The John-Henry Westen Show - Priests are treated 'like caged dogs'： Vermont priest threatened by vax-pushing bishop defends resistance

00:00:00.000 What is the cost of a priest actually standing up and doing what we all want them to do?

00:00:07.480 What if your priest, instead of shutting down churches or barring you because you refuse

00:00:12.260 to wear a mask or refuse to get the vaccine, instead of barring you from entry, says, no,

00:00:18.720 no, come on in.

00:00:19.900 And what if that same priest, when presented with the same mandate from the bishop for

00:00:23.400 all priests, saying you got to get vaccinated, otherwise you got to test all the time and

00:00:27.260 wear a mask constantly, says, no, I can't do that.

00:00:31.680 These vaccines are abortion tainted.

00:00:34.600 My conscience won't allow me to.

00:00:36.000 And therefore, there should be no punishment for refusing an abortion tainted vaccine.

00:00:42.140 I just can't do it.

00:00:43.880 What are the consequences?

00:00:45.420 You can see this interview with Father Peter Williams, who's facing those consequences,

00:00:49.760 which are not only suspension, but also can include excommunication.

00:00:55.120 This is John Henry Weston's show.

00:00:56.800 Stay tuned.

00:01:16.520 Welcome to this episode of the John Henry Weston show, where we're very pleased to have

00:01:20.820 with us Father Peter Williams.

00:01:22.880 Father, if you could lead us off with the Son of the Cross.

00:01:24.560 In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

00:01:27.980 Amen.

00:01:28.700 Amen.

00:01:29.920 Thank you so much, Father.

00:01:31.000 As I said at the beginning there, you're one of the few heroic priests who are willing

00:01:34.960 to tell people it is what it is when it comes to the vaccine, the vaccine mandates, masking

00:01:41.600 and everything else.

00:01:42.740 If you could, Father, tell us a little bit about your story and where you're at currently.

00:01:46.500 We all went through lockdowns.

00:01:48.620 Everybody knows that part of the story.

00:01:50.140 I wasn't thrilled, but complied.

00:01:53.800 It was trying to respond in obedience to all of those things.

00:01:59.000 And then as time went by, I was very glad that things had opened up and our churches

00:02:03.840 opened up.

00:02:04.480 We could welcome more people in until the point where we didn't have to worry about any of

00:02:09.280 those things.

00:02:09.680 And then just this fall, the bishop sent a letter out to the priests and deacons saying

00:02:15.960 that we should all be vaccinated.

00:02:18.100 We were all vaccinated.

00:02:19.800 But if we, for whatever personal reasons, had decided not to be vaccinated, that we would

00:02:25.160 then get tested every two weeks and wear a mask for all our ministries.

00:02:30.280 Not just mass, but, you know, on and on and on, whatever we did in terms of ministry, which

00:02:36.180 is, you know, a good part of my life.

00:02:38.360 And I just responded to him in a letter.

00:02:41.120 He had written it out to all the priests, but I just personally responded to him.

00:02:44.500 And then he said it was a matter of obedience.

00:02:47.220 And then he said that he wasn't going to check, but it was a matter of honor.

00:02:51.380 And so it felt like he was sort of just hitting certain spots for me that it was obedient.

00:02:58.320 And I thought, well, if I could work my way around it, you know, with a mental reservation

00:03:02.180 or this or that, but then he made it a matter of honor.

00:03:05.580 And I thought, well, my honor demands that I respond to him personally.

00:03:09.800 And so I wrote him a letter saying that I felt like it was punishment, that what we knew

00:03:16.800 was that anybody who had been vaccinated could get COVID and could give COVID.

00:03:21.860 And I felt that it was just unnecessary punishment for those of us who were not going to be vaccinated

00:03:26.800 to wear a mask and get tested and all of those things.

00:03:29.580 Now, Father, who's your bishop and what diocese are you in?

00:03:31.960 I'm in the Burlington, Vermont diocese and it's Bishop Christopher Coyne.

