I'm in Facebook jail, and I am incapable of shutting up for fourteen hours, so I'm over here.

Fr. James Altman has just been fired by his bishop. The guest priest at Fr. Altman's parish read a statement from the (cowardly) bishop to the congregation, and then immediately started extolling the virtues of silence. "Silence" covered up sex abuse for five decades, so it ought to have no problem with one little parish priest and his fans.

If you're reading this blog, I probably don't have to tell you what St. Catherine of Siena said about silence, and I'm with her. Especially in this age of cancel culture.

When I gave the publisher (Ignatius Press) the title of my book about Paul Mankowski, I was lukewarm about it and thought of it as a place holder. Now, I think it's a good title for a book that is going to have a larger audience that I'd originally thought.

My title is "The Sound of Silence." Yes, Fr. Altman's name is going to come up, along with all the other conservative priests who have been silenced. Fr. Mankowski was canceled long before it was a thing. Now untold thousands, if not millions, are getting a taste of it. (I am in Facebook jail, like I said.)

I am of the strong opinion that both the world and the Church would not be in such abysmal shape if not for the silence of priests. Some of them, like Fr. Mankowski, were silenced by decree. Others were silenced for fear of losing offertory dollars, tax exempt statues, or just the ability to party with the cool kids. Morality has decayed because priests were not allowed to or didn't have the guts to open their mouths and speak about it -- loudly.

St. Catherine absolutely nailed it, all those years ago.