Strayed shepherds and strayed sheep PfiDpasMfp Strayed Shepherds and Strayed Sheep Dale Francis Nihil Obstat: REV. EDWARD A. MILLER Censor Librorum Imprimatur: *(JOHN FRANCIS NOLL Archbishop, Bishop of Fort Wayne Strayed Shepherds and Strayed Sheep by DALE FRANCIS First Edition, 20,000 Printed in U. S. A. August 15, 1955 by OUR SUNDAY VISITOR PRESS Huntington, Indiana CONTENTS Adams, Paul — Arrien, John J. Uriarte .... Barrois, George Benitz, Mario Borders, Ben Bormann, Daniel J Burke, William E Cararra, John Carroll, J. W - Carter, L. R Chiniquy, Father Colacci, Mario Courret, Thomas DiDomenica, Angelo Doeswyk, Peter J Bussing, Albert Feeney, Leonard Fernandez, Jose A Fernandez, Pedro Puig .... Florez, Alfredo Garza, Jose Gianvittorio, Antonio Glowa, E. M Gross, Karl Hills, George Holdridge, Herbert C Hughes, Allan Kimber, John Kieda, Francis King, L. J Lahaie, Louis LaPierre, Frank 27 Lewena, John D. 27 LoVallo, .\ngelo 13 McLoughlin, Emmett 13 McMorrow, James 27 Martinez, Angel 26 Methot, J. M 26 Molina, Roderick E 15 Montano, Walter „ 24 Mrzena, Carl 25 Murphy, Edward F 26 Nafe, Emmett 27 Negrini, Luciano 15 Novaez, Gomora 27 Ochoa, Antonio 16 O’Gorman, W. E. R. 17 O’Sullivan, William 27 Padrosa, Luis 18 Petroff, E. A 25 Puig, Pedro F 25 Rein, Raymond . 25 Riukas, Stanley 18 Ruiz, Raymond 27 Tessar, O. R 26 Uriarte, J. J 4 Vega, Jose 19 Vinet, Lucien 19 York, Father 25 Zacchello, Joseph 20 Zavadsky, Joseph 27 4 4 5 27 26 6 6 26 27 27 30 7 8 26 9 27 9 10 25 11 27 27 27 27 25 30 27 27 12 26 20 Introduction •J-HIS is a sad thing to write for the men of whom I write are still priests. The indelible mark of their consecration to God is still upon them and nothing they can do can erase it. They may sink deep into the degradation of vilification, striking with hands meant to bless, speaking words of hate instead of love, raising soiled banners of bigotry instead of the whiteness of the Host, but still they are priests. Because they are priests, they deserve our re- spect. Because they are fallen priests, they need our love and prayers. In writing this, I have sought not to bring scandal but to bring truth. I have given only the pertinent information about those priests who now attack the Church that once they loved and which still loves them, believing it would serve no good purpose to tell unpleasant truths. If I have succeeded in what I have attempted to do you will think angrily of none of these men but say a prayer for all of them — for they are priests. Strayed Shepherds and Paul Adams The real name of this fallen priest is Paul Longtin. He was ordained as a Dominican priest in 1918, was secularized in 1929, went to the Dio- cese of Ogdensburg, N.Y. in 1929, remained there until 1949. For a period of four or five years before 1949, there had been complaints about his behaviour and he was twice hospitalized. Finally, he was retired on a pension in 1949, after which time he left the Catholic Church and later became a Protestant evangelist. John J. Uriarte Arrien Born in Bisca)^ Spain, ordained in Segovia, he left Spain in 1927 for England, came to the United States in October, 1929. He served in parishes in El Paso, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Chicago, was a Claretian father. His superiors said that his desertion was in particular due to his violent feelings and his strong sympathy for leftist movements, including com- munism. His violent feelings are still with him for on March 14, 1953, eight years after his defection from the Church, he published a bitter personal attack upon another individual engaged in anti- Catholic work — not because of his bigotry but because, as he wrote, ‘'Such a fake wiU never scratch the serene majesty of Rome” and that what was needed was someone more like himself. It is interesting as a revelation of the thinking of this fallen priest that in this attack he listed other fallen priests who felt as he did and listed Rev. J. Uriarte, which is apparently himself. Typical of his writings against the Church is an article in the October, 1950 ‘‘Converted Catho- lic” in which he says he had never thought of Cal- vary as a priest! George Barrois “I now wonder whether I ever was a Catholic at heart,” this priest wrote some seven years after he left the Church. Bom and reared in France, he says in a story written after leaving the Church that it was not until he was a young man that he was awakened from spiritual lethargy by the trag- edy of his father’s death in World War I. He de- cided to become a priest, left a diocesan seminary to become a Dominican. His training was broken by Army service and afterwards he completed his studies and was ordained a priest forever. He came to Catholic University in Washington in 1940 and less than a year later he left the Church. His own story tells of being impressed by Protestant services but only a few days after leaving the Church he attempted marriage with a Protestant woman. Breaking his vow of celibacy was to him a matter of no significance, Barrois wrote: “. . . I had never considered that celibacy was in itself of special value; it was a mere pro- fessional obligation which the majority of the clerg>^ meets wiih honesty. The mere fact of being mar- ried or single has no direct connection with the advancement of spiritual Hfe. . .” His writings do not bear the same degree of hatred as the writings of many fallen priests but he frequently misleads. Typical is an explanation he was quoted as giving as to how the dogma of the Assumption developed. This was reported in the ‘‘Presbyterian Life,” October 16, 1948. Wrote this fallen priest, “Take the case of the assumption of Mary, observed as one of the major solemnities in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Church. Guides showing visitors around the historic landmarks of the Holy Land would be very likely to select a spot to