00:03:37.500 And, you know, your communications with the bishop, were they in any way antagonistic

00:03:42.580 or, you know, less than respectful?

00:03:46.560 For me, I thought it was being very respectful.

00:03:49.280 Later, my canon lawyer would tell me that some of my tones seemed to be a little bit brusque.

00:03:55.020 And I thought, well, that's kind of the way that I am when I'm trying to tell somebody

00:04:00.640 my own feeling or my own position.

00:04:03.360 I might come across that way.

00:04:05.380 And so that certainly wasn't any deliberate thing that I'm trying to be rude or mean or

00:04:11.960 anything like that.

00:04:12.820 I was just trying to be clear that this was a conscience decision on my part.

00:04:20.380 And when I made that choice, it was, you know, after forming my conscience.

00:04:25.720 Now, this is a teaching in the church that we're able to follow our consciences.

00:04:29.500 We were supposed to hold them sort of supreme after informing them, of course.

00:04:36.580 And yet your bishop seems not to respect that.

00:04:40.060 Where are you at with him today?

00:04:41.840 What's his, you know, have you received any ramifications for your communications with

00:04:47.140 him thus far?

00:04:47.820 Certainly.

00:04:48.420 So once I responded to him, he got back to me with a canon lawyer, the vicar general of

00:04:54.140 the diocese who's a canon lawyer, and said that my penalty would be according to this

00:04:58.640 canon.

00:04:59.080 And if I didn't comply with him, I had 14 days to respond and to comply.

00:05:03.700 And if I didn't, then they would follow this course.

00:05:06.080 And as I said, I'm not a canon lawyer myself.

00:05:08.220 And it was only after consulting a canon lawyer, getting a canon lawyer for myself that I realized

00:05:16.140 just how serious it went.

00:05:18.060 The penalties went anywhere from suspension all the way to up to excommunication.

00:05:22.660 And so I thought, oh, yeah, exactly.

00:05:26.200 And he was shocked that that was, those were the terms.

00:05:31.680 And so then he responded.

00:05:33.220 And I, you know, so now the bishop and his canonists are going back and forth.

00:05:39.320 And so everything I have to do with the diocese now is, is, is through canon lawyers.

00:05:45.060 Um, but then, then the, the, the, the next round, he asked me to resign.

00:05:49.820 He thought it wouldn't be good for the people or myself or the people or whatever.

00:05:53.480 And I thought, well, I'm working, I'm still working.

00:05:55.800 And we're coming up on Advent and Christmas season and all that kind of thing.

00:05:59.220 And if I were just to resign, and I haven't told the people anything, if I just to resign,

00:06:03.820 that, that would be bizarre and strange.

00:06:07.340 And everyone would think it was, you know, some personal problem that I had or whatever.

00:06:12.340 And so, so I didn't, I said, no, I won't, uh, my head, my canon lawyer, uh, convey that

00:06:19.840 message and all of that.

00:06:20.780 Then it seemed that the ground sort of shifted and saying that I was seriously ill and mentally

00:06:26.300 ill and everything else.

00:06:27.320 And so then I had to make a video so that my message to my parishioners would be the same

00:06:36.520 and have the same information.

00:06:37.820 And I wouldn't be struggling to do this several hundred times with each individual person

00:06:43.220 that I would just do it once and get it out there and distribute the message.

00:06:47.600 And then my canon lawyer was advising me to get letters, you know, saying that I was functioning

00:06:52.720 very well and didn't seem to have any health issues and to the best of their ability, it

00:06:57.900 looked like I was normal or sane or whatever you want to say.

00:07:01.120 So, well, father, obviously you're very well-spoken.

00:07:03.520 You seem very thoughtful, um, that question seems to be, uh, kind of ludicrous, but it

00:07:09.480 is a sad reality today that many families are hugely divided into vaxxed and unvaxxed,

00:07:18.560 into those who are pro-vaccine like crazy, ready to do, as the stats show, we, we've seen,

00:07:24.300 uh, liberal stats from both America, from Canada, from Europe, where there's a whole segment

00:07:29.680 of society ready to throw even their relatives, uh, into jail.

