About

We believe in the Catholic Church’s traditional teachings on faith and morals and acknowledge that the Catholic Church has, since its founding by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, had a universal mission to bring each individual to sanctity and ultimate salvation. We also acknowledge that Catholic clergy—from priests in remote rural parishes to the Holy Father in Rome—must preach and practice traditional Catholic morality. We expect what the Church has always demanded—that the clergy recognize sin for what it is and resist the growing acceptance of evil in the secular world, especially within the Church.

An aberrant, non-Catholic element has manifested within the priesthood and hierarchy in recent decades. This element is easy to identify thanks to its most striking characteristic—an unwillingness to resist and even a desire to celebrate secular corruptions that the Church has condemned since its founding. Examples are plentiful, but one spectacle will perhaps suffice. In May of 2021, 61 American Bishops loudly opposed even a discussion of withholding the Blessed Sacrament from politicians who would permit the slaughter of unborn innocents, even up to the point of birth. Ever mindful of the feelings (and influence) of nominally “Catholic” politicians, these bishops have forsaken one of the first duties of priests. Such churchmen bring to mind the image of a commanding officer who, when the battle turns against his troops, goes over to the enemy and betrays his men. Or perhaps the apostle who left the last supper early for urgent business elsewhere.

Amid the darkness and confusion sown by this element, some faithful priests and bishops preach and practice the eternal Faith.  We stand with these faithful shepherds and encourage them in their darkest hour, to remain faithful to Christ.

Fitting the definition of a canceled priest into a thirty second soundbite or a short paragraph is not easy. In fact, there are many terms and phrases used, such as “sidelined,” “white martyrdom,” and “sent to the farm.” When a group of devout Catholics came together to form the Coalition for Canceled Priests in 2021, it was decided that “canceled” is the best way to describe what is happening since the term is so pervasive and generally recognized. The Church is increasingly divided between those who seek to accommodate modern society by adapting to it, and those who stand true to the faith and seek to convert the world. Modernist bishops seeking “unity” with the ever-evolving trends have quietly been removing priests who do not seek to accommodate, but rather to continue the traditional mission of the Church of bringing about the reign of Christ our King.

First, let’s be clear what a canceled priest is not: he is not a priest who’s committed a serious crime or canonical delict. There have been priests guilty of serious crimes and rightly removed, but they do not fall into the category of “canceled” as their removal was due to offenses they actually committed, not due to countering sinful society. It must be noted that guilty or not guilty, priests like everyone else deserve due process of law (both civil and canonical). They have a right to a defense, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and support in the way of housing and sustenance, from the diocese or religious order in which they are incardinated.

Each canceled priest has a unique story, though there are certain patterns and similarities which seem to arise. Canceled priests are those who are being targeted by superiors and who are not afraid to stand up for the Faith no matter how “counter-cultural” it might be. He exudes reverence during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and may celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass or simply be favorable toward it even if he does not know Latin. He loves hearing confessions and pastoral work, in general. He wants to improve his own education and grow in his vocation, realizing that his seminary formation and education was deficient.

Above all, a canceled priest wants to help others get to Heaven, and the cura animarum sustains him and gives him strength to carry on. One of the biggest problems in the clergy today is careerism. Many good men fall victim to the “go along to get along” mentality. Being “pastoral” is no longer seen by many bishops as self-sacrifice for the well-being of souls, but rather, not rocking the boat. So often seminarians and young priests are told that the best priest is one with the fewest complaints, does the most social outreach, and focuses on culture concerns of today such as environmental work and social action. Meanwhile, the priest who focuses most on the Church’s spiritual mission, and thus on the Sacraments, is running counter to our materialist culture and the chanceries that have succumbed to it.

A canceled priest may or may not still have his faculties to celebrate the Sacraments publicly. Those with their faculties usually have no assignment and are designated to live in “approved housing” – many times with priests that are guilty of a serious crime. These priests try to help where they can in their diocese but often know that pastors have been advised not to use them. If they try to find pastoral work outside of their respective diocese, they are not given a “letter of good standing.” Sadly, a celebret, which is usually a credit card-sized document issued yearly that priests carry in their wallet stating they are good standing, is no longer given out. Many dioceses now require a letter of good standing that is less than thirty days old for all priests.

If a canceled priest does not have his faculties, it is usually done in one of two ways. The first is canonical suspension a divinis. Many bishops do not choose this route since it requires a canonical trial which the bishop might lose. For the last several years, many bishops, opt for “administrative leave in a non-penal, non-judicial way.”   Sadly, that is not a spelling mistake, many priests across the country have been canceled with this wording. In plain language, this is the bishop side-stepping Canon Law. If the priest wants to appeal this type of decree, the priest may initiate a hierarchical recourse to the Congregation of Clergy in Rome.

Unlike a canonical trial, the priest is not granted discovery, so the bishop may send the Congregation information that the priest and his canon lawyer (if he can afford one) are not privy to. Many priests have discovered that Rome does not even require evidence from the bishop. The Congregation just assumes that whatever the bishop is stating is true. This is learned by the priest when the Congregation issues its ruling, which tends to highly favor bishops in its rulings. The priest’s one last recourse if he loses this ruling is with the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican’s supreme court. This is an expensive endeavor which takes years. The priest is obligated to find a canon lawyer approved by the Signatura to argue in front of it. This is a small group of mostly Italians. Rarely does the Signatura reverse a decree by the Congregation.   Unfortunately, many bishops know that they have free rein on removing priests they simply do not care for, and generally they get away with it.