be shown as the resting place of Mary, If, one day, an inquisitive visitor inquired, ‘Where is the body?’, what more natural than to reply, ‘Oh, it is risen like the Lord’s’ ~ a statement easily embellished later on by displaying the exact blue sash that fell from her waist when she arose.” Daniel J. Bormann It is a rare thing when a priest leaves the Church unexpectedly. In almost every case there is a long record of unfortunate incidents. This Capu- chin priest was a chaplain during World War II. After he left the Church he attempted marriage with a Lutheran in Wisconsin. He is now listed as the owner of a resort in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, and he is reportedly studying to become a Lutheran clergyman. William E. Burke William Edmund Burke was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Scranton in 1931. As a priest he had many personal problems, none of which had anything to do with theological doubts. In 1940 he left the Church, almost immediately attempted mar- riage, now serves as a field worker of the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptists. One Catholic, who attended a meeting address- ed by this fallen priest, said that he told the audience that Catholic priests were not permitted to read the —6— Bible. Another who attended a meeting addressed by him said that he seemed ill at ease, made only the mildest of statements against the Church. His writings are typified by a statement in ‘‘Southern Baptist Home Missions,” May, 1934, in which he said, “. . . I feel sad to think that my former church still rejects the doctrine of justification by faith alone. . .” Mario Colacci Mario Colacci is an ordained priest of an Italian diocese. Dissatisfied as professor at a semi- nary in Benevento, Italy, he received permission to attend a secular university for the study of languages but without authorization changed his course of study to literature, and used this training to secure a position as a teacher of literature in the public schools of an Italian city. For this disobedience, he was suspended from hearing of confessions and preaching. Again without permission of his religious superiors, he left Italy, came to the United States, where he attempted marriage with one of his students in Italy and be- came a Protestant minister. In his talks before Protestant groups, he says the Catholic Church believes it should have control of the state and that the Church is doing every- thing within its power to achieve this goal. He tries to make his listeners believe that the Cathohc Church — which often suffered at the hands of the fascists was the supporter of fascism, and he says that he was taught the fascist regime was the ideal form of government. Asked once at a meeting if there were many good Catholics, he replied, “Oh, there’s a few.” —7— Thomas Courret When a priest leaves the Church, he is pounced upon by bigots wishing to use him against the faith he has left. Untrained for work in the world, un- sure of himself because the magnitude of what he is doing weighs heavily upon him, the fallen priest often is a victim of such unscrupulous persons. Soon he discovers that he is billed as a priest who had been high in the ranks of the Church and a man who left not because of weakness but because of theological objections. The case of Thomas Courret is typical. A priest belonging to the Franciscan Province of the Twelve Apostles in Peru, this fallen priest ran into monetary difficulties, became involved in another unfortunate matter, was transferred by his superiors to another area but refused obedience. In leaving, he wrote a letter saying he had no intentions of becoming a Protestant, bound himself to take no hostile action against the Church or the Franciscan Order from which, he wrote, he had re- ceived the greatest benefits. Almost immediately in anti-Catholic publica- tions in the United States, this priest was trans- formed into a man of major importance. The ‘‘Sun- day School Times,” October 9, 1954, reported he had been director-general of all monasteries in Southern Peru, a leading educator. He now became Doctor Thomas Courret, although he never had re- ceived a doctorate degree, had held only minor posts as a priest. He is now listed as on the staff of “The Con- verted Catholic,” an anti-Catholic publication of a group in New York headed by a man who was never a priest, Walter Montano. Peter J. Doeswyk This validly ordained priest was an assistant pastor at St. Bernard’s church in Omaha, left the Church to contract civil marriage, has since spoken often against the Church in Protestant meetings. He taught briefly at the University of Omaha, left this position after severe criticism of his lectures. Leonard Feeney No fallen priest receives more prayers than this man, loved by many who pray he will be reconciled again with the Church. Years ago he wrote a verse that goes like this: I burned my bridges when I had crossed I never brooded on what I lost Nor ruined with rapine my holocaust Yet in my soul there is something still Deeper than memory, mind and will. Something alive that I cannot kill. Part of me, put not in my keeping Awakes unawakened when I am sleeping, Under my laughter it goes on weeping. Born in 1897, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1914, was ordained in 1928. He became well known as an essayist and a poet, was the zealous director of St. Benedict’s Center in Cambridge. Difficulties arose over the interpretation of ‘'No salvation out- side the Church” and Father Feeney and his sup- porters insisted this meant no Protestants or Jews could enter Heaven. In August, 1948, Father Fee- ney was ordered by his lawful superior to report to Holy Cross College for a teaching assignment but he refused obedience. 