00:07:34.360 It's kind of a, it's kind of biblical.

00:07:36.760 I will tell you this as a pastor and as a priest, a shepherd of souls, that, um, I saw this long

00:07:43.080 before COVID came, uh, in terms of the divisions.

00:07:47.460 So I, I would see families being divided and disintegrated on, you know, on the silliest of

00:07:54.860 terms, you know, the crazy things would get in there.

00:07:57.600 And I just, I knew that it was, you know, uh, the enemy at work and getting into, you

00:08:04.760 know, in the midst of us and dividing us one against another for whatever reasons.

00:08:08.480 And then of course COVID hit and everybody had a seemingly good excuse, you know, to turn

00:08:15.900 on other people or whatever.

00:08:17.040 And so as shocking as it is, um, it's not really surprising to those of us who are, uh,

00:08:24.920 live in the spirit, you know, have, have dealings with the spiritual realm.

00:08:29.660 So.

00:08:29.920 Absolutely.

00:08:30.500 So you're fighting this not only for yourself, for the go to the church, um, explain that to

00:08:37.480 us, if you will.

00:08:38.300 It's an interesting thing.

00:08:39.660 I have no desire.

00:08:40.980 Like people say, oh, they, some write me letters and say, some write me letters and nasty

00:08:45.420 letters or whatever.

00:08:46.220 I'm like, fine.

00:08:47.140 I didn't consult them before I made a conscious choice.

00:08:49.720 I didn't take a poll.

00:08:50.740 I just knew in my own heart what I needed to do, but others are writing saying, thank

00:08:55.180 you for being courageous.

00:08:56.300 And I said, well, that's completely the Lord.

00:08:58.720 I'm just stubborn.

00:08:59.660 And the Lord is, you know, maybe making that stubbornness into courage.

00:09:03.360 That's fine.

00:09:04.200 Um, I'm, I'm happy to be used by the Lord.

00:09:06.480 However, you know, he wants to, to use me.

00:09:09.080 Um, but, but I, I am aware that, um, to, to be honest, like, um, when the churches were

00:09:16.380 shut down and, and I was talking about this with my brother, priests, pastors and things,

00:09:21.140 and we're saying, well, is that canonically correct?

00:09:24.740 Can you do that?

00:09:25.660 And one of the fellows had a seminarian living with him.

00:09:28.320 And so he was still in contact with his kind of law professor.

00:09:32.620 And the canon law professor said that once the Pope had shut down churches in Rome and

00:09:37.260 the Vatican itself had closed all those things down, that every bishop in the world could

00:09:40.940 look at that as a precedent and had a right to close down their churches.

00:09:45.340 And even though that was a frustrating answer to me, it sort of made sense to me.

00:09:49.420 So then if you follow along to where we are today and the Vatican, you have to have a vaccine

00:09:55.220 passport, the green pass or whatever it is to get into the Vatican, even to go to work

00:09:59.480 in the Vatican, to tour the Vatican, to do whatever.

00:10:01.740 And then a priest, not a priest, but the Bishop of Luxembourg, and I apologize, I don't know

00:10:07.600 his name, but I saw that in, in the news somewhere that, that he had said that, uh, you had to

00:10:14.080 have a passport in order to get into church.

00:10:17.240 And I looked and I said, well, that's the next thing, uh, for my parishioners.

00:10:21.620 And then I got to close the churches, but they're going to say those parishioners who haven't

00:10:24.620 been vaccinated.

00:10:25.900 So when they said that I needed to be vaccinated or to do all of these things in order to comply,

00:10:31.100 I, um, I thought, well, I need to do this for the sake of my people.

00:10:34.840 And to be honest, I never in, I had my, my people's welfare in mind, but I never had other

00:10:40.680 priests.

