{"id":1823,"date":"2018-09-04T09:27:19","date_gmt":"2018-09-04T13:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/?p=1823"},"modified":"2018-09-04T09:27:19","modified_gmt":"2018-09-04T13:27:19","slug":"the-sermon-that-cost-a-priest-his-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/2018\/09\/the-sermon-that-cost-a-priest-his-job\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sermon That Cost A Priest His Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rod Dreher<\/a><\/span> \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 September 3, 2018<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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Father Juan Carlos Gavancho, removed from parish for stunning anti-corruption homily (From his video \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcBasta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/a>)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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On Sunday, August 26, the day after the Vigano testimony was published, a young Catholic priest named Juan Carlos Gavancho preached a bold homily in the Santa Barbara, California, parish <\/a>where he was assistant pastor. He preached about scandal, and standing up for the faith. You can hear the entire homily here, on his Facebook page.\u00c2\u00a0<\/a> It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 20 minutes long, but the most intense part starts shortly after the 10-minute mark. I have transcribed it below.<\/p>\n

Here is a link to the same homily in Spanish.\u00c2\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

The reaction to this sermon was swift. Within two days, Father Gavancho was told by his pastor to get his things and vacate the rectory.\u00c2\u00a0 His name was taken off the parish website.<\/p>\n

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Before<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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After<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Padre Gavancho is now living in a hotel, and doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what is going to happen to him next. He was serving in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, but his home base is the Archdiocese of Chicago. If he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find another clergy assignment, he tells me that he will likely be compelled to return to Peru.<\/p>\n

This young Catholic priest risked his future by speaking the truth about what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening in the Church. Listen to his homily, or at least read the transcript below. Pray for him. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll keep you updated about his status.<\/p>\n

From Father Gavancho\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s August 26 homily, starting at the 10:47 mark. This is what courage sounds like:<\/p>\n

The evil has found in the Church a hold. And it is natural for people to believe that there is nothing else to do in the Catholic Church. Maybe many are thinking of leaving the Church. After the terrible experience of 2002, with the abuses, many people left the Church. Now, another opportunity, many people are going to leave. I hope they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do, I tell them that they need to stay, that this is the Church of Christ. But if they do, believe me, I understand. Because it is very bad what we have allowed to take place in the Catholic Church in the world. Because this is not only America. In the world! Everywhere! Chile. Ireland. Australia. Everywhere.<\/p>\n

If you are Catholic, and you love the Catholic Church, you cannot just say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pray, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s offer a couple of rosaries, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see what happens.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d You cannot do that. You have to pray, but pray for truth. You need to pray so God can act. He has begun to act. Who may think that yesterday, that a former Vatican ambassador from the Holy See to the United States was going to write 10, 11 pages letter saying this \u00e2\u20ac\u201d asking for the resignation of a pope?! Who may think that? If you had told me that yesterday morning, I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have believed you. But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what happened.<\/p>\n

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So, what are we doing now? Where are we going from here? First of all, we must understand one thing. This Church, the Catholic Church, is the Church of Christ. It is the Bride of Christ. St. Paul is right when he said in the letter to the Ephesians, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He has cleansed the Church with His Cross, with His blood.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d She is beautiful. We have betrayed her. This is not an abusive church. This is a holy church that has fallen into the hands of abusive, evil men, who are trying to destroy the Church from within, since they couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do it from the outside throughout the centuries.<\/p>\n

But you must be aware that Christ is in charge of the church. He is in charge. Sometimes on days like this, we may not see him. We may not feel him. And we may cry out like we did at the beginning of the mass, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Please, Lord, help us! Have mercy on us!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in charge, and he will bring justice. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s already begun to do that. These things I have told you are just the beginning. Just the beginning. Many bad things are going to happen, and we need to be glad<\/em>, because nothing is better than the truth. To know what is happening, even though it may be ugly, it may be painful, to know it is very good. So, Christ is in charge.<\/p>\n