9—. Although his disobedience was opposed by his superiors and by the Archbishop of the Archdiocese, Father Feeney persisted, continuing even when an answer from the Holy Office in Rome rejected his plea. Today Father Feeney and his supporters, al- most one hundred persons, continue their activities although they are excommunicated from the Church. Hatred typifies their total approach—hatred of Catholic leaders, Protestants and Jews. Believing that outside of the Church there is no salvation, they are outside of the Church because of their disobedience. ’ The followers of Father Feeney appear in many parts of the country, often in religious garb, selling publications that unsuspecting Catholics may think have the approval of the Church. Nowhere are the prayers of Catholics more needed than here that hatred might be replaced by love, disobedience by obedience. Jose A. Fernandez Walter Winchell chose St. Patrick’s Day, 1946, to announce that a Dominican priest named J. A. Fer- nandez had left the Catholic Church to become a Presbyterian minister. Why Winchell chose this particular Sunday to make an announcement of a news story more than a year old only Winchell knows, but Winchell didn’t tell the whole story. The whole story is the story of a man pursued by his conscience but taking refuge in hatred of the Church that once he served. Jose Fernandez was a Dominican priest of a province that served in New Orleans. Spanish by birth, he liked New Orleans and his work as pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Church and when the province assigned him to the Philippine Islands he refused obedience and left the Church and attempted marriage. A little more than two years later, he was back and asked to be return- ed to the Church as a penitent. He was accepted back and was sent to a Benedictine monastery in Florida. His civil marriage had ended in civil di- vorce. Two years later he walked out again and this time enlisted in the Army. Once again he was pur- sued by his conscience and made some effort to re- turn to the Church but he did not continue his ef- forts and three years later he attempted marriage again with another woman and became a Presby- terian. Seven days after becoming a member of this Protestant body he was ‘"ordained” a minister. Today he operates a center in Philadelphia that he calls a Protestant-Catholic information cen- ter and gives talks against the Church in Protestant churches. In these talks he introduces the woman he married, calls her “his first girl friend,” does not mention the first marriage that ended in divorce. Typical of his approach was a tableau he stag- ed in a Protestant church. A girl was shown as rep- resenting a Catholic girl, trying to get a Protestant boy to sign a marriage pledge. The scene represent- ed a park bench on a moonlight night and as the couple cuddled, Fernandez called out in a stage whisper, “You re not doing so hot, sit a little closer.” He also told the audience that a picture of him as a child beside a statue showed him when he worshipped statues. Alfredo Florez Ordained in 1937 in his native Peru, Alfredo Florez came to the United States to serve as an as- sistant at a Long Island parish in the fall of 1950. Less than a year later, he left the Church and he is now listed as a member of the staff of Christ’s Mis- —11— sion, an organization headed by a man named Wal- ter Montano, who claimed to be an ex-priest until he was exposed as never having been ordained. His leaving the Church came at a time when he had found it impossible to receive the credentials that would have permitted him to remain a priest in the United States. He would have been required to return to his own diocese in Peru and he refused to do this. He now writes anti-Catholic articles, says in one of them that he had doubts about the Catholic faith even before ordination, that it was reading the Bible for the first time that convinced him he should leave the Catholic Church. In an article that appeared in the October, 1951, issue of “The Converted Catholic,” this fallen priest said that on the last day that he celebrated Mass he gave a sermon in which he said the Mass was “a mockery of the true gospel of Christ.” Yet, claiming to believe this, he openly admits having celebrated Mass that day. Francis Kieda Ordained a priest after study in Italy, this American-born priest was a member of the Congre- gation of the Resurrection from his ordination in 1932 until 1949. He was sent to Rome in 1948 and while there he became involved in an affair. He left the Church in September, 1949, attempted marriage before a justice of peace and in December the woman with whom he had contracted civil marriage became a mother. He returned to the United States, today serves as one of the staff of the anti-Catholic publication, “The Converted Catholic.” —12— Angelo Lo Vallo This Pennsylvania native studied in Genoa, Italy. On May 19, 1943, he was ordained a priest forever, vowing to God to be a CathoHc priest so long as he hved. On January 20, 1949, he wrote a letter to the diocesan chancery office that said, “Kindly do this favor for me. Notify the Bishop of Scranton that I, hereby, hand in my resignation as a Catholic priest of the Roman Catholic Chmch.” Since that time he has been one of the most active of the writers for the anti-Catholic “Convert- ed Catholic” magazine. Emmett McLoughlin Educated for the priesthood in the Franciscan order, this fallen priest was ordained in 1933. From 1934 to 1948 he was a priest in Phoenix, Arizona. He received considerable national publicity for his work among the poor and the colored, obtaining funds for three housing projects and a hospital. His own story of his life tells most about his fall. The hospital became known as Father Em- mett’s hospital and he apparently was pleased by the pubhcity he gained. By his own admission, he dehberately violated Catholic teachings by arranging for birth control in- formation