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Martinsville/Rocky Mount priest to contest removal: 'I don't intend to go anywhere'
TOP STORY
Martinsville/Rocky Mount priest to contest removal: 'I don't intend to go anywhere'
By Bill Wyatt Martinsville Bulletin 18 hrs ago
The Rev. Mark White said he is staying in the pulpits of Catholic churches in Martinsville and Rocky Mount.
On Monday night, after Bishop of the Diocese of Richmond Barry Knestout had notified him and his parishioners in an emailed letter that White had been removed as pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount, White said he would remain as priest and is seeking legal counsel to defend his right to do so.
White and Knestout have had a monthslong dispute about a popular blog White writes that sometimes includes strong criticism of how the Catholic Church has handled cases involving sexual abuse by priests.
Knestout said in the letter that White would be reassigned as “chaplain to various prisons, state and federal, within the diocesan bounds” effective immediately and would be leaving the area within the week.
“I don’t intend to go anywhere until the canonical process has run its full course,” White said Monday evening. “As a sitting pastor, I have the right to recourse before being removed.”
{snip}
Martinsville/Rocky Mount priest to contest removal: 'I don't intend to go anywhere'
By Bill Wyatt Martinsville Bulletin 18 hrs ago
The Rev. Mark White said he is staying in the pulpits of Catholic churches in Martinsville and Rocky Mount.
On Monday night, after Bishop of the Diocese of Richmond Barry Knestout had notified him and his parishioners in an emailed letter that White had been removed as pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount, White said he would remain as priest and is seeking legal counsel to defend his right to do so.
White and Knestout have had a monthslong dispute about a popular blog White writes that sometimes includes strong criticism of how the Catholic Church has handled cases involving sexual abuse by priests.
Knestout said in the letter that White would be reassigned as “chaplain to various prisons, state and federal, within the diocesan bounds” effective immediately and would be leaving the area within the week.
“I don’t intend to go anywhere until the canonical process has run its full course,” White said Monday evening. “As a sitting pastor, I have the right to recourse before being removed.”
{snip}
Here's some background:
Bishop removes outspoken priest from ministry in Martinsville, Rocky Mount
By Bill Wyatt Martinsville Bulletin Apr 14, 2020
The Rev. Mark White has been removed as pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount, after a monthslong dispute with the head of the Diocese of Richmond over a blog White maintained, shut down under pressure and then recently revived.
In a letter dated Monday to the parishioners of both churches, Bishop Barry Knestout said the matter was done and named a temporary replacement.
“Today, I write to inform you that Father Mark White has been removed as Pastor of your two parishes effective this day,” Knestout wrote. “He has received a new assignment and will [be] leaving the area within the week.”
{snip}Late last year Knestout had ordered White to remove a popular blog he had authored that often was critical of the way the hierarchy of the church has responded to the sexual abuse scandal.
White was summoned in early February to the Diocese of Richmond to meet with church officials, and church officials traveled to Rocky Mount a few days later to deliver an oral directive to White telling him to cease with the blog under the threat of being removed.
{snip}
By Bill Wyatt Martinsville Bulletin Apr 14, 2020
The Rev. Mark White has been removed as pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount, after a monthslong dispute with the head of the Diocese of Richmond over a blog White maintained, shut down under pressure and then recently revived.
In a letter dated Monday to the parishioners of both churches, Bishop Barry Knestout said the matter was done and named a temporary replacement.
“Today, I write to inform you that Father Mark White has been removed as Pastor of your two parishes effective this day,” Knestout wrote. “He has received a new assignment and will [be] leaving the area within the week.”
{snip}Late last year Knestout had ordered White to remove a popular blog he had authored that often was critical of the way the hierarchy of the church has responded to the sexual abuse scandal.
White was summoned in early February to the Diocese of Richmond to meet with church officials, and church officials traveled to Rocky Mount a few days later to deliver an oral directive to White telling him to cease with the blog under the threat of being removed.
{snip}