Second, pray<\/em>. Do sacrifices. Pray the rosary. Come closer to the Lord. Ask the Lord to be part of his flock. Because you will see many wearing cassocks like this, or chasubles like this, many preaching from the pulpits. They are traitors.<\/em> So you need to have something that in the Catholic Church is called discernment<\/em>: the capacity to know where is God and where is not. Regardless of it seems like God is here or it seems like God is there. No, no \u00e2\u20ac\u201d now you need real discernment, because the Devil has clothed his children with shepherd\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clothing, to make it more difficult to recognize him.<\/p>\n

You need to pray for discernment, to pray for the Church, to pray for you, for your children. To pray for your priests, especially for so many bishops who are good, still, and priests who are good, faithful. Who have suffered greatly all these decades, and all these years, being moved from one parish to another because they were preaching the truth, and the pastor or the bishop didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like that, so they moved to another place, and another place, living a life of great suffering \u00e2\u20ac\u201d they are there. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not fun. It is difficult. You cry a lot, because you feel lonely. Forgotten. Despised. Only because you wanted to be faithful to Christ, but your speech, and your homilies didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fit with the ideas of these people who wanted to destroy the Church, and who wanted you to say nice things to the people. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make waves. Just go along with everything. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make people nervous. Just, you know, speak about general things, so people are not aware of what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on.<\/p>\n

So my dear brothers and sisters, then we must act<\/em>, which is part of a process of conversion. You must act. Bishop Fulton Sheen, one of the greatest bishops that America has ever had \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 said that: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do not look for change in bishops and priests.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Do not. He was talking to you. The change in the Church \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 will come through you laity. When you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give up, and tell your pastor and your priest and your bishop: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tell us the truth! Stop being just nice, and smiling to us, and preach the Gospel to us! We want to live a holy life, not the life that the world lives. Tell us the truth, and we will help you to sustain the Church with our money and other things. But you, you need to do your mission, you need to do your job, which is helping us to get to heaven. To be saved. To give us the Sacrament, to love Jesus, and not just to be politically correct. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the Gospel.<\/p>\n

But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the temptation that you laity have fallen into. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Speak out! Do you want the Gospel? Do you want Christ? Do you want heaven? Do you want the truth? Or do you just want what we find everywhere in the world, which is what we really want to hear, what is pleasing to our ears. Demand <\/em>change in the Church. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not going to be enough, just adding a couple of policies to this taking care of the children. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not going to be enough just to see three, four, or five cardinals resigning, and ten bishops resigning \u00e2\u20ac\u201d it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not going to be enough. We need to see real change. We need to go back to be faithful to Christ, to Our Lord Christ, not the world. We are here to change the world, not the world to change us. We are the light of the world; we are not equal with the world. We have Christ. We have the truth. The world is helpless. The prince of the world is the Evil One, and we are hear to fight against him.<\/p>\n

Now, what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m saying might sound very hard for you, and I have to say I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sorry, but I had to say it. Because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sick and tired of seeing my mother the Church being insulted and portrayed as an institution of criminals. Because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my mother, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your mother! The one who gave you eternal life through baptism, who gave you the courage through confirmation, who gives you the Eucharist every Sunday you come. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s our mother, and we need to help her in these dreadful times. So my dear brothers and sisters again, I have to say this because I am priest of Christ. Many people don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say that, and I was afraid to say something like that. There are more things I want to say, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say it because I want to be here next week.<\/p>\n

[Applause]<\/p>\n

But I need to say this, and I ask the Lord\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pardon, because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a coward too. Sometimes I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say what I should say, because sometimes I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m more concerned about my position. Pray for me too so I may be a saint. But suffering is hard, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tough, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to suffer. Pray, my fellow Catholics, in these dreadful times. Demand from your leaders the truth \u00e2\u20ac\u201d only then everything will be fine. With Jesus! Not with cardinals, not with popes. These are human beings. Some are wonderful, some are bad. Only with Christ. Only by doing his will. Only by staying next to him faithfully, everything will be fine. And I tell you this: everything will be fine. The Church of Christ cannot be destroyed through anybody, not for the Devil. They will not destroy the Church, but they will take some members of the Church away \u00e2\u20ac\u201d yes, that he can do. And we pray that none of us will be one of them. So my dear brothers and sisters, may the Lord help us in these dreadful times to have courage. I have my hope in God, and in you, the laity. You will save the Church.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