to be given in the hospital. When he de- cided to leave the Church, he prepared for his defec- tion by arranging to have non-Catholics placed on the hospital board. His immediate reason for leaving the Church was refusal of obedience to his superiors. After breaking the vow of obedience, he later broke the vow of celibacy by attempting marriage with a divorced woman who worked in the hospital. A reviewer in ‘‘The Nation” magazine, not —•13— noted for friendliness to the Catholic Church, said the story of Emmett McLoughlin was the story of a man who in pride deliberately broke vows he had taken and even before breaking with the Church, worked against Catholic teachings. Today he continues as the head of the hospital, a community owned institution, and speaks and writes often against the Catholic Church. Typical is an article that appeared in the ‘‘Con- verted Catholic,” December, 1954, and re-printed in the February, 1955 issue of the “Scottish Rite News Bulletin.” Wrote this fallen priest: “I tell them (the audi- ences to which he speaks) that an intelligent, loyal American can not be a sincere, devout Catholic.” This hbelhng of one-fifth of the nation is de- fended because he says that Pope Pius IX condemn- ed Americanism. Emmet McLoughlin knows—you can be sure—that the Americanism that this pope condemned was a heresy in theology that existed primarily only in France, did not exist in this coun- try but gained the name because it was supposedly an extension of the ideas of a group of American priests. But McLoughlin, who could not help but know the real meaning of the terminology, knows also that virtually everyone hearing him speak or reading his words would misinterpret “Americanism” in the popular meaning. He also says that Pope Pius IX condemned the principle that the right to govern arises from the consent of the governed. He should know that the document that states this principle for Americans states unequivocably in the lines just before that men “are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. . . .” It is this the Church holds, that the rights of men come not from themselves —14— but from God, Creator of men. Yet today there are men who ignore what precedes the sentence that says that just powers are derived from the consent of the governed when this is truly the key to under- standing the meaning. If it were not so then men could overthrow the rights of other men simply by a majority vote. The Church says—and the Declara- tion of Independence says—that there are inalien- able rights that do not come from men but come from God. But this fallen priest would have other Ameri- cans beheve that CathoHcs who hold firm to this belief can not be loyal Americans. Roderick E. Molina This Spanish priest taught for awhile at Saint Bonaventure in the United States, later at Catholic University in Washington. When his superiors re- turned him to Spain he refused obedience, broke with the Church. Later he attempted marriage and became a minister of the Episcopal church. The “New York Times,” May 24, 1953, reported him as saying he had become an Episcopalian because he liked their humanizing of things Divine. Luciano Negrini Few stories of fallen priests have received such widespread attention from the secular press as the story of this unfortunate man. Pursued by a Catholic girl who announced she loved him and wanted to marry him, the Italian- born priest said he could not because of his vows of celibacy. He left the United States and was fol- lowed to Italy by the young woman. On December 27, 1951, this priest went 15^ through a civil marriage ceremony. But as he did it he announced he did not intend to become a Protestant. He announced, too, his conscience was clear, forgetting now his vow to God. When later a child was born, there was need for financial help. So this fallen priest joined with the anti-Catholic "Converted Catholic,” has his name listed on the masthead of the publication. Antonio Ochoa This Colombian priest was ordained November 30, 1941. Of all the fallen priests, this is the only one who gives information that he says he re- ceived in the confessional. Even those fallen priests who speak most bitterly, tell the most fantastic stories, never break the seal of confession. Yet in a publication titled "Your Church Is Closed,” he dehberately reveals what he says he learned in the confessional concerning a personal mortal sin. Whether he really heard a confession like the one he relates, it is saddening to find an ordained priest who openly states he is breaking the seal of con- fession. This man frequently speaks at Protestant churches in the United States. Aniceto Sparagna Breaking his vow of obedience, this fallen priest left the Franciscan Order in his native Italy, came to the United States, obtaining a visa under what later appeared to be false pretenses. He attempted marriage, now speaks and writes against the Church. Probably the best way to understand how greatly this man needs the prayers of those inside the Church is to quote from his writings and talks. —16— In a pamphlet, *‘Why I Left the Roman Church,” this fallen priest wrote: "The Roman Church claims that only the marriage contracted and administered under its jurisdiction is good and valid, denying to other churches and governments of the world the authority to perform and assist any marriage contract. So that, whosoever marries out of this church is considered to be in a state of continual concubinage and to live like animals.” Aniceto Sparagna knows tliis is not true, has de- liberately misled. W. E. R. O'Gorman This fallen priest submitted a resignation to Pope Pius XII on July 26, 1953 but apparently for- got that a letter of resignation doesn’t absolve a man from vows to God freely taken. A convert to the Church, he became a Catholic, then a priest and almost immediately started