00:10:41.060 I don't, I'm in a little parish in Vermont and I don't think anything that I do will

00:10:45.820 necessarily have great ripples across.

00:10:47.720 But I'm, I'm, I'm not, uh, I, I just don't think in those terms or whatever.

00:10:52.900 So it was simply my people that I was trying to protect.

00:10:55.660 If this was going to come down the pipe, I thought I have to make a stand here and say,

00:10:59.720 no, this is too far.

00:11:01.280 You can't do this.

00:11:02.460 Father, you'd be surprised.

00:11:03.560 I had a very similar conversation with Father James Altman, uh, who also told me that, um,

00:11:09.180 he was really looking after his positioners.

00:11:11.220 That was his, his cause first and foremost.

00:11:14.200 Um, and, but this is the thing.

00:11:16.100 I think our Lord, uh, uses us beyond where we feel called when we're doing what we should

00:11:23.540 be doing.

00:11:24.220 Uh, St. Therese was, you know, cleaning the convent and, uh, and praying for the priests

00:11:29.020 that, uh, she knew she should pray for and came to ask for prayers.

00:11:32.160 Some of the great saints of the church are the porters, you know, like St. Brother Andre 1.00

00:11:36.080 from Montreal and, and, and they ended up being the, the, the, the doorman or something.

00:11:42.400 Uh, St. Maria Faustina was in charge of the door for a while.

00:11:45.680 She had other jobs as well, but she was in charge of the door for a while. 0.99

00:11:48.320 So I always think that, you know, that, that sometimes the little ones you don't notice are

00:11:52.520 the ones who, who are doing, uh, tremendous things and just in their, in their place, you

00:11:58.100 know, sometimes it is also those who push back that lead the way, uh, in terms of coming

00:12:05.200 also to freedom.

00:12:06.220 Um, there are many cases of priests.

00:12:09.780 I'll give you a priest, uh, you know, example of a priest that I know that basically, you

00:12:15.560 know, everybody was going along to get along with health authorities that threatened to

00:12:20.560 shut down your parish.

00:12:21.780 If you don't insist on max max saying some, if you don't insist on a vax passport or take

00:12:27.540 everybody's name as they come in or deny Holy communion to those wishing to receive on

00:12:31.700 the tongue.

00:12:32.180 Um, and, and so there's been encroachment after encroachment after, and many bishops

00:12:36.740 have, have caved in on this.

00:12:38.800 So they're getting it from their bishops too.

00:12:40.880 And so on, what do you do?

00:12:42.440 And, um, I had a priest who told me that basically what he did was he said, all right, shut us

00:12:47.460 down.

00:12:48.020 I'm, I'm not going to insist on masking and bar people who won't come into the church,

00:12:54.500 won't mask from coming into the church because they have the right to the sacraments.

00:12:58.100 If you have to shut us down, it was funny because this very vehement, you know, health

00:13:04.660 authority said, Oh, we don't, we don't want to do that.

00:13:09.740 You know, you know, but all of a sudden this priest had a freedom, whereas all the other

00:13:14.560 priests, same dioces and so on, they don't have the same freedoms because he pushed back.

00:13:19.880 So it's a, it's a very interesting thing that doesn't happen all the time, but it does

00:13:24.140 happen.

00:13:24.460 And that's why we're seeing much of the, you know, many of the protests and so on go on

00:13:29.920 because people know after time we have to push back because it's for our freedoms, for

00:13:35.180 our, you know, good and the good of society and hear what you're doing for the good of

00:13:39.480 the church.

00:13:40.340 What are you hoping, um, people take away, uh, from this and, and how can they assist you?

00:13:45.840 You know, a couple of things.

00:13:47.100 One is that people will become informed about what the church teaches about some of the things

00:13:52.860 you mentioned.

00:13:53.480 So what the church teaches about, uh, your conscience is, it's not just kind of, uh, an

00:14:00.300 authority.

00:14:00.680 It is the supreme authority.

00:14:03.320 Uh, and, and that's what the church teaches.