UPDATE:<\/strong> I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard from a couple of people that this homily wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t what got this priest booted from the parish. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to change the headline of this blog entry, and rewrite the top, pending verification. It is nevertheless an excellent homily.<\/p>\n

UPDATE.2:<\/strong> I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just heard from a friend I trust who has direct personal knowledge of the situation. He suggested that I change the headline back, saying that Father Gavancho was definitely kicked out because of this homily. I also got Father Gavancho\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s phone number, and called him tonight. Here is Gavancho\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s version of what happened:<\/p>\n

The pastor of his parish, Our Lady of Sorrows in Santa Barbara, asked him to meet privately at 6pm on Tuesday, two days after delivering the homily. The pastor told him that he had to get out of the rectory that evening. The parish will pay to store your things for one week, Gavancho said he was told, but after that, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on your own. Gavancho spent that night in a hotel, with as many of his belonging as he could stuff into his car stored there. Gavancho had been resident in the parish for only six weeks.<\/p>\n

The next day he reported to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles vicar for clergy office. He was told that his right to say mass in Los Angeles was being removed. Gavancho asked why. The official meeting with him was surprised that he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, and presented a piece of paper with ten complaints by the pastor of his parish against him.<\/p>\n

The above homily was on the list. The other complaints are, in Gavancho\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s view, either things that happened, but were twisted by the pastor to make them sound bad, or did not happen at all. The priest gave me a couple of examples. I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get into the details here, because they are extraordinarily petty.<\/p>\n

Gavancho said at no point was he allowed to defend himself. The decision to oust him was made without his input. This is the second time he has been asked to leave a California diocese. He came to Los Angeles from Santa Rosa, where he had gone after friction in the Archdiocese of Chicago, his home diocese.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have to recognize that yes, trouble has followed me, not because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a troublemaker, but because the situation in the Church is so difficult that priests like me don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fit in well,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gavancho told me.<\/p>\n

I asked him to explain. He said that he is orthodox in his Catholicism, and outspoken.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not a priest who always preaches about hell, abortion, or homosexuality,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I preach on whatever the Gospel reading was that day. If it talks about the poor, I preach on the poor. I defended immigrants in a homily not long ago. Sometimes they try to portray me as someone who is mean, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not true.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Gavancho said at his Santa Barbara assignment, he tried to be on his best behavior. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wear my cassock precisely because I knew [the pastor] wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go to other places and say the Latin mass because I knew he would get mad.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

But here he is, with nowhere to go. In our conversation, Gavancho expressed concern that people would think that he reached out to me. (He didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t; I called him.) He seemed hesitant about talking to me, but said after delivering that homily, he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be a hypocrite.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The time in the Church has come for people to speak out,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell people not to say anything now because I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to get in trouble.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Gavancho told me that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s praying now that some other bishop will take him. Failing that, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hoping to find a place to stay for the next six weeks, and a place to store his books and personal belongings, or the funds to pay for a hotel, until he can get back home to Peru to see his mother. He has planned to fly back on October 15. He thought it would be a normal visit back home, but now the flight back may be a one-way trip.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I had to speak the truth,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, about his homily. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But the consequences have been terrible.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

I have changed the headline back to the original form.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rod Dreher \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 September 3, 2018 Father Juan Carlos Gavancho, removed from parish for stunning anti-corruption homily (From his video \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcBasta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122) On Sunday, August 26, the day after the Vigano testimony was published, a young Catholic priest named Juan Carlos Gavancho preached a bold homily in the Santa Barbara, California, parish where he was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}