Bishop Knestout, Who Expelled A Faithful Priest, Appoints A Pervert Priest As Pastor

George Neumayr published the account of Bishop Barry Knestout of the Diocese of Richmond (VA) appointing as pastor of St Augustine a public sex offender without notifying the parishioners. The criminal priest in question is Father Wayne Ball.  He pled guilty to "lewd acts" with another male in a car in a parking lot.  At the time of the incident and subsequent hearing, he was at another parish.  Those parishioners petitioned for his removal and hence he left.

The excuse being proffered for this appointment is that no underage person was involved.  In other words, Ball did not rape a boy.  However, he is a priest and he is obliged to obey the Church's moral laws and honor his priestly vows.  That is, no one may engage in homosexual relations as they are inherently sinful.  Not only is it natural law and (should have been) taught in Catholic education, but the man attended seminary where (we hope) he would have received further teaching on the matter.  Moreover, there are his priestly vows of celibacy, meaning he can engage in no sexual relations whatsoever.

But Bishop Knestout thought it no big deal to inflict a pervert upon one of his parishes.  Oh, by the way.  At the USCCB meeting last month, he was elected/appointed Chair of the Bishops' Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People.  This is grounds for calling for his immediate removal from that position.  He sent a known pervert to a parish that presumably has teen-aged boys without any warning whatsoever to parents.

Bishop Knestout should immediately remove him from ministry with the same speed and alacrity with which he removed Father Marcel Guarnizo from his parish assignment while he was Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Washington.  There is one teeny bit of difference between Ball and Guarnizo.  The former has engaged in homosexual perversions while the latter denied Holy Communion to a woman living in a sinful lesbian relationship.  He wrote this nice sniveling apology - to the woman who was prevented from committing sacrilege against the Blessed Sacrament. 

A reasonable person could surmise from all this that Bishop Knestout seems to be coddling and "running interference" for those engaging in mortally sinful homosexual conduct, no matter who is harmed in the process - faithful priests or unsuspecting parishioners.

At the bottom of his article, Neumayr suggests that all contact Bishop Knestout and urge him to do right by the parishioners of St. Augustine.  I might add two things.  First, also suggest that Knestout resign from his new USCCB post as his obfuscation of the truth regarding Ball is the very antithesis of the mission of that committee.  Second, notify Archbishop Lori of the same; the Diocese of Richmond is a suffragan under the Archdiocese of Baltimore.