Bronca in the archdiocese of Toledo.
Its archbishop, Francisco Cerro Chaves, has had to come forward and make a statement—something unusual within the walls of the Church—to show his rejection of the statements of two priests of his bishopric on YouTube, in which they wish for the death of the Pope.
“It does not represent in any way the line of communication of this particular Church.
“We reiterate and ratify the calls for effective and emotional communion with the successor of Peter,” says the prelate in the document, published this Wednesday night on the episcopal website.
The scandal had broken out that day in the morning, when several media outlets reported on a gathering on February 22 made up of five priests to talk about pastoral issues.
At the beginning, during the presentations, the priests alluded to the health of Pope Francis.
One of them, Gabriel Calvo Zarraute, in a joking tone, stated that he was “praying a lot for the Pope so that he can go to heaven as soon as possible.”
The rest laughed in unison and then several comments were exchanged:
"I too join Father Gabriel's prayers for the Holy Father," said Priest Charles Murr.
-There is!
—, concluded Father Francisco J. Delgado.
“There are many of us with that intention,” the priest Calvo Zarraute said again.
"Well, let's see if we pray harder," Delgado said.
The Toledo bishopric affirms that it has communicated to the priests "the need to ask forgiveness for such statements that harm the communion of the Church and scandalize the People of God."
The archbishop has not imposed any punishment on them, although he has specified in the statement that "other corrective measures are not excluded with respect to those who are called to be ministers of Christ, at the service of unity and evangelical life in the Church, avoiding "any conduct that disdains their status."
Both Calvo Zarraute and Delgado are priests of the diocese of Toledo, as reported by
Vida Nueva
, the first media outlet to report the news.
The archbishop of Toledo has reprimanded both.
The priest Charles Murr is American, so Cerro Chaves has no authority over him.
The other participants in the video, within the so-called “counterrevolutionary priestly gathering,” are: Juan Manuel Góngora, priest of the diocese of Almería;
Rodrigo Menéndez Piñar, from Toledo;
Roylan Recio, from the American diocese of Colorado Springs, and Juan Razo, from the Mexican diocese of Saltillo.
After the media uproar and harsh criticism, the YouTube channel, baptized as The Sacristy of Vedeé, published this Wednesday that the comment was “in a humorous tone” and that “it does not express wishes for the death of the Pope, as some media maliciously have spread.”
The priests affirm "his adherence to Pope Francis" and reject the attacks against him, although they have stressed that they do not intend to apologize "to those who pharisaically take advantage" of his "slide to attack" his message.
“We regret the problems caused to our respective bishoprics due to the arrival of coordinated protests due to our actions.
It would not be a bad thing for those who appreciate our work to express, if they see fit, their support.
Long live Christ the King!”, concludes the publication.
It is not the first time that the archbishop of Toledo has had to come forward to oppose the attitude of some of his priests against Pope Francis.
The last was at the beginning of the year, when a group of priests from the archdiocese led a collection of signatures for Francis to annul the
Fiducia Supplicans
declaration , in which
He approved of blessing homosexual couples, although without equating them with marriage.
The initiative, promoted on Change.org, was seasoned in networks with harsh criticism against the Pontiff, in which many of these priests questioned his legitimacy.
Cerro Chaves had to weather the situation with a statement in which he asked the clergy to accept “these [papal] instructions from the heart.”