Unvaccinated pastor removed over ‘serious disobedience’ of COVID rules, VT bishop says
A pastor who rejected his bishop’s directive to get vaccinated against COVID-19 can no longer preside at a church in Vermont due to “his serious disobedience and disrespect,” the bishop said.
The pastor initially told the bishop he wouldn’t follow the parish’s COVID-19 policy, which required unvaccinated clergy to wear a mask and get tested for the virus every other week, after it was announced in September, the National Catholic Register reported.
Months later, Father Peter Williams has been removed from serving at Holy Family Parish in Springfield after he “first made this matter public,” Bishop Christopher Coyne of the Diocese of Burlington wrote in a March 8 letter.
“Please know that I did not make this decision lightly nor with any personal feelings in the matter,” Coyne added.
“My hope was that this situation could have been reconciled privately, but unfortunately it only escalated causing much angst within the parish.”
Coyne told McClatchy News that Williams has been a pastor at the church for 19 years and he “gave him every opportunity to back off, to obey, and he refused.”
In January, Williams posted a “personal message” on his church’s YouTube page about “what’s been happening over the last several months” in regards to Coyne’s COVID-19 policy.
“Because he made it a matter of honor and obedience, I quickly responded to him saying that I would not wear a mask or get tested,” Williams said in the video.
Williams said Coyne responded by telling him that he had 14 days to comply or he’d be suspended, adding that he was threatened to get excommunicated.
“I have rights as a pastor to retain my position until the bishop removes me,” Williams said, referring to his canonical rights under canon law of the Roman Catholic Church.
In regards to the testing requirement, Coyne told McClatchy News that proof of testing wasn’t required but that he counted on people’s honor to do so.
He added that there are four or five priests who are unvaccinated but wear a mask and get tested.
“We need priests and so there’s no plus side for the diocese to do this, but I had to do it eventually because for the protection of people.”
Coyne said the “parish is very, very divided right now between those who are in favor of what the father has done and those who aren’t.”
In Coyne’s letter, he wrote that the decision to remove Williams came from “an extensive process and much prayer” and that he followed church law to not “infringe” on Williams’ “canonical rights.”
“A great deal of misinformation has been spread that has caused much division and concern within the parish and has impacted his ability to minister to all parishioners,” the bishop added.
In Coyne’s September letter regarding the vaccine directive, he pointed to three reasons as to why it was issued.
“Pope Francis and emeritus Pope Benedict have been vaccinated, the CDF has directed that it is morally licit to receive the vaccines even if they were created or tested using cells harvested from aborted fetuses, and Pope Francis has encouraged Catholics to be vaccinated as an ‘act of charity’ that protects not just themselves but others,” Coyne wrote.
Additionally, he acknowledged that vaccination is a personal choice, adding that “choosing not to be vaccinated, as with all choices in life, has ramifications.”
The requirement for unvaccinated clergy to get tested for COVID-19 and wear a mask was “not optional,” Coyne emphasized.
In his March 8 letter, he iterated that “no priest, deacon, employee, volunteer or parishioner” of the diocese has been “mandated” to get vaccinated.
Coyne said he’s invited Williams to stay with him at his home at St. Joseph Cathedral Parish in Burlington to pray and have dialogue together “to hopefully change the bad opinion he has of me as his bishop.”
The bishop told McClatchy News that Williams hasn’t responded to this offer.
“If he needs a place to live, we will find him a place to live.”
Coyne added that Williams can contact Rome for an appeal on his decision.
He said Williams is technically still a pastor and that he continues to receive his benefits and salary from the parish.
“It’s just a sad situation all around.”
In August 2021, Pope Francis, as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, advised everyone to get vaccinated against the virus.
“Thanks to God’s grace and to the work of many, we now have vaccines to protect us from COVID-19,” he said in the video, according to the Vatican.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 9:05 AM with the headline "Unvaccinated pastor removed over ‘serious disobedience’ of COVID rules, VT bishop says."
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