Priests Suspend YouTube Program after Making "comments in bad taste" about Pope Francis

What is ‘La Sacristía de la Vendée’?

“La Sacristía de la Vendée” is a YouTube channel that once a week broadcasts, among other content, a “counterrevolutionary gathering of priests” in which several priests from different dioceses participate.

The Vendée is a region on the west coast of France that resisted the French Revolution of 1789–1799. Most of its priests refused to take the oath affirming the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which effectively subordinated the French Catholic Church to the revolutionary government. A bloody civil war ensued, which the Vendeans lost.

The priests who usually take part are Father Gabriel Calvo Zarraute, Father Francisco José Delgado, and Father Rodrigo Menéndez Piñar, all from the Archdiocese of Toledo in Spain; Father Juan Manuel Góngora from the Diocese of Almería, Spain; Father Roylan Recio from the Diocese of Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Father Francisco Torres from the Diocese of Plasencia, Spain.

What did the priests say about Pope Francis?

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During the Feb. 22 broadcast of the program, Delgado referenced the feast of the day, the Chair of St. Peter, stating that this was a day “to pray for the Petrine office of the Successor of Peter.” Góngora, in his initial greeting, encouraged on the occasion of that feast that viewers be “united in truth and fidelity to the Holy Father and praying for him, for his person and intentions.”

In his presentation, Calvo added: “I also pray a lot for the pope, so that he can go to heaven as soon as possible,” to which Delgado added: “It’s one of the things you can pray for anyone.”

Next, Father Charles Murr, an American priest invited to the program, was introduced and said that he joined with “Father Gabriel Calvo’s prayers for the Holy Father,” to which Calvo replied: “There are many of us with that intention.” It was then that Delgado added: “Well, perhaps we’ll be praying harder.”

The priests apologize

On Feb. 28, the Archdiocese of Toledo demanded that the priests of the “La Sacristía de la Vendée” apologize for the comments made “in bad taste” on the Feb. 22 broadcast, which they did in a Feb. 28 post on X.

“We’re sorry for the unfortunate comment said in jest about ‘praying for the pope to go to heaven as soon as possible,’” the priests said in the post. “It was a comment in bad taste and although it does not express the wish for the pope to die, as some media have maliciously portrayed, we understand that it can be understood that way.”

In their statement they expressed their “adherence to Pope Francis, in the same terms in which it was clearly expressed in the program of last Feb. 15. We reject attacks against the pope and the unity of the Church and those who deny the legitimacy of the pope’s ministry.”

‘Don’t stop praying for us’

Toward the end of the broadcast on March 6, after announcing that each of the program participants will continue with their individual apostolic projects online, Delgado asked viewers to “not stop praying for us,” because “above everything else we need this: the power of prayer and fasting is powerful enough to expel the demons that are attacking us in these times.”

“Persevere in good and reject evil, and have for us the mercy that has been denied to us by those who have turned that divine attribute into a sad publicity gimmick,” Delgado concluded.

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This story was first published by ACI Prensa, ACI Africa's Spanish-language news partner. It was translated by CNA, ACI Africa’s U.S.-based news partner.