A priest at a southern Vermont parish has been removed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington because he pushed back against pandemic related precautions.
The Rev. Peter Williams of the Holy Family Parish in Springfield, was removed from his position on Tuesday, according to NBC 5.
Bishop Christopher Coyne, in a letter to parishioners, said: "After an extensive process and much prayer, it is with great sadness that I announce the decision to remove Father Peter Williams as pastor of Holy Family Parish for his serious disobedience and disrespect shown to the office of the bishop.
"The truth is no priest, deacon, employee, volunteer, or parishioner of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington has ever been mandated to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. In my letter to pastors and deacons in September 2021, as the omicron variant began to surge throughout Vermont, I encouraged clergy to get vaccinated but acknowledged this was a personal choice.
"For those choosing not to get vaccinated, I required a mask when celebrating the sacraments and meeting with or visiting any individual[s] while carrying out their ministry."
He pointed out that nonvaccinated clergy were required to take COVID-19 tests every other week.
The TV station said Williams had posted a message on YouTube pushing back at the precautions.
"I balk at any incursion into my rights as a human being, certainly [as] a U.S. citizen," he is reported to have said in the video. "I have no intention of resigning as pastor, because that is my job. That is what I do."
And, in another video, he is reported to have called COVID-19 vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under emergency use authorization "experimental.”
Meanwhile, Coyne, in his letter, said: "I have invited him to stay with me at my residence in St. Joseph Cathedral Parish in Burlington so that he and I can pray, dialogue, and worship together to hopefully change the bad opinion he has of me as his bishop and to strengthen the bond of fraternity that should exist between a bishop and his priest."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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