Fr. Marcel Guarnizo - back on the job?

Remember him?

A year ago Fr. Marcel Guarnizo was suspended because he refused to give communion to a Lesbian woman at her mother's funeral in Washington, D.C..  Evidently the suspension ended, because [Ed. note:  Apparently the following text reprinted from an Arcdiocesan letter I received last year is incorrect? "Fr. Guarnizo was placed on administrative leave as the result of credible allegations of behavior that is distinct from and occurred subsequent to the incident involving communion. The archdiocese’s Communications staff is monitoring and correcting inaccurate stories on a continual basis."]

Fr. Guarnizo is writing for Catholic News Agency....  Guess what about?  The De Gregorio story in the Italian journal La Republica claiming knowledge of the secret investigative report to Benedict XVI, which in turn (they tried to claim), prompted his resignation.  The same story got picked up by Paddy Agnew of the Irish Times.  Then, Robert Moynihan came out with his version - which not a few bloggers like myself picked up on.  Of course we now know the story was not properly vetted and cannot be substantiated.

Fr. Guarnizo writes about all of that here:

On Friday, Feb. 22, Mr. Paddy Agnew of the Irish Times, descended to what can only be described as new lows of journalism. Mr. Agnew’s article, title “Report into Vatican pushes Pope to resign” does not meet even the most fundamental requirements of serious journalism, corroboration, and fact-checking. 

Sources who can testify to claims being made and are reliable witnesses are obligatory for any professional journalist. The serious nature of the completely unsubstantiated charges Mr. Agnew levels against the Holy See, without any compunction – for the fact is that his story is completely uncorroborated – makes one wonder if spreading propaganda that seeks to hurt the Church, and the faith of the Irish people in the public square, has become the new normal for Irish Times. - Finish reading here.
 

The article ends with a short description of the author:

Fr. Marcel Guarnizo is a priest of the Archdiocese of Moscow, Russia who has done extensive pro-life work in Maryland.
 

Doesn't Moscow need priests?  Maybe he's working on his dissertation.

CORRECTION!

Evidently I was misinformed concerning the information I had that Fr. Guarnizo had been suspended last year.  A kind reader, X, informed me of my mistake today.  I edited my text and reprint the informative email(s) below:

Dear Terry,

I just read your “ABBEY – ROADS” blog post, “Fr. Marcel Guarnizo – back on the job?”

I’m not that familiar with the blog or your writing, but gather enough from your tone that you mean to be unkind.

Never mind that. I’m writing primarily to help you out on your own writing. Fr. Marcel was NEVER suspended from the Archdiocese of Washington and was NEVER on administrative leave. You might want to personally check my FACTS with the Archdiocese of Washington.

Ms. Johnson was let down by some other/s before that fateful day, February 25, 2012, NOT by Fr. Marcel who I believe acted with courage and charity.

Sincerely,

X

 

!!!

 

Mr. Nelson,

I suggest you pull your blog post immediately: "Fr. Marcel Guarnizo - back on the job?. It's the responsible thing to do and it's what's best for the Church.

As I mentioned in my e-mail attached below, the proper representative at the Archdiocese of Washington will confirm Fr. Marcel was never on administrative leave and was never suspended.

Sincerely,


X

 

 

 NB:  If anyone questions where I stood on the Fr. Guarnizo affair, click here and find the posts I did in his defense.