American Bishops Cancelled 2,000 Priests While Closing Parishes for Lack of Clergy

The Coalition For Cancelled Priests (CFCP) paused its second annual conference in Rosemont, Illinois last weekend to voice 500 attendees’ unanimous support for embattled Bishop Joseph Strickland after learning that the Vatican had sent two henchmen to Tyler, Texas to confront him for his “imprudence” for leading a mass demonstration and exorcism of the blasphemous Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

So after “cancelling” an estimated 2,000 priests across the U.S., the hierarchy is now trying to cancel the only American bishop with the courage to stand up to such perversion.

In an exclusive interview with Good Moral Compasses, CFCP founder Fr. John Lovell said that he started the organization after he was cancelled by his own bishop in Rockford, Illinois more than 12 years ago.

“We launched as a coalition on June 24, 2021. I got together with Fr. James Altman and Liz Yore in Lombard, Ill. and we had a thousand people come out for Fr. James Parker, a priest who was cancelled in the Diocese of Rockford. We couldn’t believe that a thousand people, on less than two weeks’ notice, would come out to support not just Fr. Parker, but all the other cancelled priests. We were able to raise over $20,000 for Fr. Parker. And then, less than two weeks later, Fr. Altman was cancelled.

“And so we decided that God is calling us to be an organization that helps priests who haven’t done anything wrong. A lot of people say, ‘Well, what’s the difference between a priest who did something wrong and a cancelled priest?’ There’s no such thing as a cancelled priest who did something wrong. A priest who did something wrong and was removed, that’s not being cancelled. That’s justice. We’re saying cancelled in terms of cancel culture.

“It is quite fortuitous that at that moment, when a beloved pastor in the Diocese of Rockford was being cancelled, that people started to say that after all the COVID lockdowns, after pachamama, after Traditionis Custodes and the suppressing of the Latin Mass, after the McCarrick scandal, people were starting to say, ‘Enough’s enough. Where is all our money going? Why are we supporting Democratic organizations? Why are we back-pedaling on abortion?’

“People want a church that stands up for what is right, and they don’t want their priests getting cancelled for standing up for the truth, for saying what they should be saying.”

GMC asked Fr. Lovell about his own cancellation. “I was a whistleblower. I was teaching at a high school back in 2009, and that’s when they started working at cancelling me behind the scenes. They made their first attempt in 2010. The bishop at the time, Bishop Thomas Doran, refused to accept it. There was no allegation, it was just, ‘There’s concern, people think you’re creepy.’ A lot of adjectives were thrown out there. But nobody was saying what or if I did anything wrong.

“So Bishop Doran, who was a canon lawyer, basically kept me in the ministry, and he sent me for further studies in Washington, D.C. and then he retired. And we got a new bishop and the vicar of clergy who wanted to see me cancelled in 2010 finally got his wish in 2012 under Bishop David Malloy.”

“I fought for many, many years in Rome. Won some, lost some. But in the end discovered that Rome first and foremost makes sure that they give the benefit of the doubt to the bishop. And even if it’s an airtight case, they’ll still side with the bishop because he’s ‘the bishop’. So we’re seeing canon law being disposed of and good priests being cancelled.”

Lovell said an estimated 2,000 priests have been cancelled in the United States so far. GMC asked him why priests who have never been found guilty of any wrongdoing are being sidelined in such great numbers even as parishes across the nation are closing for lack of priests.

“Take away the Eucharist, and the Church crumbles,” he replied.

Lovell also said that because bishops in several dioceses have even hired private investigators to tail priests they are in the process of cancelling, the group set up a “safe house” for those being targeted.

GMC asked if he thinks the hierarchy has been infiltrated by Satanic forces. “In a spiritual sense, the Church can never be infiltrated because the Holy Ghost is in control. But individuals are sinners, and it doesn’t matter if they’re men or women, priests or laity, bishops or even the Pope, who can and has made many mistakes.

“Now God promised that the gates of hell will never prevail against His Church, and that’s true. We know we’re going to win the war, but is it going to be a Pyrrhic victory, meaning that we lost so many souls, even when we win it feels like we lost? But we can’t worry about that. All we have to worry about is what are we contributing so it’s not a Pyrrhic victory.”

GMC asked Fr. Lovell what the remaining faithful laity can do to contribute to the cause. He said that Catholics should pray, fast and do penance for the Church, call out their bishops “in truth and charity,” and contribute financially to help cancelled priests.

Donations can be sent to cancelledpriests.org or

Coalition for Cancelled Priests

P.O. Box 174

Rochelle IL 61068

“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)