Open Letter To Archbishop Lori Regarding Two Problematic Baltimore Priests

Your Excellency, you have spoken much (and well) regarding the perils that are confronting Holy Mother Church in ways that are waxing more blatant and ominous with each passing day.   The threats posed to us by the HHS mandate and other encroachments upon Christianity must be met with charity, but also with firmness.

However,  as we fight the culture of death around us, we must first fight it within our own ranks.  I regret to state the obvious: that progressive influences are ensconced within the Church and within the Archdiocese of Baltimore.  Several weeks ago, Father Richard Lawrence mocked your letter from his pulpit during Mass.  To that you issued a reply stating that no one can change moral teaching.  To be frank, it was much too nuanced and general.

It has come to my attention that Father Lawrence has at least one like-minded crony in crime among the clergy.  I speak of Msgr Paul Byrnes, a retired priest who assists with Masses at St Peter the Apostle in Oakton, MD (southern Garrett County, in the western panhandle).  As confirmed by the Catholic Review, he operates a blog called “Half Hermit by the Lake”.  On November 7, the day after the election,   he praised the election of Barack Obama and other pro-abortion politicians.  Moreover, he lauded the passage of Question 6, allowing for the perversion of marriage in the state of Maryland.  He opined in that post that gay marriage fits within the Church’s teachings on social justice.  Mind you, he made these statements in a blog that’s available to anyone at the click of a mouse.

While I hope that these two priests are "flashes in the pan", I suspect that others share their warped views albeit quietly.  At any rate, Your Excellency, you have some housecleaning that is screaming for your immediate attention.  For the sake of these two priests and the rest of your archdiocese, I strongly urge you to bring down public discipline upon these two priests.  I emphasize "public" because their behaviors have brought very public scandal upon the Archdiocese of Baltimore.  We can safely assume that their terrible example has helped lead astray many of your flock, to the point of imperiling their immortal souls.

There is an additional dimension to the trouble posed by dissident priests that extend well beyond your diocesan boundaries.  A few days ago, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the Holy Father's emissary to the US, warned that dissident priests, Catholic professors and other officials posed "grave threats to religious liberty".  I surmise he refers to the undermining of your authority in the eyes of the state and populace at large.  It therefore behooves you, Your Excellency, to remove such threats as they appear within your diocesan boundaries.

In a meeting at St John Neumann Church in Annapolis a few months ago, you stated that in part you were beholden to the USCCB regarding the exercise of your episcopacy within your Archdiocese.  Your Excellency, the Holy Father has stated quite plainly that national bishops' conferences have no intrinsic authority at canon law.  You do not need their approval to act, nor need you fear any repercussion for exercising your duties within your archdiocese.  The Holy Father has already laicized Roy Bourgeous.  He has given an example for the US bishops to follow.  Please do so immediately.