find- ing fault with others within the Church. He was able to see faults and abuses in others, didn’t recognize them in himself. Recently he wrote a book titled "A Priest Speaks His Mind.” In it there are distortions and out and out mis-statements. Typical is this: "It must be remembered that the methods used by the Catholic Church in reck- oning her number of adherents are very question- able. In many cases baptized Protestants are in- cluded in her calculations for she claims jurisdiction over all baptized Christians.” This fallen priest, who was a Paulist, knows very well that Catholic statistics do not include Protestants as Catholics, but he deliberately mis- leads non-Catholics who might read his book. His book discusses among other things the —17— causes of leakage in the Catholic Church, the rea- sons for which people leave the Church. In this he is often quite accurate for he says that the ina- bility of some priests to abide by their vow of chastity and the refusal of some Catholics to accept the teaching on birth control and divorce are major causes of loss of membership to the Catholic Church. He is probably right that these are major causes of loss of members, but he is wrong in thinking that because some people do not abide by God’s law, God’s law should, therefore, be changed. Luis Padrosa This fallen priest lives in South America but his writings have been circulated in the United States. Ordained in his native Spain, he left his country in the company of a nurse with whom he had worked. He since has attempted marriage with her, now teaches in a Protestant seminary where he tells students that it was Bible reading that turned him from the Catholic Church. Stanley Riukas This young priest was ordained as a Jesuit in Indiana in 1949 after studying in his native Lith- uania, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. He was one of a group of Lithuanian Jesuits who emigrated to this country. The Seventh Day Adventist publica- tion, These Times, commenting on the defection of this young priest said, ‘‘Occasionally even an im- portant member of the hierarchy turns his back on the spiritual tradition of the so-called eternal city.” That this young priest turned his back on the Church, no one can deny, but he was in no way a member of the hierarchy but only a young priest who soon after ordination left the Church that had helped him escape from Red conquered Lithuania. He is preparing to be a Presbyterian minister. —18— Jose Vega This priest simply decided not to be held by his vow of celibacy, married and left the Catholic Church. He then joined a heretical sect that calls itself the Mexican Catholic Church, a small group of a couple of thousand persons whose group dates back to the time when a few priests decided to go along with Juarez in his persecution of the Church in Mexico. He is now the pastor of one of the churches in a Texas city. Lucien Vinet This fallen priest has written what is probably the most vicious of all books written by priests who have left the Church. Called ‘T Was a Priest,” it is a book packed with scandalous charges, in- nuendos and insinuations. A Canadian priest, he went into the Royal Canadian Air Force as a chaplain after eight years of parish work. In November, 1941, he was trans- ferred overseas. He ran into difficulties while in the service and three months after arriving over- seas he attempted marriage with a Protestant woman. His writing is so lurid that to repeat it would arouse only anger when what is needed is prayer for this priest. One Catholic, who wrote to him complaining about the sensationalism of his writing, received a reply in which Lucien Vinet asked to be understood, said that he was an intelligent man deserving of respect. He is a priest and for this de- serves the respect of all. He is a fallen priest and for this he deserves love and prayers. Associated with him in much of his work is an- —19— other fallen priest, Louis Lahaie. This priest has broken the vow of chastity by attempting marriage. He \vrote the introduction to the Vinet book but he does not go in for the same degree of vilifi- cation. Joseph Zacchello Joseph Zacchello was born in Venice, Italy, on March 22, 1917. He entered a seminary when he was only ten, studying at Piacenza, and in 1939 he was ordained a priest forever. As a Missionary Father of St. Charles of Bor- romeo he was sent as an assistant to an Italian parish in Chicago, later served in New York. His record as an assistant at St. Callistus parish and Saint Francis Cabrini parish in Chicago and St. Joseph parish in New York was considered unsatis- factory by his superiors. He left St. Joseph parish in New York in Feb- ruary, 1944, and soon after attempted marriage. This marriage ended in civil divorce. He is the editor of a magazine, "The Convert,’’ that bitterly opposes the Catholic Church, often making statements that a man trained in Cathohc theology would almost certainly know to be untrue. He is active among Catholics of Italian ex- traction, makes personal visitations into Catholic homes, attempting to lead people from the Church. Typical of his writings is this from a pamphlet titled, "The Priest Who Became a Christian.” "Poor people were paying me, every day, from $5 to $30 for twenty minutes of a ceremony called Mass, because I promised them to free the souls of their relatives from the fire of Purgatory.” Joseph Zacchello is a priest. .20— Summary Of Fallen Priests HE priests weVe just listed are all men who have actively opposed the Church in the last three or four years. There are others whose records we have but who have ceased activity against the Church in recent years. We have not listed them for we in no way want to publicize their fall just for the sake of publicizing it. Many of these fallen priests will return to the Church, many have in the past. Some will