'The greatest disgrace of the bishops over the past 18 months has been that they denied people access to sacramental grace and endangered their eternal souls.'

By Pierre Boralevi

(LifeSiteNews) — Canceled priest Fr. James Altman has condemned the U.S bishops for “betraying their flock” by “depriving them of sacramental grace,” in an exclusive interview with LifeSiteNews.

Altman sat down with LifeSiteNews correspondent Jim Hale to discuss his recent suspension by Bishop William Patrick Callahan of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, and said the bishops have forsaken their flock and left their children starving.

“What kind of father won’t feed their children?” he asked. “They let their people starve!”

Altman is most widely known for his video message You can’t be a Catholic and a Democrat, which he delivered last year ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

In the video, which went viral, Fr. Altman spoke against those claiming to be devout Catholics while supporting pro-abortion politicians from the Democratic Party such as now-President Joe Biden.

For this, and in spite of strong public support from conservative and traditional Catholics, Altman was first threatened with canonical penalties by Bishop Callahan and later asked to resign.

When he refused Callahan suspended him.

Altman shared his ordeal with Hale, including having to move houses with his elderly parents who are both in their 90s. He also shed some light on his current canonical status.

“Being canceled doesn’t mean you’re not a priest,” he said. “I’m a priest forever, every priest who has been canceled is a priest forever.”

He appealed to Rome, but the process could take a year or more. In the meantime, he described his status as a canonical “limbo.”

Altman was very clear that he could still tend to souls.

“You can tend to [anybody’s] sacramental need,” he said. “You can and must take care of their eternal souls.”

Altman condemned the bishops for closing down churches and denying sacraments to the faithful, which took place all over the country during the COVID lockdowns.

“The greatest disgrace of the bishops over the past 18 months has been that they denied people access to sacramental grace and endangered their eternal souls,” he said. “People worry about my manner and tone, I’m a little concerned about the eternal souls … they should be a little bit more concerned about the eternal souls, and they’re not!”

He went even further in condemning the bishops and accused them of betraying their office and their flock.

Altman explained that the faithful have been feeling increasingly abandoned by their pastors, which he says is the reason why they turn to him, and why the bishops, whom he called “false shepherds,” criticize him.

“That’s why they don’t like me, because I just point [it] out,” he said. “And you know what, the flock know it. That why they even bother to listen to me. [There are] 37,500 priests in the U.S, why does anybody want to listen to me?”

“Because they know I’m speaking to their [very] soul when they feel abandoned by these false shepherds.”

Because of his current suspension, Altman is now unable to celebrate Mass publicly in his own parish of Saint James the Less in La Crosse, or anywhere else.

He pointed out a striking contrast in the attitude of the U.S. hierarchy and compared the harsh treatment he received to the leniency shown to notorious homosexual predators in the Church.

“They didn’t laicize child molesters, boy molesters I should say because that’s what it was,” he said.

Altman opined that the hierarchy itself has many homosexual predators among its ranks, which he said explains why these priests are protected. He referred to an estimation by LGBT supporter Fr. James Martin, that up to 40% of priests in the U.S could be homosexuals.

“If it was 40%, I wouldn’t be surprised; if it was 80%, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Martin told CBS back in March of this year.

Altman argued that a high percentage of predators among the episcopacy could explain why so many molester priests are protected.

“The bishops have protected so many and covered up for so many because they are in essence covering up for themselves,” he said.

Regarding the possibility of Fr. James Martin being made a cardinal in the future, Altman commented that he “wouldn’t put it past the current bishop of Rome to do that,” and mentioned the case of serial abuser ex-cardinal McCarrick.

“The bishop of Rome is buds with McCarrick, and we all know about McCarrick,” he said.

He also referred to the late cardinal Danneels, who was caught on tape urging sexual abuse victims to silence.

Hale then asked Altman to comment on the injustice that was done to him and the harm that was done to his parishioners when he was removed from his parish.

“What people out there need to understand is that [the bishops] don’t care about them, they’re not fathers,” said Altman.

Talking about his own diocesan bishop, Altman argued that the bishop removing his faculties was proof that he didn’t care about him or his flock.

“He doesn’t give a care about me, or he would never have ripped me away from my family; and he doesn’t care about my parish family or he wouldn’t have ripped their father away from them,” he said.

Altman then reiterated his condemnation of U.S bishops’ closure of churches last year.

“What kind of father won’t feed their children?” he asked. “They let their people starve!”

The priest explained that what keeps him going is the knowledge that God allows injustice, and that the crucifix is a reminder of that fact.

“All is for the salvation of souls,” he said, quoting Bishop Athanasius Schneider. “I fear no miter, what I fear is standing one day before Jesus.”

He quoted Cardinal Raymond Burke who once stated: “When I die, I will appear before the Lord to give an account of my service as bishop, not before the USCCB.”