Slandered Priests, Canceled Priests
Abp. Héctor Agüer
Emeritus of La Plata, Argentina
Buenos Aires, November 28, 2023
Several priests who follow the teachings of Pope Francis with attention have expressed to me their dismay and sorrow because they have recorded how often His Holiness denigrates priests. He has called them "bitter (cod-faced), spinsters, sacramental clerks, ambitious, gossipers, climbers...," and other denigrating epithets. A lack of justice and charity.
There are thousands of priests in the world; among them there are some to whom some of the epithets that Francis' accusations accumulate are applicable. But his generalizations in sermons, catechetical texts, and messages contradict the truth, and what is scandalous is that they depart radically from the affirmations of the Second Vatican Council, which dedicated the Decree Presbyterorum Ordinis to the ministry and life of priests. I quote some passages from that text:
"Configured to Christ the Priest by the sacrament of Holy Orders, they certainly received the sign and gift of so great a vocation and grace that they feel capable and obliged, in the same human weakness, to pursue perfection according to the Word of the Lord: 'Be perfect as the Father who is in heaven is perfect' (Mt 5:48). Priests are especially obliged to acquire that perfection... because they are living elements of the Eternal Priest in order to attain more aptly the perfection of the One whose function they represent... They are ordered to perfection of life by the very sacred actions they perform every day, as well as by their entire ministry" (P.O 12).
In the following paragraph, the Council "vehemently exhorts all priests to strive always toward greater holiness; this will make them more apt for the service of the People of God" (P.O 13). The ideal that the Council recalls is that of unity and harmony of life, which comes from the imitation of Christ in the exercise of the ministry; it is pastoral charity, a trait that distinguishes the diocesan priest from the religious, to whom the Council dedicates the Decree Perfectae caritatis. In Presbyterorum Ordinis, it is also affirmed that from the unity of life arrives "consolation and immense joy" (P.O. 14). It is striking how different this theological and spiritual perspective is from the petty sociological perspective of Francis in his slandering of priests. This is not perceived in the teachings of John Paul II, and Benedict XVI, who honored priests.
Another aspect to point out is that the Pope's calumnies are frequently directed at priests who are closer to Tradition; he has called them "backwardists" [indietristi] because they "look backwards", that is, because they do not follow the "new paradigms" proposed by the Successor of Peter. This is how the "canceled priests" abound, who are swept away as scum from the exercise of the ministry. Rome's authoritarian progressivism is imitated all over the world. As it happens here, in Argentina, in several dioceses where the cancelation of priests faithful to Tradition, a dogmatic and practical Tradition, is exercised.
The Pope does not cease to cause harm. His duplicity, both Jesuit and Argentine, inspires him in his worst decisions. Now, it also moves forward against bishops: Joseph Strickland, bishop of Tyler (Texas, USA), was sacked; and he tries to neutralize the best among the Successors of the Apostles, imposing on them a coadjutor, or sending an Apostolic Visitation. Among us, in 2020, he liquidated the excellent Bishop of San Luis to replace him with a progressive, who blesses "in the Name of the Father and the Holy Spirit", bypassing the Eternal Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, so that the non-Christians who attend his "ecumenical" acts do not feel annoyed.
In Argentina, the number of canceled priests is growing, due to the Franciscan obedience of an irrelevant episcopate, which contemplates impassively how society is becoming de-Christianized. This distancing from the Christian origins inherited from Spain, began among us at the end of the 19th century. And in recent times it has shown its social and cultural strength, in the face of the impotence of Catholicism, to which the spread of progressivism has given the coup de grâce.
I must recognize a paradoxical fact, which shows its mysterious character: the growth of some parishes faithful to Tradition, where Catholics, especially the young, enjoy a normal liturgy, open to a devout participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice. I have said "normal", without strange things, as it should be and is not usually in the opaque mediocrity of progressivism imposed by the post-conciliar fantasy. The existence of this fact strengthens our hope in the future ecclesial recovery. The intercession of the Mother of the Church, whom we confidently invoke, will protect her.
