [Fr. Altier’s] homilies available to Catholics
everywhere.”
According to St. Paul Pioneer Press, “Archdiocese spokesman Dennis
McGrath could not confirm the reason for Flynn's directive…. McGrath
said no impropriety [by Fr. Altier] had occurred. ‘Any commu-nication
between a priest and the archbishop is personal and confidential,’
McGrath said. ‘But obviously there is a point of disagreement there
someplace in his homilies or some of the things on the radio.’”
In a later Star Tribune piece, McGrath said, “I surmise that Father
Altier’s contrarian position on Virtus is the issue.”
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. Archbishop
Flynn as head of the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on sex abuse played
a major role in developing the controversial policies imposed in most
U.S. dioceses. Fr. Altier is a vocal critic of those policies, especially
the VIRTUS children’s program implemented in Minneapolis.
It’s instructive to note that while Fr. Altier is being censored, the notorious pro-gay parish, St. Joan of Arc, continues to promote deviant lifestyles and gay adoption. The website (www.stjoan.com), a public scandal, features a “journal” with a cartoon linking Jesus to the abuse scandal and an ad for the gay men’s chorus which performs at the church. St. Joan’s bulletin advertises the radical dissent group Call to Action and the links page includes numerous liberal extremist groups. Archbishop Flynn’s failure to rein in this dissenting parish matches his past action of welcoming the Rainbow Sash gay activists to receive Communion at the cathedral. Flynn also slandered heroic pro-life priest, Fr. Paul Marx, in 1997 with the spurious charge of anti-Semitism. See: www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=5978 for a sample homily by Fr. Altier. It indicates why this good priest had to be silenced – like every prophet.