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[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Knestout, Who Expelled A Faithful Priest, Appoints A Pervert Priest As Pastor George Neumayr published the account of Bishop Barry Knestout of the Diocese of Richmond (VA) appointing as pastor of St Augustine a public sex offender without notifying the parishioners. The criminal priest in question is Father Wayne Ball. He pled guilty to "lewd acts" with another male in a car in a parking lot. At the time of the incident and subsequent hearing, he was at another parish. Those parishioners petitioned for his removal and hence he left.The excuse being proffered for this appointment...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Knestout Made a Public Sex Offender Pastor Without Informing the CongregationFrom George Neumayr on Facebook:In 2018, Knestout selected Fr. Wayne Ball pastor of St. Augustine parish in the Richmond diocese despite Ball’s 2003 guilty plea in public sex case.“Leave me out of your article,” Fr Wayne Ball, pastor of St. Augustine parish in Virginia’s Richmond diocese, barked at me. I had called Ball up to inquire as to whether he and the bishop who selected him for that position in 2018 had informed the congregation at St. Augustine about Ball’s criminal past. In 2003, Ball quietly pled...

Catholic priest who has spoken out about clergy abuse faces removal as Richmond Bishop with petition to the Vatican RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Virginia priest could be removed from the priesthood. He continued to blog about the Catholic Church sex abuse scandals even after the Catholic Diocese of Richmond Bishop ordered him to keep quiet.8News first began digging into this story back in early 2020. Father Mark White at first obeyed an order to stop blogging. However, he restarted the online conversation once COVID hit and in-person church services halted. That has now prompted Bishop Barry Knestout to...

[Catholic Caucus] Episcopal Abuse of Power Bishop sidelines, then goes after Fr. White Now that the statute of limitations on sex abuse cases has been extended in many states, more victims of clerical sex abuse are coming forward, which has forced over 20 dioceses and religious orders to file for bankruptcy protection. Richmond bishop Barry Knestout boasted at a regional gathering of priests that by settling out of court and getting victims to accept monetary settlements on the condition they give up the right to sue, he will "save the diocese millions of dollars." Bishops fear sex abuse trials for their...

Catholic bishop suspends priest and issues trespass order over blog about clergy sex abuse A months-long standoff between a Catholic bishop in Virginia and a priest who blogs frequent, strident criticism of the church’s handling of clergy sexual abuse has boiled over, with the diocese suspending the priest from ministry and changing parish and residence locks where he was assigned, the priest said Saturday. The Rev. Mark White, who has been assigned to two southwest Virginia parishes, had refused to leave the church properties despite a trespass order, saying Richmond Bishop Barry Knestout is the one violating canon law by...

DC priest describes a culture of cover-up in wake of McCarrick scandal VATICAN CITY (RNS) — In early February, the second-highest-ranking prelate in the Vatican told news outlets that a long-awaited report into the ascent of disgraced former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick would be published in the “near future.” In 2018, Pope Francis ordered that the Vatican investigate all of the documentation it had collected over the years regarding McCarrick, including data gathered in the dioceses of New York; Metuchen and Newark, New Jersey; and Washington, D.C., where he had served.Almost three months after the February announcement, the report has still not...

Priest-blogger on sex-abuse cover-up resists bishop’s order to leave parishes 'I want it to be clear that I want to be an obedient priest. All I want to do is do my duty as a priest.' MARTINSVILLE, Virginia, April 24, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – A priest whose bishop removed him from his pastoral duties at two rural parishes ostensibly due to blog entries critical of the Church’s handling of the clergy sex scandal has insisted on remaining at his post until established Church law has run its course.     After Archbishop Viganò published his testimony about Pope-Francis covering-up for sex-abuser McCarrick in...

[Catholic Caucus] Martinsville priest refuses to sign order to silence from the Catholic Diocese of Richmond Father Mark White said he wasn't allowed to review a document read aloud to him by church officials a day after he had met with the bishop. That truce reached last week in a dispute between a Martinsville priest and a Richmond bishop that preserved the priest’s job now appears to have been short-lived.About 24 hours after that meeting last Wednesday, Father Mark White, priest of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Martinsville and St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Rocky Mount, was visited...

[Catholic Caucus] Peace be with you Martinsville priest Father Mark White's popular blog has drawn lots of readers and the scorn of leaders of the Richmond Diocese because of his criticism of the Catholic Church's handling of sexual abuse cases. But his voice and his words have been silenced. This week he could be out of a job. The Catholic News Agency reported three weeks ago that McCarrick voluntarily had left the St. Fidelis Friary in Victoria, Kan., and would only describe his new residence as “a community for those removed from the ministry.” And a much-anticipated report from the...

Open Letter to Bp. Knestout Asks for Clarity on Catholic Teaching Your Excellency,I write to you on behalf of Catholic Virginians all across the Commonwealth to express our confusion over your recent actions and words pertaining to the event which was scheduled to take place at St. Bede Catholic Church in Williamsburg on 01 February 2020.I am writing to you in the spirit of Canon 212 of the Code of Canon Law, which affords the Faithful the right “to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their...

Although the Catholic bishop of Richmond, Va., the Most Rev. Barry C. Knestout, denounced Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-Va.) vote against providing medical help to infants that survive abortions as “appalling and beyond comprehension,” he would not say whether Kaine, a pro-abortion Catholic, should present himself for Communion at Mass in the Diocese of Richmond. […] Given Kaine’s support for abortion (and for allowing infants that survive abortion to die on a table), CNSNews.com asked Bishop Knestout, “Given Sen. Kaine’s long-held and very public support for abortion, will you instruct him not to present himself for Holy Communion in your diocese?...