not re- turn but will die outside of the Church and be buried in unconsecrated ground, still priests but fallen out of friendship with God even in their last moments. For all fallen priests, there should be prayers and love. There are other fallen priests who never speak a word against the Church, who go off quietly and still believe but through weakness have not been able to live up to their beliefs. For these men, your prayers should be even more fervent. How many fallen priests are there? The num- ber is not large. There are forty-five thousand priests right now in the United States. If one-tenth of one per cent of these men were to fall this year that would be only forty-five but the truth is there will not be nearly that high a percentage. Our Lord chose twelve apostles and one of them betrayed Him. It is not strange that Our Lord’s Church should suffer betrayal sometimes, too, but the be- trayals are few and those who do fall almost always fall out of weakness and almost never out of malice. Nor do they leave the Church because they have been conscientiously convinced that the Catholic religion is false and another true. -21. Those priests who fight against the Church af- ter they have fallen can be understood by any per- son who understands human nature. Countless num- bers of Protestant ministers become Catholics and yet these men never return to attack the Protest- antism they have left; there is no malice in their hearts but only love. Why the difference? The ministers who have become Catholics have added greater love to their lives. Therefore, hatred is crowded out. Fallen priests have subtracted from their lives and so to justify their own actions, they turn to vilifi- cation. One fallen priest met his downfall when as a chaplain he became involved with a woman and broke his vow of chastity. Now he writes books and leaflets, charging all priests break their vows of chastity. It is not true and he knows it is not true, but because the weight of his own failure bears so heavily upon* him, he seeks to justify him- self by trying to make others believe that everyone fails as he failed. One final word on fallen priests, show great compassion to the families of fallen priests. Any Catholic can understand the pride and joy of a mother and father when a son is ordained a priest forever. Any Catholic understanding this pride and joy should be able to understand the terrible sor- row of a mother and father when a son falls. He is their son, they love him as a son, yet he has given them their crudest wound. So above all, show com- passion for these sorrowing families and pray with them for the return of their prodigals. —22 When Fallen Priests Come To Town IT may be that a fallen priest will come to your town. What do you do then? You should treat him wdth the love and respect due to him as a priest but with the firmness and disapproval he deserves as a priest acting as a priest should not act. It is good for Cathohcs to have representatives at such meetings. Let the fallen priest know you are there before he begins his talk. This will make him understand that he can not tell falsehoods without having them recognized as falsehoods. But do not argue with him pubhcly. Do not get into a controversy from the floor. Afterwards, go speak to the priest. If possible wait until others have gone away. Speak to him politely and wdth respect. Tell him you think he should not have misrepresented the Church if he did so during his talk. Let him know that you are praying for him. But remember, he is a priest. As for those bigots who are not priests but are parading as priests, do not be afraid to expose them. Ask them for credentials, ask them where they were ordained, demonstrate they are not priests at all. But even here, it is better not to get into an argu- ment at a meeting. Whafs more, such questions should be asked by someone chosen to ask them. It should be someone who knows the priesthood well enough to ask questions that would demon- strate the lack of knowledge of the man claiming to be a priest. For example, one such man was exposed because he didn’t know the form for ab- solution. The time to ask the questions is before pr after the meeting, while others are around but —23— not ordinarily during the meeting when the speaker, because he holds the platform, has a tactical advan- tage over the questioner and can ignore questions he does not wish to answer. Men Who Never Were Priests gEING an ex-priest can be a financially profitable thing and so it is not surprising that religious racketeers should appear, claiming they are former Catholic priests when they have never been priests. Sometimes the men themselves do not an- nounce they are former priests but over-zealous sponsors make the claims for them. Often after being introduced as ex-priests, these men then find it easy to fall into the deception. Typical is Walter Montano, editor of the notorious "Converted Catholic.” Wlien he became editor of this publication, he passed himself off as a former Dominican priest. It wasn’t until a secular pubhcation exposed him as never having been or- dained that the man began to back-track, claimed that the Catholic Church had so many different "ordinations” that Protestants wouldn’t understand the distinctions and so he hadn’t tried to clarify the situation. The truth is that this man received tonsure but nothing else. When he came up for minor or- ders, he was turned down for reasons his superiors thought sufficient. A couple of years later, still not admitted to minor orders, he left the monastery, later became a Protestant. Although now he parades as Doctor Montano, he had only two hours of philosophy in the semi- nary, never got any degree of any kind. Yet this man is considered a priest by many of his duped —24— readers and is actually listed as the editor of a magazine supposedly