McGrath contends that Fr. Altier has not been unfairly silenced and that to suggest this or to say he is embattled is comparable to an urban myth
Friday, July 21, 2006
by Elizabeth Schwab
Beginning with Archbishop Harry Flynn’s request that he cease all radio and internet ministries, followed by his sudden removal from the Church of St. Agnes in St. Paul, Minnesota where he served as associate pastor for 14 years, Catholics worldwide have witnessed an unusual series of events surrounding the well-known orthodox Catholic priest Fr. Robert Altier.
The saga continues to unfold and public interest in Fr. Altier’s situation shows no sign of diminishing. The latest event concerns the reaction of Dennis McGrath, the official spokesman for the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, to an article posted on Christian News Wire by Kenneth Fisher, the founder and chairman of Concerned Roman Catholics of America, an orthodox Catholic organization which has posted an online petition in support of Fr. Altier.
McGrath contends that Fr. Altier has not been unfairly silenced and that to suggest this or to say he is embattled is comparable to an urban myth. The following facts will allow the reader to judge for himself whether it is a myth or not.
For nearly three years, Fr. Altier appeared on Relevant Radio and was a popular guest and substitute host on the Drew Mariani Show, which is broadcast nationally. In fact, the radio segment featuring Drew Mariani and Fr. Altier became the most popular segment on the entire Relevant Radio network. Thousands of listeners, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, tuned in to hear authentic Catholic Church teaching and were able to call in and get reliable answers to some tough questions facing them in their lives. Based on the success of the program, Relevant Radio offered Fr. Altier the opportunity to be a permanent host on his own live call-in show five days a week, as well as a regular participant on shows focusing on spiritual direction and Catholic apologetics.
Fr. Altier wrote to Archbishop Flynn seeking permission to continue his radio ministry. Instead, on Ash Wednesday, March 1, 2006, Fr. Altier was told to stop his activities on Relevant Radio and also that his homilies and other spiritual materials be removed from the lay-operated internet site www.desertvoice.org which had posted Fr. Altier’s preaching for the past five years. Archbishop Flynn told the public that Fr. Altier needed more time to fulfill his duties at St. Agnes, even though the internet site had absolutely zero impact on his time, being operated by parishioners. Efforts on the part of the webmasters to get the decision reversed have been to no avail.
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