00:14:05.280 It's the supreme authority.

00:14:07.120 And of course it has to be well-informed and we count on the church, the sacraments, the

00:14:12.580 scriptures, uh, the teaching of the church and all of those things to, to inform us and

00:14:17.400 be well-informed, but that's paramount.

00:14:19.440 And then from there in your conscience, then you move to important things like freedoms,

00:14:23.620 um, that, that we have in the United States.

00:14:27.220 And then I would hope people would have similarly around the world, but we know from the church

00:14:32.200 teaching is that God gives us freedom and the beautiful thing.

00:14:36.460 And I've seen it many, many times, um, in people's lives and also in my own life, that

00:14:42.580 God is a great respecter of free will.

00:14:45.160 He is the supreme Lord of the universe, the creator of everything.

00:14:50.160 And he respects our individual choices, even though he may know that they're wrong, he respects

00:14:57.660 them and allows them to play out with the consequences.

00:15:00.900 And, um, so that kind of freedom is where we come from.

00:15:04.820 That's the image and likeness that we were made in.

00:15:08.460 And, and, and so if we understand that, and that's what we're all about, um, that we would

00:15:14.160 then stand up for one another's freedoms as well.

00:15:17.880 And, um, uh, then eventually I would hope that as you're saying, and it certainly wasn't

00:15:22.680 my intention, but certain priests have contacted me and said various and sundry different situations

00:15:28.520 and have said, thank you for being a witness.

00:15:30.640 Um, I wish I could, or I want to do that, or, you know, that kind of thing.

00:15:34.820 We need, we need somebody to, to, and as I said, that was not my intention, but if that's

00:15:39.940 what's happening and I'm able to encourage someone and to give them, uh, uh, sort of a

00:15:46.980 lift and, and, uh, help them along the way in any of these areas, then that's what should

00:15:52.300 be done.

00:15:52.660 But first and foremost, I would encourage people not just to, um, not just to go along

00:15:58.500 with what seems to be the, the line, the official line, but rather to do their own research.

00:16:06.100 And, uh, shortly I'm going to put up a video that I did was just teaching about bodily integrity

00:16:12.160 and obedience to conscience and, you know, that, what, what that means.

00:16:16.660 And so that might help people.

00:16:18.880 And then I have another video that's going to go up and, uh, all these things have to

00:16:22.920 be edited that were just, I said that I would respond to people's questions.

00:16:26.400 And so I'm going to answer their questions, even, even at times when their questions are

00:16:30.300 rude or whatever, I just feel an obligation to, to answer their questions because they're,

00:16:35.700 you know, somehow I've opened the can of worms.

00:16:38.220 And so I have to deal with it.

00:16:39.380 So what is your sort of take on the vaccine mandates, uh, on the vaccines generally?

00:16:46.660 Um, and, uh, where do you think people are, are at or should be at with regard to looking

00:16:52.680 at it, uh, from a conscientious perspective, from their consciences?

00:16:56.420 This time last year, I was writing in the bulletin.

00:16:59.140 I wasn't actually present in my parish because this is the time of the year that I go on vacation.

00:17:02.600 And, um, but, uh, I was writing them in the, you know, my thing in the, my little column

00:17:09.140 in the, in the bulletin.

00:17:10.080 And I was saying, we need to look very carefully at, at these vaccines, because if they're using,

00:17:14.820 um, the cells from aborted babies, um, either in the research and development or in the production

00:17:22.080 or the testing and all that kind of thing, then we should really look at what's going on here.

00:17:26.500 And then as time has gone by, we see that there's been a lot of that, uh, going on.

00:17:32.220 And, and then we've had certain lab technicians that have come forward.

00:17:36.040 And I don't know if you've had them on or other people have had them on, but I've certainly

00:17:39.540 seen them and they talk about, um, harvesting, uh, tissue and what actually goes involved.

00:17:48.980 And when you find out that it's vivisection, uh, I was just appalled, horrified, disgusted.

