Diocese suspends Carmel priest for comments in article  

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The pastor of St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Carmel has been suspended after writing an article that drew backlash from the local community for its description of leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement, among other things.

CIC COM 0913 Ted Rothrock
Rothrock

As of noon July 1, the Rev. Theodore Rothrock was suspended from public ministry by the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana.

“The Bishop expresses pastoral concern for the affected communities. The suspension offers the Bishop an opportunity for pastoral discernment for the good of the diocese and for the good of Father Rothrock,” stated Timothy Doherty, bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana.

Rothrock had previously been assigned to become pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel church in Carmel, but the diocese stated that will not happen.

“Various possibilities for his public continuation in priestly ministry are being considered,” Doherty stated.

In a June 28 post that has since been removed from the SetonCarmel.org website, Rothrock wrote that Black Lives Matter, Antifa and “other nefarious acolytes of their persuasion” are “not the friends or allies we have been led to believe.”

“They are the serpents in the garden, seeking only to uproot and replant a new species of human made in the likeness of men and not in the image of God,” he stated. “Their poison is more toxic than any pandemic we have endured.”

He also compared the movements’ leaders to “maggots and parasites at best.”


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