At the recent Catholic Prayer for America Gala in Florida, Fr. James Altman—often labeled a “canceled priest” for his outspoken views—delivered a forceful message to the faithful regarding the current state of the Catholic Church in America. In an interview with LifeSiteNews’ John-Henry Westen, Altman did not mince words about the “deep corruption and heterodoxy” among the American bishops and his belief that change is coming, whether they are ready or not.
Speaking candidly about the hierarchy’s failures, Fr. Altman stressed that many bishops have misused funds collected from the faithful through Catholic Charities and other NGOs, allegedly to support illegal immigration. “What’s going to happen is that our new leadership is fed up with the Catholic NGOs and Catholic Charities, and they’re coming for them,” he said, according to LifeSiteNews. “I have said, and I meant it, [that] these bishops do not know the tsunami that’s coming.”
Altman’s rebuke was steeped in both theological imagery and righteous anger. “The tsunami is coming, because they were untouchable, these monsters in miters,” he added. “They don’t understand that they’re miters of the great millstone that’s going to drag them to the bottom of the sea, and their arrogance, they don’t get this” (LifeSiteNews, April 11, 2025).
Drawing a parallel to the military chain of command, Fr. Altman emphasized that leaders who have lost the confidence of their people are expected to step down. “There’s no money in the collection plate, because the faithful have had it with them, they should all resign!” he declared. “In the military, in the U.S.… there’s a thing called a lack of confidence in the leadership. So you can be the captain of a ship. If it runs aground, even though you had nothing to do with it, you’re out of a job, because the buck stops with you, the leader” (LifeSiteNews).
He called for a dramatic act of accountability: “The buck stops with these bishops, and the Catholic faithful in the United States have 100% lost confidence in their ability to lead. They should have the decency to resign en masse, just like they did in Chile. Ours don’t have the personal integrity to do so,” he said.
The conversation also turned toward the broader global Church, particularly the Vatican’s inaction in the face of serious concerns raised by the laity. According to Westen, the faithful have been raising alarms for decades about figures like Cardinal Robert McElroy, who “has preached heterodoxy on abortion and LGBT issues, covered up satanic ritual abuse, and yet faced no reproachment from the Vatican hierarchy.”
Altman agreed, suggesting that silence within the episcopacy is a form of complicity. “Every bishop in this country knows how bad it is, knows that Jorge Bergoglio is not teaching the Catholic faith,” Altman said, referring to Pope Francis by his given name. “The angels are coming to heap coals on their head. So, I’m not giving them any benefit of the doubt” (LifeSiteNews).
He went further, asserting, “Every single one of them knows… because, well, half of them are involved in it. They have each other’s backs, and their silence is complicity. McElroy’s knowing and intentional silence, he is guilty as the darkest, blackest sin.”
For many faithful Catholics, Fr. Altman’s remarks are not just controversial—they are a reflection of a growing sense of disillusionment with Church leadership. Whether one agrees with his tone or conclusions, his words give voice to an ongoing struggle within the Church to reconcile institutional authority with the Gospel’s call for truth, integrity, and justice.