edited by ex-priests. But Montano isn’t alone in posing as an ex- priest. There are many others. Here is a partial list. All of these men have been publicly advertised as being ex-priests either in Protestant publications or before Protestant religious meetings. There is no record that any of them ever were priests any- where in the world. George Hills claims to be an ex-monk but there are no Catholic records that exist to confirm his claims and when he was asked where he had at- tended a serninary he at first said France, changed it to Rome but couldn’t tell where the seminarv’ was located. Pedro Puig Fernandez was paraded as an ex- Franciscan all over the United States. A year later he admitted pubhcly that he had lied, that he had never been a priest, that the ministers who had sponsored him early in the 1950s had joined him in his dec'eption. Raymond Rein not only never was a priest but he has a long record as a confidence man, a record that has landed him in at least one state penitentiary. Carl Mrzena wears the robes of an archbishop, tells his audience that he was formerly a Catholic archbishop, is listed by the Converted Catholic group as an ex-priest. He was never even a Catho- lic, might possibly have belonged to a heretical sect that calls itself the Liberal Catholic Church but even this is not certain. In any case, he is not an ex-priest, was never a Cathohc. E. A. Petroff claims to have been a Cathohc as a child, this may be possible but he is not the ex-priest that he sometimes is called. A man who calls himself Father York and —25— claims to be of tlie Texas diocese made one mistake in choosing his name — there never has been a Fadier York in that diocese. L. J. King is frequently listed as a former priest. He was born a Catholic but never received First Communion. He has a long prison record and is the author of some of the most obscene of the pamphlets attacking the Church. John Cararra lists himself only as a Catholic converted to Protestantism but some enthusiastic sponsors have called him a former priest and his book, ‘‘Why a Preacher and Not a Priest,” lends aid to this fraud by its title. Incidentally, this book contains one of the most amusing mis-statements against the Church. In the first editions (he later dropped this statement) Carrara told his readers that there were some sins that the Catholic Church taught could never be forgiven and these were call- ed “immortal sins.” Edward F. Murphy was born a Catholic, was uneducated, left the Church as a youngster when one of his parents left the Church, too, but he was never the priest that some of his sponsors have claimed him to be. Angelo di Domenica has written a book, “Protestant Primer on Pioman Catholicism,” that is inferior even for anti-Catholic material but he was never the priest he is sometimes listed as having been. He left the Catholic Church as a youngster. Ben Borders never was a priest and had no connection with the Trappists. Records show his connections with the Knights of Columbus were minor and he is obviously a former Catholic who was poorly instructed, despite the fact that he now deludes many with pamphlets that purport to tell the truth about Catholic teachings. J. M. Methot, Angel Martinez, O. R. Tessar, -26— Gomora Novaez, Emmett Nafe and James McMor- row are all men who have been listed as ex-priests, but none of them appear in any Catholic records as ever having been priests at all. Joseph Zavadsky claims to have been a priest- hood student at a seminary that says his name does not appear on any of their records. Samuel Ruiz, William O’Sullivan, Antonio Gianvittorio, Karl Gross, Frank LaPierre, J. W. Carroll, L. R. Carter, John D. Lewena, Jose Garza, E. M. Glowa, John Kim- ber all the names of men who have claimed in the last four years to be Catholic priests — or had others make the claim for them. In every instance, they are not in Catholic records, obviously never were priests, probably many of them never even Catholics. Allan Hughes claimed to be a Monsignor, said he was educated as a Benedictine. Caught in a false statement, he then claimed to have been in a heretical sect called the Old Catholic Church. Albert Dussing was the hero of an article that said a few years back he was called “Father,” now was a Presbyterian minister. In his brief time as a Franciscan student he might have been Frater but never Father for he was never a priest. Mario Benitez lists himself as a former priest but he was never ordained. He says he was a pro- fessor at a Jesuit seminary. He was not but he did repeat on occasion the conferences dictated by the professor in charge of Natural Theology classes. These are some of the men who have been listed as ex-priests but who were not ex-priests at all. There may very well be more travelling through the nation. It is certain there will be more. It is too well-paying not to draw racketeers. 27— When Bigots Come To Town can you do when bigots come to town? r irst and most important, you don’t answer hatred with more hatred. It is a frustrating thing to hear lies told about the Church you love, but you must understand that lies are the only weapons possible against truth. Yqu must understand, too, that many of your non-Catholic neighbors will be repelled by this bigotry. They may not know what the real truth is, but their common sense will tell them the Catho- lic Church could not be as the bigots paint it or there would not be so many good Catholics in the world. So never under-estimate the common sense of the people or over-estimate their knowledge. If you do not under-estimate their common sense then you will know there are many who will not be duped by bigots. If you do not over-estimate their know- ledge then you will realize that Catholics have an obligation to counteract falsehood with truth. The appearance of a bigot in the community is the best