Was it Right for Minn Archbishop to Censor Fr. Altier from Relevant Radio?

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Father Altier’s homilies and appearances on Relevant Radio have been censored by the Archbishop here. I just went to check out his homilies today and found the website was essentially shut down with the following message:

**You Cannot Listen to

A Voice in the Desert**

In obedient compliance with the expressed written request of

Most Reverend Harry J. Flynn

Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Father Altier’s homilies and spiritual presentations
can no longer be published on www.desertvoice.org
or broadcast on Relevant Radio.

We regret any inconvenience and humbly ask for your prayers.

All concerns should be directed in a spirit of charity to: Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

Most Reverend Harry J. Flynn
226 Summit Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55102
(651) 291-4400

communications@archspm.org

I wonder why. Maybe because he’s not politically correct enough for Archbishop Flynn. He’s a good guy, I’m sure, but why censor Father Altier? He’s completely loyal to the church!
 
Since we don’t know the Archbishop’s reasons, I don’t think it is right to pass judgement. In fact, since the Archbishop has been given the responsibility to run his diocese, it is the responsibility of the faithful to be obedient. I don’t mean we can’t question with charity, but there seems to be a lot of anger about this action that seems to me to be less than charitable.

Just my opinion.

Peace

Tim
 
Other:

I do not know the real details of this case, only what appears on the Internet and what people speculate. Therefore, I cannot say whether it was “right” or “wrong”.

BUT:

The question is really irrelevant. A bishop can be right or wrong in his reasons, but his authority stands. Fr. Altier must comply and be obedient, which he has done. That is the right thing to do. The rest will work itself out eventually.
 
Fr. Altier is such a great speaker. He reminds me of Fr. Corapi.

I would advise Fr. Altier to just speak around the world and give talks just like Fr. Corapi. The world needs to hear Fr. Altier and I think his mission now should go on the speaking circuit.
 
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PLAL:
Fr. Altier is such a great speaker. He reminds me of Fr. Corapi.

I would advise Fr. Altier to just speak around the world and give talks just like Fr. Corapi. The world needs to hear Fr. Altier and I think his mission now should go on the speaking circuit.
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He needs the permission of his bishop to do so.
 
PLAL said:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=76460

Father Altier’s homilies and appearances on Relevant Radio have been censored by the Archbishop here. I just went to check out his homilies today and found the website was essentially shut down with the following message:
Click to expand...

Since your question was worded “…is it right” of course the answer is no

Had you asked if the Bishop had authority to do it… answer is yes.

As is the case with most dioceses… they will not give a definitive reason, so we can only assume, or consider rumors etc.

But judging from the solid content of Fr. Altier’s talks and homilies… something is missing in this decision…
 
We need all the priests we can get like Fr. Altier in the parishes. Especially in the parishes of the archdiocese of st paul and minneapolis.
 
As Drew Mariani (sp) discussed, it was by definition right (in the sense of authority) for the Archbishop to request Father Altier to step down from his position on Relevent Radio. Father Altier falls under the Archbishops authority. We can not judge whether his decision was what we consider fair, as we do not have the facts nor is it our place to do so. As Drew recommended, we can pray for Father Altier, the Archbishop, and infact all the religious that they may be mindful of God’s call. However, we can not say for sure that this is not God’s plan for Father Altier.

God bless,
k
 
I have never heard Fr. Altier; in fact, I had not even heard of him until something came up on this forum.

I have no way of judging whether what he had to say was good in content and form or not. I have read some comments which could lead to the conclusion that while he might have had something good to say, that he came off somewhat as a loose cannon. I don’t know if the comments indicating that were correct or not.

It might be kept in mind that there has been more than one priest who had a great following and has been on the outs with the Church. If Fr. Altier is obeying the bishop and not seeking to find some way around the ruling then he is to be highly commended. As to the whys and the wherefores of it, ultimatley that is between the bishop and his priest, and not ours to decide. It is easy to presume that the bishop is some sort of “liberal” who didn’t like what the good Father was saying, take sides, and make judgements that are not ours to make.

If the Archbishop is wrong, there may or may not be a canonical process which Father may be able to avail himself of. It is easy to hear a message which we believe to be correct, which may not be correct; and for examples we could easily look to such issues as Medjugoria, or the SSPX. There are many who feel that the bishop is wrong, re: Medjugoria; and many others who sit in the pews of an SSPX church who are convinced that the Pope himself was wrong, as well as the Cardinal, now Pope, who carried out the work of dealing with the SSPX. Just because he has a following does not make him right, or necessarily correct in how he says what he says.

Nor does it necessarily make him wrong.
 
