Fr. Dwight Longenecker: The Tale of Two Fr. Jameses

By Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Crisis Magazine, May 26, 2021

Father Dwight Longenecker is the pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary parish in Greenville, South Carolina. His upcoming book, Beheading Hydra: A Radical Plan for Christians in an Atheistic Age, will be published by Sophia Institute Press in the Spring. Read more at www.dwightlongenecker.com.

With the news that conservative priest Fr. James Altman has been asked by his bishop to resign, one is faced with the contrast between Fr. James Altman and another controversial priest, Fr. James Martin, SJ.

Both priests have somewhat of a prophetic voice in the Church—Fr. Altman from the conservative side and Fr. Martin from the liberal. Fr. Altman castigates Catholics who voted for Joe Biden. Fr. Martin openly supported Biden. As such, the two Fr. Jameses are poster boys for the two Catholic Churches in America today. Fr. Altman for the traditional, orthodox, strict version of Catholicism; Fr. Martin for the accommodating, relativistic, and subjective version of Catholicism. Fr. Altman: doctrinal. Fr. Martin: pastoral. Fr. Altman: Rational. Fr. Martin: Sentimental. …

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