Catholic Priest Ordered to Clarify His Remarks on BLM Being “maggots and parasites"

[47of74]

Ugh

Quote

A bishop asked a suburban Indianapolis Catholic pastor Tuesday to clarify remarks in which he compared the Black Lives Matter movement and its organizers to “maggots and parasites.”

Bishop Timothy Doherty of the Diocese of Lafayette, in Indiana, said the Rev. Theodore Rothrock of St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Carmel should issue a clarification of comments that the pastor wrote Sunday in a weekly bulletin message.

“The only lives that matter are their own and the only power they seek is their own,” Rothrock wrote. “They are wolves in wolves clothing, masked thieves and bandits, seeking only to devour the life of the poor and profit from the fear of others. They are maggots and parasites at best, feeding off the isolation of addiction and broken families, and offering to replace any current frustration and anxiety with more misery and greater resentment.”

“Pastors do not submit bulletin articles or homilies to my offices before they are delivered,” Doherty said in a statement. “I expect Father Rothrock to issue a clarification about his intended message. I have not known him to depart from Church teaching in matters of doctrine and social justice.”

If I was the Bishop this priest would be clarifying his remarks on his way to his next assignment somewhere above the North Pole.

Edited June 30, 2020 by 47of74

[llg1234]

I don't think there's much to clarify. He made it abundantly clear what his thoughts on the matter were. Not a whole lot of room left for interpretation.

[PennySycamore]

That priest needs to be defrocked post haste.  Some Catholics wonder why the Church is in trouble and crap like that is Exhibit A.  

Thank goodness that I never heard any such bullshit out of any of the priests that I've known.  

[FluffySnowball]

Look, guys... I get that sometimes, quotes can be taken out of context, for example because one might misspeak - like in the heat of the moment - or cause one doesn’t have sufficient information, and so on... I understand that for someone being in such a situation, it makes sense to comment on a misunderstood or wrongly worded statement and to clarify it.

BUT I’m starting to get impatient with constantly hearing “apologies” or “corrections” or “clarifications” from people who very clearly meant what they said. They were racist, homophobic, or hateful regarding Muslims, women, atheists, you name it... and when they have to deal with a public uproar or other consequences, they have suddenly learnt so much, found their empathy or actually meant nothing of what they had said in the first place. Fuck it! Those are all lies concocted with the help if PR specialists. (I feel especially enraged today because we had a similar case in Germany recently - the despicable, exploitative, racist guy I mean is German business owner Clemens Tönnies for anyone wondering.) 

So in my opinion, this priest doesn’t need to clarify anything, he was perfectly clear the first time. And now, he needs to face the consequences. Any back paddling just shows he wants to avoid the backlash he deserves. 

Edited June 30, 2020 by FluffySnowball

[Marmion]

The priest in question sort of reminds me of Father Coughlin   .

[Cat Damon]

So this happened in my city and while I don't go to that parish I do know people who do. He already was being moved to another parish and the people I know in that parish are glad to see the back of him. Also the Archbishop here is a complete asshole so I don't expect he actually cares, and probably agrees even if he won't come out and say it.

[divadivine]

I lived not too far from this parish for several years. Occasionally I would attend Mass at Seton. Fr. Ted was not my favorite. Really odd. Not a people priest. I went there for Good Friday One year (because I missed the service in my Diocese) and it was so odd, I don’t think I went to Mass there again. He sat next to the Cross during the entire Veneration. Like on the floor, next to the Cross... it was soooooo strange. I’ve never forgotten it after probably 5 years. 
 

I’ll link the recent article from the The Indianapolis Star If you’re interested in reading.

I’ve included the original letter/message in the spoiler. If you’re going to use the name of Fredrick Douglass, Ted, at least spell his name correctly. 

Spoiler

This is the original letter/message from the website/bulletin. 

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by divadivine

[Glasgowghirl]

If anyone asks why I am not a practicing Catholic here is your answer, among other things. 

[Marmion]

From the article , @divadivine referenced

Quote

Do those black lives really matter to the community organizers promoting their agenda?" he asked. "Is 'Antifa" concerned with the defeat of facists right-wing nationalism or more interested in the establishment of left-wing global socialism?"   He continued on to say that society is being told we need to act quickly to end "alleged systemic racism," but questioned whether Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr. would have been marching with the Black Lives Matter organizers. 