Fr. Altier is a faithful servant of our Lord who speaks the truths of the faith. He does not water it down nor does he worry about what is “politically correct”. Jesus calls him and all priests to teach the truth of the faith and that is what he was doing. Fr. Altier is a very holy priest with a great devotion to the Eucharist, our Blessed Mother, and complete obedience to the Pope. This is the type of priests we need so that we can learn how to become devout Catholics and so that we can have eternal life. One way you can tell Fr. Altier is a faithful servant is that he is being obedient to Archbishop Flynn, who I pray will seek God’s will and reverse this decision.

My question is why are priests not censored who believe abortion and homosexuality are okay and don’t believe and teach the Real Presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. Fr. Altier reminds me of St. Pio, another faithful servant.
 
Doesn’t the virtue of charity demand that we assume the Bishop’s action was correct?

Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury.278 He becomes guilty:
  • of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;
  • of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another’s faults and failings to persons who did not know them;
  • of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.
To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor’s thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way
 
Charity demands we show love. It is love to teach Catholics the true faith. Otherwise, we are not doing what Jesus commands us to do in the Bible. Fr. Altier was teaching the true faith. Speaking out about this does not mean we are not charitable. It means, as Catholics, we have a responsibility to see that the one true faith is taught. Watered down versions won’t get us to heaven.
 
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truedisciple49:
Speaking out about this does not mean we are not charitable.
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It does, depending on what we say and the evidence we have to support us.

The question posed on the thread is strictly one of “Was it right…” There are legitimate reasons for a bishop to take such a course of actions, and there are illigitimate reasons. It is the reason–the motivation–that makes it right or wrong.

So the question then becomes “why did he do it”?

The truth of the matter is that the Bishop has not made his reason for this decision known. We must therefore assume one way or the other. If we are assuming, we must assume that the Bishop was right, unless we have clear evidence to the contrary. Charity permits nothing less.
 
Father Robert Altier is a very holy priest beloved by his parishioners and radio listeners. He is very loyal and faithful to the teachings of the Church. He has been under much persecution for this from his bishop over the years. His outspokeness on the Bishops’ evil sex ed curriculum VIRTUS and “Talking About Touching” (also goes by a couple other names) was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Fr. Altier also knows that there is power in Obedience, which is why he is humbly taking this censorship without complaint. He knows the Lord is the One in charge, ultimately.

Over the past three months, I have compiled quite a list of articles with information on this VIRTUS topic which you can find at this post: chronicleofameanderingtraveller.blogspot.com/2006/03/us-bishops-evil-sex-ed-virtus-program.html
and this:
chronicleofameanderingtraveller.blogspot.com/2006/01/re-innocence-of-your-children-is-at.html
and this:
chronicleofameanderingtraveller.blogspot.com/2006/01/your-childrens-innocence-is-in-danger.html

There are other posts related to this topic at my blog:
chronicleofameanderingtraveller.blogspot.com

Parishioners of Fr Altier’s are requesting that his supporters write to Archbishop Flynn and voice their protest for this unfair censorship! They also wish to make the point that Fr Altier himself has never posted any of his homilies or recordings onto the Internet himself. This was always done by his parishioners who would lovingly transcribe his homilies and then post them to the desertvoice.org site. That has been closed down, but there are archives of his homilies still available online.
web.archive.org/web/*/www.desertvoice.org
and
desertvoice.excerptsofinri.com
and recordings from his “Fundamentals of Catholicism” are here:
trueteaching.net

Please call or write the archbishop:
Most Reverend Harry J. Flynn
226 Summit Avenue
Saint Paul, MN, USA 55102
(651) 291-4400
or email his office: communications@archspm.org

In Christ,
Georgette
 
Doesn’t it seem to be the case that the priests faithful to the true teachings of the church are obedient when they are silenced. But those watering down the truths and not following the Magesterium just keep on going and nothing is ever done. When this happens, you know who God is going to hold responsible for his sheep not being taught the truth. Fr. Altier is definitely a faithful servant.
 
Doesn’t it seem to be the case that the priests faithful to the true teachings of the church are obedient when they are silenced. But those watering down the truths and not following the Magesterium just keep on going and nothing is ever done. When this happens, you know who God is going to hold responsible for his sheep not being taught the truth. Fr. Altier is definitely a faithful servant.
 
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truedisciple49:
When this happens, you know who God is going to hold responsible for his sheep not being taught the truth. Fr. Altier is definitely a faithful servant.
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I don’t know. Please tell me.

Peace

Tim
 
Jesus directed all the faithful but especially the priests to teach the truth and lead the sheep. He stated it would be better for a person not to be born that to mislead a child. We are all children in our spiritual journey and therefore need to learn the truths of our faith.
 
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