(NBC News) The pastor of a Roman Catholic parish in Wisconsin who told his congregation to shun the Covid-19 vaccine and preached right-wing politics from the pulpit has been asked to step down by his bishop.
The Rev. James Altman, of the St. James the Less Roman Catholic Church in La Crosse, made the announcement during his sermon at Sunday Mass, calling himself a victim of the “cancel culture.”
“If the left whines, like they do, like a spoiled brat often enough, they succeed in canceling so many voices of truth,” he said. “And now that they are whining like, if I may say it, the pansy babies that they are, to cancel me.”
Altman, whose sermon was posted on YouTube, said Bishop William Callahan of the Diocese of La Crosse asked him to resign Friday and called him “divisive and ineffective.” He said he’s engaged a canon lawyer and intends to fight the bishop’s decision, but that this could be his last sermon as pastor.