Church pastor suspended after calling Black Lives Matter organizers 'maggots'

INDIANAPOLIS – The diocese in Lafayette has suspended a priest from public ministry after calling Black Lives Matter organizers "maggots and parasites" in his weekly message.

Bishop Timothy Doherty suspended the Rev. Theodore Rothrock from St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Carmel on Wednesday.

"The Bishop expresses pastoral concern for the affected communities," the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana said in a statement Wednesday. "The suspension offers the Bishop an opportunity for pastoral discernment for the good of the diocese and for the good of Father Rothrock."

Rothrock, who previously was poised to become pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, will no longer transition to that role. Deacon Bill Reid will serve as administrator of St. Elizabeth Seton.

According to the diocese's statement "various possibilities for his public continuation in priestly ministry are being considered."

In Rothrock's original message posted on Sunday, June 28, he wrote that the church must oppose Black Lives Matter and Antifa and carry the "message of peace."

"The only lives that matter are their own and the only power they seek is their own," Rothrock wrote of Black Lives Matter organizers. "They are wolves in wolves clothing, masked thieves and bandits, seeking only to devour the life of the poor and profit from the fear of others. They are maggots and parasites at best, feeding off the isolation of addiction and broken families, and offering to replace any current frustration and anxiety with more misery and greater resentment."

The post has since been removed from the church's website.

Rothrock apologized Tuesday night in a message sent to parishioners and later posted on the church website, "It was not my intention to offend anyone," he wrote, "and I am sorry that my words have caused any hurt to anyone."

He continued on to say that all people are welcome in God's kingdom and the church must condemn bigotry, which is "a part of the fabric of our society."

"We must also be fully aware that there are those who would distort the Gospel for their own misguided purposes," Rothrock wrote. "People are afraid, as I pointed out, rather poorly I would admit, that there are those who feed on that fear to promote more fear and division."

The newly-formed Carmel Against Racial Injustice group had asked the bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana to remove Rothrock from leadership.

In a statement posted online before Rothrock issued his apology, Doherty said he hadn't approved or previewed the article.

"Pastors do not submit bulletin articles or homilies to my offices before they are delivered," he said. "I expect Father Rothrock to issue a clarification about his intended message. I have not known him to depart from Church teaching in matters of doctrine and social justice."

Doherty also referenced a column he wrote in early June, in which he called the killing of George Floyd brutal and unjust.

Follow Kaitlin Lange on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Carmel church pastor suspended after calling BLM organizers 'maggots'