To: His Holiness Pope Francis I and Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I, the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago
Remove Anti-Gay Exorcist Bishop Paprocki from Office
Most Holy Father, We petition you to reprimand your holy servant The Most Reverend Thomas John Paprocki, Bishop of Springfield in Illinois, for violating the sacred Rite of Exorcism on 20 November 2013, implying that "deception of the Devil in same-sex marriage" is synonymous with demonic possession, the criteria upon which the decision to perform an exorcism should be based;
Furthermore, we most humbly request that Your Holiness please consider removing him from his sacred duties as Bishop in order to spare our community what we fear will soon resemble the freak-show ministry of Rev. Fred Phelps of the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church, and do real and lasting harm to the Roman Catholic Church in our area and beyond.
Furthermore, we most humbly request that Your Holiness please consider removing him from his sacred duties as Bishop in order to spare our community what we fear will soon resemble the freak-show ministry of Rev. Fred Phelps of the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church, and do real and lasting harm to the Roman Catholic Church in our area and beyond.
Why is this important?
In recent days, Catholic Bishop Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, has launched a homophobic, potentially hatemongering crusade reminiscent of Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church (godhatesfags.com) which the bishop, in his own words, apparently plans to build upon in the future.
On November 20th, Bishop Paprocki chose to conduct an "exorcism" in Springfield, Illinois, to coincide with our governor's ceremony signing the same-sex marriage bill, in order to draw media attention to his virulently anti-gay political positions regarding same-sex marriage in our State of Illinois.
The Baptist Church may be unwilling or unable to hold Fred Phelps accountable for his actions, but the Roman Catholic Church is well-equipped to deal with its Bishops when they begin acting in a manner such as this.
We want to put a stop to all this as soon as possible. We believe that we have a potential ally in Pope Francis, especially considering His words from last July:
“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”
On November 20th, Bishop Paprocki chose to conduct an "exorcism" in Springfield, Illinois, to coincide with our governor's ceremony signing the same-sex marriage bill, in order to draw media attention to his virulently anti-gay political positions regarding same-sex marriage in our State of Illinois.
The Baptist Church may be unwilling or unable to hold Fred Phelps accountable for his actions, but the Roman Catholic Church is well-equipped to deal with its Bishops when they begin acting in a manner such as this.
We want to put a stop to all this as soon as possible. We believe that we have a potential ally in Pope Francis, especially considering His words from last July:
“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”