Christian group petitions for firing of “anti-vaccine” La Crosse priest

The La Crosse priest that said Democrats will burn in hell if they don’t repent is now being called on by a grassroots Christian organization to be fired, himself.

Faithful America started a petition Tuesday to “Fire anti-vaccine Catholic priest,” Fr. James Altman over inflammatory rhetoric against COVID-19 guidelines.

The petition calls on La Crosse Catholic Bishop William Callahan to remove Altman from St. James the Less Catholic Church. Nearly 10,000 had signed as of early Wednesday.

A Palm Sunday Mass earlier this year shows Altman railing about COVID-19 protocols, calling them “godless” and “Nazi-esque controls.”

An Easter bulletin said: “If the Injection actually worked, no one who actually took it would have cause for fearing anyone who did not. They would be ‘safe’ even if you coughed in their face. Therefore, their use of peer pressure to force you into Godless conformity is damnable. God is still the best doctor and prayer is still the best medicine.”

Altman last drew headlines back in September calling Democrats godless and warning they would go to hell if they don’t repent as part of a produced video.

The rhetoric from that video led to a statement for Callahan saying Altman’s message was “angry and judgmental,” but there appears to have been no action by the Bishop.

Faithful America writes in the petition:

According to multiple news reports, a Catholic priest in La Crosse, Wisconsin, has been using his pulpit to spread deadly conspiracy theories about masks and vaccines.

On Palm Sunday, Fr. James Altman preached that COVID-19 health guidelines are “godless, Nazi-esque controls,” telling parishioners, “God damns every single one of those godless moves.” He also said Dr. Anthony Fauci’s support for masks “is damnable in the hottest fires of hell.”

On Easter, Altman packed in 300-500 parishioners, with at least 50 maskless people jammed in the first five pews — violating the Diocese of La Crosse’s mask mandate and capacity protocols. The church bulletin falsely claimed that COVID-19 vaccines don’t work, even repeating the debunked conspiracy theory that the shots alter genes.

This is not the first time Altman’s angry sermons have made headlines. Last fall, his homily “You cannot be a Catholic & a Democrat. Period,” called the antiracist Southern Poverty Law Center “godless, communist, anti-American” and attacked the pro-LGBTQ priest Fr. Jim Martin as a “heretic.”

Altman’s newest reckless actions are endangering not only his parishioners, but the lives of every essential worker they meet. His bishop, William Callahan, needs to hear that Christians across the country refuse to accept such deadly behavior in Jesus’s name.