The Sheer Panic Caused by Fr. Altman

Fr Altman has the Servants of Satan (Oops! I meant 'Catholics' for Biden.) scared spitless!. You might want to drop his cowardly Bishop a line. The address is below,

From One Mad Mom

Fr. Altman’s video is causing quite a panic in the lives of those Catholics who would mislead the faithful. They are in full out damage control. It’s like they’ve been collectively doused with Holy Water.

First up, the ever-whining Fr. James “I’ve never met a doctrine I disagree with that I won’t hide from the faithful” Martin, SJ. Unlike his usual M.O., the half-truth, he’s simply resorted to lying in this case. I’ve always considered him in the evil-genius category. He’s got the sly like the serpent (without the gentle as the dove thing) down, so I was a little shocked when he posted this to Facebook the other day with a link to the article I deal with below (emphasis mine):

From Chris White at NCR: Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, has endorsed a video that includes anti-immigrant remarks and homophobic slurs by a priest of Wisconsin in which the priest claims “you cannot be Catholic and be a Democrat.” (Full disclosure: the video praised by the bishop also attacks me in rather harsh and homophobic terms.) 

Uh, if you haven’t watched this video by now, please, please watch and tell me where you think those homophobic terms are, because my transcript doesn’t even have one mention of homosexuality.

https://youtu.be/3-7eoTN2vNM

Texas bishop endorses video claiming faithful Catholics can’t support Democratic candidates

Sep 6, 2020

by Christopher White

Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, has endorsed a video that includes anti-immigrant remarks and homophobic slurs by a priest of Wisconsin in which the priest claims, “You cannot be Catholic and be a Democrat.

The video was released Aug. 30 by Fr. James Altman, pastor of St. James the Less Catholic Church in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and has since received more than 298,000 views.

I will say this, Fr. Altman does specify “faithful Catholic” in the middle of the video, and he is right. You cannot be a faithful Catholic and a Democrat. A faithful Catholic would form their conscience well, and only the most invincibly ignorant would think the Democratic party worth voting for. I have friends who won’t be voting for Trump, but they will most certainly not be voting “Harris/Biden.” (Again, order intentional.)

In the 10-minute video, set to ominous music and dark lighting, the priest slams Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington D.C., for his criticism of President Donald Trump’s photo-op and appearance at the St. John Paul II National Shrine earlier this summer. He also criticizes Jesuit Fr. James Martin and his closing prayer at the Democratic National Convention; refers to participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects immigrants who entered the United States as minors from deportation, as “criminal illegal aliens”; and calls climate change a hoax.

Ominous music? Beethoven’s 7th Symphony in A Major is ominous? Granted, it is the second movement, which is in a minor chord, but the tempo is allegretto, so it isn’t all that slow. (Thanks to the music geeks in my family for that info!) But geez, you’d think it was the imperial march after that description. Besides, who hasn’t criticized AB Wilton Gregory? Oh, yeah. NcR. They haven’t criticized him for anything, including his ties and handling of McCarrick.

The Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, did not immediately respond to NCR’s request for comment on Altman and the video.

On Sept. 5, however, Strickland took to Twitter to share the video and thank Altman for his “courage.”

“If you love Jesus & His Church & this nation…pleases [sic] HEED THIS MESSAGE,” wrote Strickland. In less than 24 hours, the bishop’s Tweet endorsing the video had been shared more than 1,000 times and liked by more than 2,600 viewers.

Bishop Strickland really is amazing.

In referencing Martin’s participation at the Democratic convention last month, Altman labeled the Jesuit priest a “a hyper, confusing spreading heretic” who was a “premier speaker” at the convention.

In fact, Martin, who is known for promoting LGBTQ inclusion within the Catholic Church, did not speak and instead offered a prayer that included petitions for “the LGBT teen who is bullied” and “the unborn child in the womb,” among other vulnerable and marginalized groups.

”I guess it’s okay for James Martin to spout out for the Democrats on their national stage but God forbid a priest speak out against their godless platform,” said Altman. “Here is a memo to clueless baptized Catholics out there: You cannot be Catholic and be a Democrat. Period.”

