Politics and the Catholic Church; The Efforts to Silence a Conservative Priest

The Catholic Church is political. Most would argue it’s too political. There are conservative priests, bishops and popes and there are liberal priests, bishops and popes. The Catholic Church is currently at a divide because of this reason. 

The reason this is important is there is a beloved local priest named Father Denis O’ Shaughnessy who is caught in the crossfires. Father Denis is unlike the average priest. He went to Notre Dame College, was in the military, served our country, was an executive at GM Motors and was married to the love of his life for many years before she passed away from cancer in 1991. After the death of his wife, Father Denis decided to dedicate his life to the priesthood and give his worldly possessions away. He paid his way thru seminary because the Catholic Church said he was past the age to be a priest and get assistance and in his 60’s he became a fully ordained priest.

Father Denis went on to be the pastor at Mary Queen of Heaven Church in Jacksonville, FL where he has been since 2008. Under Father’s leadership the church has grown substantially from a small congregation to over 1,000 parishioners. 

Everything was going good for Father until a week ago when the bishop dropped in unexpectedly and told Father Denis him he was being retired. Not only did he tell him he was being forced to retire he told Father he had to announce it at Mass. After the meeting Father Denis later e-mailed the Bishop asking him why he was being forced to retire and what was he supposed to tell the congregation. An official at the diocese emailed him back and told him to tell the congregation it was his decision even though that was a lie. What the Bishop didn’t tell him is why he was making him retire but he did make it very clear he was to do so by May even though his tenure wasn’t up for renewal until the end of June of this year.

Nevertheless, Father Denis got up in front of the congregation at the upcoming Masses and informed a shocked congregation he was being forced to retire against his will and went on to state he thought it was due to one reason: politics.

It is no secret the political crisis in the Catholic Church as of late is the clergy sex scandal. Being a more conservative orthodox priest, Father Denis has been very vocal about his disappointment with the churches handling of the issue and felt they were not addressing the problem at its core. This has been seen first hand by many as the issue has been seemingly swept under the rug and the Pope has yet to outwardly address the issue. Sticking to his beliefs and the Catholic Church teachings, he pointed out what he felt were shortfalls, encouraged awareness of the issues and compassion for the victims. 

Father’s “retirement” is easy to disguise because of his age even though the bishop told him if he kept healthy the church needed him for the “long haul” just the year before. He will be 80 this year but a lot of congregation members do not think that’s the case. They have started a letter campaign to urge the bishop to reconsider. If you are interested in voicing your opinion to the bishop you are encouraged to call or write letters to: The Diocese of St. Augustine, Bishop Felipe Estevez, 11625 Old St. Augustine Road, Jacksonville, FL 32258, Phone: (904) 262-3200, Toll-free: (800) 775-4659, Fax: (904) 262-0698, [email protected]

*Father Denis has not contributed to this article. These are first hand accounts by the author who is an active member at the Mary Queen of Heaven Church. 

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