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/hamilton-county/carmel/2020/06/30/carmel-church-pastor-message-against-black-lives-matter-what-we-know/5350584002/   I just wanted to point out , for what it's worth , that Martin Luther King Jr. was a democratic socialist  { https://www.huffpost.com/entry/martin-luther-king-was-a-democratic-socialist_b_9008990?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAI9b-mwdUU8BilPOcmmTTcZ_Gn9a1YPnMFAwyP9ruwoFh4vgNgfsRLHwVAR1Oa9rsCoAm-Ah3MLISUnBio5pxrfxIhqcFUHIqLQ9FqnQ-J8CvtWYo3uI2Fz6Br-jpjxASHBPuwCh_uY8KlU5HrDIidQsqJHZRLRs7GD9Zw4GfHhs  ,  https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/02/02/remember-influence-socialism-martin-luther-king-jrs-legacy#  ,  https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/21/11-most-anti-capitalist-quotes-martin-luther-king-jr } ; although he was also against the Communism of his day { https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/communism  ,  https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/communisms-challenge-christianity } .   So I believe , to say the least , that he would have had qualified support for BLM .  As for Frederick Douglass , it's a bit more murky .  While he was certainly a campaigner for social reform , he was also consistently a partisan Republican .  { https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/12/20/fred-d20.html , 

https://jacobinmag.com/2020/02/frederick-douglass-railed-against-economic-inequality }  However , much like the Democratic party of today , the nascent Republican party had garnered a reputation especially exaggerated by  its detractors , as being a political home for various radicals , such as socialists .  { https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/08/first-red-scare-civil-war-european-socialists-bornstein-republicanism , https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20190727/you-know-who-was-into-karl-marx-no-not-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-abraham-lincoln , https://isreview.org/issue/79/reading-karl-marx-abraham-lincoln }  

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

Lastly , even the Roman Catholic Church , in its social doctrine , is not in favor of laissez faire capitalism .   { https://seantrainor.org/2015/09/25/a-short-history-of-catholic-anti-capitalism/  ,  https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/lets-not-sacrifice-catholic-teachings-altar-capitalism } 

Edited July 1, 2020 by Marmion

[divadivine]

An official statement from the Diocese of Lafayette (Indiana) on Fr. Ted.  He’s out as priest at Seton effective immediately, but he was set to leave in a few weeks or months anyhow. He also lost his appointment to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. But.....They will hide him until this dies down & he will reappear later. 
 

Spoiler

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by divadivine

[Wifey4Lifey]

I clicked on this topic wondering if it was the same priest I reported years ago for posting "the little shits deserve to be shot" on his Facebook page in reference to BLM protests and riots in Ferguson. Nope, different priest! Which means there's more than one of them. Fantastic.

The one I reported never faced any repercussions, either.

[SuperSluth]

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-black-catholics-in-america-180969271/

This article really left an impression... dumb ass church ?

[Marmion]

On 7/1/2020 at 7:32 PM, SuperSluth said:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-black-catholics-in-america-180969271/

This article really left an impression... dumb ass church ?

From the article .  

Quote

The Black Catholic Movement also inspired unprecedented liturgical innovation as musicians, theologians, and local congregations integrated African American and Afro-Diasporic religious practices into Catholic worship. The 1970s witnessed a flourishing of experimentation in black Catholic worship styles, as gospel and jazz music, West African drumming and dance, and black Protestant preaching styles all found their way into Catholic Masses.

So does this mean that the movie " Sister Act " was based , however loosely , on actual historical events ?   

Spoiler

 

 

[SassyPants]

13 hours ago, Marmion said:

From the article .  

So does this mean that the movie " Sister Act " was based , however loosely , on actual historical events ?   

  Hide contents

 

 

Maggie Smith as Mother Superior...

[SuperSluth]

16 hours ago, Marmion said:

So does this mean that the movie " Sister Act " was based , however loosely , on actual historical events ?   

Sorta... I guess. It varies widely from parish to parish. The pastor at my parent's church from early 1990s to now will only do hymns accompanied by a piano or an acousic guitar. MAYBE a trumpet on Christmas or Easter. 

[smittykins]

To this day, I can’t listen to “My Guy” without thinking of “My God.”

[PennySycamore]

@Marmion, the Republican Party of Frederick Douglass' day was 180 degrees from what it is now.  It is no longer the party of Lincoln and hasn't been for about 50 years.  The Lincoln Brigade is putting out some great ads though.  The Brigade is a group of anti-Trump Republicans.  

[Marmion]

1 hour ago, PennySycamore said:

@Marmion, the Republican Party of Frederick Douglass' day was 180 degrees from what it is now.  It is no longer the party of Lincoln and hasn't been for about 50 years.  The Lincoln Brigade is putting out some great ads though.  The Brigade is a group of anti-Trump Republicans.  

Yes , and I believe that this has been due in large part to the prevalence of the lily white faction  

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily-white_movement .  That and the related " Southern Strategy "  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy . 

[Marmion]

4 hours ago, smittykins said:

To this day, I can’t listen " My Guy" without thinking of “My God.”

Or this song , for that matter .   

 

[PennySycamore]

The nuns in Sister Act sound better than any nuns' choir I've ever heard.

Edited July 3, 2020 by PennySycamore