Let’s stop right here. The argument that this was just a simple prayer is just lame. His “prayer” has now been turned into a support ad for the DNC by America Magazine, complete with Harris and Biden watching fireworks with “D20” behind them. Where were America Magazine’s oh so unbiased pics of Trump and Pence and the RNC convention? Hmmmm????  https://www.facebook.com/FrJamesMartin/videos/2990839357689163

I guess we’re all supposed to kiss Fr. Martin’s feet for mentioning the unborn child. While he told about the plight of groups that are vulnerable and marginalized (in Fr. Martin’s eyes), did anyone notice that he never mentioned the plight of the child in the womb? He couldn’t even utter the word abortion. He said exactly what the DNC would let him get away with to give him a shot at pandering to Catholics.

“Offered a prayer” apparently equals shilling for the Democrat agenda in prayer form. “Lord, please grant that all who are for the LGBT lifestyle are vindicated.” Mentioning the child in the womb without mentioning their plight and then including those WHO CHOOSE A LIFESTYLE (because none of us have to act on our disordered inclinations) in the same category as the unborn is dishonest.

“The party platform absolutely is against everything the Catholic Church teaches, so just quit pretending that you’re Catholic and vote Democrat,” he continued. “Repent of your support of that party and its platform or face the fires of hell.”

Hell. It’s a little topic Fr. Martin avoids at all costs.

Despite Martin’s work with the LGBTQ community having been encouraged by Pope Francis, Altman slurred Martin, saying he was allowed to “prance up on to the Democrats’ national stage.

Wait, THAT was the supposed homosexual slur? Fragile much? Well, if you think that’s bad, I thought Fr. Martin’s DNC promo video looked more like a Stuart Smalley SNL skit. Martin is the water-boy for the DNC with the very uneducated Catholics.

In addition to Martin, Altman singled out Gregory for his rebuke of the St. John Paul II National Shrine, which is owned and operated by the Knights of Columbus, for hosting Trump the day after he used tear gas to clear peaceful protesters for a photo-op in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church in June.

Oh, and I totally forgot that Trump launched that tear gas at protestors. He darn near looked like Rambo doing it. (Sarcasm alert.) I always laugh as this accusation and the photo op accusation. It’s like they forgot they always tell us we’re not supposed to judge the interior of others, , although we are basing our judgements on things actually said. Could it be that Trump found the burning of St. John’s Church pathetic and he was trying to make a point that he wasn’t going to take it anymore? 

Altman criticized Gregory, who is the first African American archbishop in the nation’s capital, for what he labeled as his “horrific attack on the one best pro-life president and his Catholic wife” and for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, whose protesters Altman characterized as “Marxists.”

So, because he’s the first African American archbishop in DC we’re just supposed to what? Give him kudos because he’s black? Seriously. Racist much? Maybe you should try to point out how Fr. Altman is wrong rather than playing the race card. Do you really think Fr. Altman wouldn’t have done the same to, say, Cardinal Cupich if he had made the same ridiculous comments? Please.

Altman’s latest video does not mark the first time he has singled out Gregory. In an earlier video posted on June 4, he used his Sunday homily at Mass to criticize Gregory for protesting Trumps’ visit to the shrine and accused him of “confusing” faithful Catholics. That video has now received more than half a million views.

So, in other words, he did what scores of other Catholics did?

In discussing DACA, which the U.S. bishops have consistently supported, Altman falsely categorized the program, saying it “means criminal illegal aliens.”

Um, if DACA didn’t deal with illegal aliens, why would it be needed in the first place. As our immigration laws stand, it very much deals with people who are here illegally. Being against DACA doesn’t mean being against immigration or immigrants. The Church has repeatedly stated that we can, indeed, disagree on various forms of immigration law. We can’t disagree that we should be as generous as possible to immigrants. Again, this is a prudential issue. Nobody has ever told me that I have to get to confession if I’m for or against DACA.

With less than two months until the presidential election, Altman attempted to argue that it was impossible for Catholics to vote for Democrats due to the party’s platform allowing for legal abortion.

“There will be 60 million and counting aborted babies standing at the gates of Heaven barring your Democrat entrance and nothing you can say will ever excuse you for your direct or indirect support of that diabolical agenda,” he said.