possible opening for a series of instructive talks on the Catholic Church. An advertisement in the community nev/spaper can let non-Catholics know that a series of talks will be given on the tmth about what Catholics believe. The vast majority of the people are fair mind- ed. Give them a chance to hear the other side. Do not in any way make the advertisement or the talks an answer to the specific anti-Catholic meet- ing, do not be dragged into the muck of hatred created by the bigot in your community, but in a positive manner offer the truths of the Church. —28— Never personnally attack the bigot, even when you know scandalous things about him, but return love for his hatred. The Catholic Church can not expect not to be persecuted, can not expect not to be hed about; Christ promised this would be true. But Catholics must always remember that Christ taught that we must offer love for hatred, that we must do good even for those who hate and persecute us. Catholics must increase their own personal sanctity, too, for the argument for the Church that means most to non-Catholics is the hfe of a good Cathohc they know. Bigoted Publications "PHERE is an increasing flood of anti-CathoHc filth cluttering the mails. Typical is “The Converted Catholic.” Founded by a fallen priest who lost all belief in the Trinity, it is now edited by a Walter Montano, who for a long time claimed to be a priest until he was exposed as having been only a seminarian who was refused even his minor orders. Fallen priests have complained often about their treatment at the hands of the bigots who run this publication and the organization that supports it. They say the group gets contributions, claiming to help fallen priests, but that little of the money ever reaches the fallen priests. They say that edu- cated priests must let half-educated evangelists tell them what to write, what to say. It is an organiza- tion that often completes the degradation of the personality of the fallen priests. While some fallen priests" names are carried on the mast-head the magazine and organization are ^29— controlled by men who were never priests and — in some instances — never even Catholics. Yet this pub- lication convinces many non-Catholics that it is an authentic publication. Typical of the other anti-Catholic publications are “The New Age” and the “Scottish Rite News Bulletin,” two Masonic publications that are filled with vilification. Anyone who wonders why the Catholic Church forbids membership in the Masons to Catholics need only to read an issue of one of these bigoted publications to know why without a doubt. The stories of Maria Monk, called “an escaped nun” of almost a century ago, and Father Chiniquy frequently appear in Protestant publications. Maria Monk never was a nun, was publicly exposed as a fraud while she was still alive. Father Chiniquy was a priest with a long record of scandal and much of his writings were exposed by non-Catholics as fraudulent. Yet, although information about these persons is available in public records, their writings are still re-printed by some publications. Bogus K. Of C. Oath The bogus Fourth Degree oath of the Knights of Columbus was demonstrated to be a fraud, was even published in the Congressional Record as fraudulent. Yet even today some Protestant publi- cations quote from it, citing the issue of the Con- gressional Record to make it appear valid, mention- ing only that it was printed in the Congressional Record, not that it was printed as an example of fraudulent bigotry. Brigadier General Herbert C. Holdridge con- stantly attacks the Catholic Church in leaflets he sends all over the nation. General Holdridge, now —30— retired, blames Catholics for forcing his retirement from the Army, went from this feeling of persecu- don to his attacks on the Church. He made news a year or so ago when he offered to defend in court any soldier charged with collaboration with the Reds in Korean prison camps. Paul Blanshard, an out and out secularist, still writes anti-Catholic material, tries to hide a back- ground that includes work for the sociahst party and several damaging articles in which he expressed ideas that would not harmonize with his present status as a self appointed defender of U.S. democ- racy. Many publications frequently publish anti- Catholic material. Incidentally, it is natural that Protestant publications should publish material that opposes Catholic viewpoints. If they did not they would not be Protestant. The anti-Catholic material in these publications goes beyond tliis, however, making false and misleading statements against the Church. We cite these publications: “Church and State News Letter”; “The Church- man”; “The Convert”; “Expose”; “The Liberal”; “Liberty”; “The New Age”; “Ripsaw”; “Scottish Rite News Bulletin”; “Signs of the Times”; “Spain- grams”; “Sunday School Times”; “The Vindicator”; “Voice of Freedom”; “Western Voice.” Along with these virulent publications, there are dozens more that have frequently published bigoted material. Even such a highly respected editor as Daniel Poling of the “Christian Herald,” wasn’t above telling his readers that the Protestants “unchained the Bible.” As a matter of truth, almost all Protestant publications carry some material that could be con- —31. sidered bigoted. Few of them ever report anything good about the Catholic Church. Catholics who see their own publications know that Catholic editors do not vilify their non-Catho- lic neighbors. Yet Catholics are frequently vilified by their neighbors. The reason was already stated in another part of this booklet — falsehood is the only possible weapon against truth. The answer to it is for Catholics to seek to be better Catholics, to love and serve God more, lov- ing even those who speak evil against us because the world will not be converted by hate but by love. I i