00:17:55.660 And, um, and the more and more that I've learned, uh, certainly about how they produce these

00:18:02.900 things, what, and, and where, how they came about, I'm just not going to participate in

00:18:06.380 that.

00:18:07.200 And, uh, somebody says, well, then I shouldn't do this or this or that.

00:18:10.140 I'm like, okay, well, let me look at that.

00:18:11.660 Let me research that and see how I can respond to that as well.

00:18:14.660 But, um, this is a particular evil that comes that, that we all thought we were going to

00:18:20.960 be able to choose or not choose, um, and freely choose or not choose.

00:18:26.600 And then all of a sudden it seems that the coercion that's going on.

00:18:30.920 And that's one of the lines I use in the teaching video.

00:18:34.320 If you, if you look at church teaching in Dona Vitae, it'll say that coercion, um, is

00:18:41.460 at the same level as like murder and, and genocide and those kinds of, it's, it's not the same

00:18:48.100 thing, obviously, but it's on that level where you're talking about very serious crimes against

00:18:54.260 humanity, not just sins, you know, serious sins, like, uh, gossiping about your neighbor

00:19:00.400 in a terrible way or something or stealing a thousand dollars, but crimes against humanity.

00:19:05.500 When you realize it's let, it's reached at that kind of level, I'm headed in the other

00:19:09.160 direction, you know, kind of thing I'm running the other way.

00:19:11.680 I want nothing to do with this whatsoever.

00:19:14.600 Absolutely.

00:19:15.220 Yet as a priest, you're in a kind of a conundrum.

00:19:18.140 The, the people are as well, because they're being forced out of their jobs.

00:19:21.560 They're being forced out of, um, uh, it's sometimes out of society, depending on where they

00:19:26.000 live.

00:19:26.580 Um, but you as a priest are confronted with this in a special way as well.

00:19:30.260 Because it's coming from, uh, Pope Francis, who has said very clearly, it's a moral obligation.

00:19:35.400 The example of the Vatican, as you were talking about before with the lockdowns, sure, but,

00:19:39.960 um, they've implemented themselves a type of Vax mandate where, uh, you know, in entrance 0.84

00:19:45.780 to the museums or even to St. Peter's to look at it, not for mass per se, but to, to go

00:19:51.240 in and visit and pray even, uh, before the relics.

00:19:54.460 Uh, but also, uh, in terms of working there, they've implemented a Vax mandate. 0.87

00:19:59.880 So, you know, that from there come the bishops, they just, just moving down the line, unless

00:20:05.620 they're willing to stand up for the freedom of conscience of their priests.

00:20:08.140 They're, they're also implementing this mandate, insisting upon it and wanting to force it on

00:20:12.980 upon the people.

00:20:13.940 Very, very difficult times for you as priests as well.

00:20:17.000 That was the thing.

00:20:18.240 Like I wanted to be obedient and comply as much as I could because of all of those other

00:20:22.980 reasons when people were saying, you know, they say to me all the time, why don't you

00:20:26.680 just put a mask on?

00:20:27.480 Why don't you just do this?

00:20:28.380 Why don't you just get the vaccine?

00:20:29.580 Why don't you just, you know, for the good of other people and all that kind of thing.

00:20:32.620 And then, you know, so I, I was trying to do all of that.

00:20:36.220 I'm trying to do all of that.

00:20:37.500 And I understand the priests and, and we feel very torn.

00:20:40.540 Many of us feel very torn about that.

00:20:42.500 There are others who are ready to comply and they have no problem with it and all that.

00:20:46.340 But fine, when they go before God, they'll have a clear conscience.

00:20:52.480 But as I was, as I said, not my bishop and not my Pope are going to stand with me on judgment

00:21:01.260 day is just me before Jesus.

00:21:03.560 There'll be no excuse when he says to me, you knew better, but okay, they did whatever

00:21:08.180 their conscience, but you knew better.

00:21:11.240 And so I'm, so I have to stand before God, my conscience.