What’s fantastical is that idiots like Christopher White are suggesting that you roll the dice on that not being the case. And, BTW, the DNC’s position on abortion is not the ONLY problem. The wholesale immorality of the Democratic Party contradicts the teachings of the Catholic Church on many NON-prudential subjects.

Altman went on to ask viewers how many Catholics voted for President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and said the answer was “zero,” implying that it was impossible to be a faithful Catholic and vote for Obama. In fact, Obama won the Catholic vote in both elections.

A FAITHFUL Catholic is one who embraces the teachings of the Church and models their life around them vs. one who models the doctrines of the Church on their own beliefs and ignores the ones that they find inconvenient. A faithful Catholic will do their best to NOT remain willfully ignorant or willfully disobedient. How about we do some comparison for effect? We’ve got Joe Biden, who says he is a “devout” Catholic but commits acts of heresy (marrying same-sex couples), breaks up someone’s marriage, supports abortion, euthanasia, sodomy, etc., etc., etc. And then you’ve got someone like Bishop Strickland, who says the Church’s doctrine is sound in every respect, and as fallen as we are, we need to model our life on those doctrines and repeatedly strive to nail them. If we have weaknesses, we must try to overcome them, NOT seek to have them accepted because we want them to be so. See the difference? If you are one who ignores or hopes doctrines will change to your will, you have become you own God. And, please, do not bother posting prudential topics such as policies on immigration, poverty, war, etc., etc., etc. I will issue a verbal tongue lashing before suggesting you take the time to learn the difference between intrinsic evil and prudential positions.

Throughout the video, Altman slammed U.S. bishops as “gutless cowards” and part of a “conspiracy of fear,” unwilling to have the courage to out Catholics who support Democratic candidates.

It’s about time people did this. As Sr. Dede Byrne pointed out, somebody better start addressing everlasting life!

Even so, in recent months, the faith of Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, has promoted controversial commentary from several Catholic bishops questioning the sincerity of his Catholicism.

In August, Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, tweeted: “Biden-Harris. First time in awhile [sic] that the Democratic ticket hasn’t had a Catholic on it. Sad.”

In a series of Tweets on Sept. 1, Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville, Tennessee, seemed to imply that Biden was not a faithful Catholic, writing, “It really confuses me that both Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi time and time again state that they are faithful Catholics and yet promote unlimited abortion as well as deny so many of the teachings of our faith.”

So, clearly, not ALL Catholic bishops are cowards. There are pretty much three categories: brave, scared, or shills for Democrats.

Altman’s video has stirred controversy on the internet among Catholics both supporting his letter and demanding his diocese rebuke him. The social justice organization Faithful America has launched an online petition calling the video “angry” and “misleading.” By contrast, right wing Catholic internet commentator Taylor Marshall has released a video calling Altman a “hero.”

As for Strickland, who in recent years has emerged as one of the most partisan members of the U.S. hierarchy, endorsement of Altman’s video does not mark his first foray into promoting fringe or extremist clerics.

Don’t you love how people can throw out things like “right wing Catholic,” “partisan,” “fringe extremist clerics”, but “prancing” is forbidden? Again with the hypocrisy.

In 2018, when a former papal nuncio to the U.S., Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, issued a letter against Pope Francis charging that he mishandled clergy abuse claims and called for the pope’s resignation, Strickland issued his own letter saying he found Viganò to be credible and asked his priests to read his letter in all Sunday Masses that week in August 2018.

[Christopher White is NCR national correspondent. His email address is cwhite@ncronline.org. Follow him on Twitter: @CWWhite212.]

Amazingly, last time I checked, the Vatican has not censured AB Vigano. The only people who have passed judgment on him are the “judge not, you big meanie” crowd. Ironic, but that’s what you get with those who eat a big bowl of hypocrisy for breakfast on a daily basis.

Oh, and by the way, Bishop William Callahan of La Crosse has now issued a not so private “private” fraternal correction of Fr. Altman.  He doesn’t seem happy about the mail so out goes the “first approach your brother in private” idea but here’s the address anyway:

Bishop William Callahan
The Roman Catholic Diocese of La Crosse
3710 East Ave S
PO Box 4004
La Crosse, Wisconsin 54602-4004