00:21:17.320 And, but I see, I see priests, priests very much, uh, uh, in that place and, uh, to use

00:21:24.680 an image and maybe it's too striking to people.

00:21:26.800 I think priests are like, uh, especially the parish priests are like caged dogs and the bishop

00:21:32.920 comes and beats them with a stick every once in a while to get them to comply with whatever 0.91

00:21:37.400 he wants them to do.

00:21:38.480 And then the people do the same.

00:21:40.700 Uh, so we very, we very much feel like, uh, you know, our parishioner, not all, but some

00:21:46.480 of our parishioners are saying, we want you to do this.

00:21:49.840 We want you to do this.

00:21:50.760 We want you to do this.

00:21:51.500 And then the bishop says, we want you.

00:21:53.040 And priests are, we're just in that place of service.

00:21:56.480 And because we're in that middle position that, uh, so my heart goes out to many, many priests

00:22:02.980 and, and I, I'm not here to condemn any of them for, you know, uh, what they, what they're

00:22:10.560 choosing or not choosing to do.

00:22:12.040 Um, it breaks my heart that, that many of them forced or compelled or coerced or whatever

00:22:17.720 to get the vaccine.

00:22:18.940 And I understand that there may be some serious health consequences to that.

00:22:23.000 And so that's just, that's just horrible.

00:22:25.380 One difficult question for you, Father, uh, before we end off here, he said, you don't

00:22:30.560 want to, uh, condemn other priests.

00:22:32.980 There are a whole bunch of priests who are insisting upon vaccine mandates for prisoners

00:22:38.960 coming to their parishes that are insisting on masking, that are insisting on reception

00:22:43.760 of Holy Communion only on the hand.

00:22:46.080 Um, and therefore there are a whole bunch of Catholics for whom their parishes are no 0.97

00:22:51.800 longer a place of welcome, even though they're in a state of grace.

00:22:57.040 What do you make of that?

00:22:58.620 What do you say to those priests?

00:23:00.340 Uh, and what do you say to those parishioners?

00:23:02.020 It's not what I do.

00:23:03.400 It's, uh, beyond my purview.

00:23:05.460 Like I cannot, uh, uh, make policy or whatever for another priest and for another parish and

00:23:12.380 all those things.

00:23:12.980 It saddens me.

00:23:14.420 I immediately think of Jesus from the cross.

00:23:16.840 Father, forgive them.

00:23:17.620 They know not what they do.

00:23:19.220 And even though they may feel that they're very well informed and they know exactly, and

00:23:24.480 they've made the correct decision.

00:23:26.580 And, uh, I, I find it interesting that I'm willing to say that from my point of view.

00:23:31.040 Um, but they're not willing to say that, that, uh, they're not willing to, to give, uh, that

00:23:38.660 same, uh, uh, leeway to me or extend that same courtesy to me.

00:23:44.120 Okay.

00:23:45.180 Um, but what I tried to do in, in my parish is lead my people closer holiness to God.

00:23:52.740 And so, um, these issues don't come up except in the periphery, you know, when I have to

00:23:58.700 mention certain kinds of things, but we keep the focus on, uh, Jesus Christ and conforming

00:24:07.080 ourselves to his will.

00:24:09.140 And that's what I intend to do, you know, as long as I possibly can.

00:24:14.640 Father Peter Williams, thank you so much for standing for truth, standing for your, the

00:24:18.920 rights of your parishioners and for yourself to, uh, refuse what your conscience tells you

00:24:25.920 is, uh, you know, an abortion tainted, uh, vaccine, which is morally, uh, very, very harmful

00:24:33.700 indeed.

00:24:34.780 God bless you, Father.

00:24:35.980 Thank you for your encouragement.

00:24:37.480 God bless you.

00:24:38.380 And God bless all of you.

00:24:39.580 We'll see you next time.

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The John-Henry Westen Show - January 28, 2022

Priests are treated 'like caged dogs'： Vermont priest threatened by vax-pushing bishop defends resistance

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