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Wednesday 4 March 2015

Father Thomas J. Rosica, CSB on threat of lawsuit against blogger Vox Cantoris - "the matter is now closed"

http://saltandlighttv.org/blog/fr-thomas-rosica/a-message-from-fr-thomas-rosica-csb

A message from Father Thomas J. Rosica, CSB
March 4, 2015
From today’s first reading at Mass
Jeremiah 18:18-20
 The people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem said,“Come, let us contrive a plot against Jeremiah.It will not mean the loss of instruction from the priests,nor of counsel from the wise, nor of messages from the prophets.And so, let us destroy him by his own tongue;let us carefully note his every word.”
Heed me, O LORD, and listen to what my adversaries say.Must good be repaid with evil
that they should dig a pit to take my life? Remember that I stood before you to speak in their behalf, to turn away your wrath from them.
As the CEO of the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation and Television Network, I am not a high-ranking Vatican official nor a member of the hierarchy of the Church as erroneously claimed in several recent blogs.  In addition to my work at Salt and Light, I have had the privilege of serving since 2013 in a volunteer capacity as English language assistant to the Holy See Press Office.  I relate on a daily basis to hundreds of English language journalists around the world.  I know that this daily service has been encouraged and appreciated by the Vatican and by hundreds of journalists all over the world.
I fully support the teaching of the Church and welcome Pope Francis’ invitation to the whole Church to reflect seriously on the foundations of our faith. The recent Extraordinary Synod of Bishops has invited us to mature, honest dialogue and conversation and to find new ways and a new language to communicate the ancient story of the Church and our beautiful, unchanging doctrine to future generations.
Mature expressions of differences are welcome.  It is one thing to have differing opinions on church matters. However, there is fine line between difference of opinion and blatant destruction of person’s lives and reputations. Having been strongly advised to respond, as an individual and in no institutional capacity to the Vatican or to my place of work, to the continuous false, slanderous statements of a blogger over a long period of time that resulted in gross distortion, misinformation, many phone calls, letters and clear threats from callers based on the repeated false information contained in the blog, it was never my intention to sue, but rather to issue a letter to “cease and desist” the frivolous calumny. A legal firm, offering its service pro bono to us, issued a letter to cease and desist. No lawsuit was ever launched against the blogger! The matter is now closed.
Popes Benedict XVI and Francis have taught clearly that the Internet and blogs can be of tremendous service to the up-building of the Church and of humanity. They have never taught that blogs and social media should be used, in the name of fidelity, to engender slander, hatred, reviling and destroying.
In a world torn apart by hatred, terror and violence, often through the gross distortion of religion, we must be much more attentive to our use of social media and how it is used to unite rather than destroy humanity. Many in the Catholic blogosphere have contributed enormously to the spread of the faith, the defense of all that is good and beautiful about our faith and our Church, and the opening of dialogue among strangers. They are to be congratulated and encouraged. Others have chosen to turn the blogosphere into a black hole of vitriol, anger and profound sadness. As Catholics, the great privilege and freedom of expression and access to social media also have certain obligations of decency, integrity, honesty and charity that reveal who we really are as a faith community.
Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB
CEO, Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation
 * * *
PLEASE NOTE THE LINK TO THE ORIGINAL LETTER FROM FOGLER, RUBINOFF, LLP and the two paragraphs below.









J.M.J

Dear Friends,
1. The first action on the part of this blogger after receiving the letter from Fogler, Rubinoff LLP was to "take it to the Church." This means that your writer went directly to Rome -- to the Vatican on Tuesday, February 17, via email to a direct contact in the Secretariat of State. The request on my part was to intervene "quickly" and this request was not fulfilled. Instead, I was met with an interrogation of my "intentions" which could have been used against me. Later the suggestion was made to humbly accept it as a Lenten sacrifice on Ash Wednesday morning and "apologize" which would have been an admission of guilt for something that did not occur and would have resulted in the silencing and censoring of the blog and a refutation of my rights and duties under Canon 212 §3.
2. Our response to the original letter of Fogler Rubinoff LLP, suggested that Canon Law was the appropriate vehicle and should have been chosen for any perceived grievance.  
3. Our suggestion was not only rebuffed but resulted in new demands including what would have been complete censorship of me and this blog in certain areas meaning by extension, no commentary on the Synod this October and even no linking indirectly to certain commentary on the Synod.
4. Our response to that continued threat of litigation was to advise that we would no longer engage in a campaign of letters and lawfare resulting in a slow and painful bankruptcy. We advised that as of the close of business on March 3, 2015, we would begin to prepare a robust defense should it become necessary and a crowd-funding campaign to finance a rigorous defense.
My wife Francoise and I extend to all of you our gracious thanks for your prayers, your letters, emails tweets messages, phone calls, and your offers of financial support should it have become necessary. Believe me, this has been incredibly hard and painful for her over these last two weeks. We pray that we can humbly offer this up to God our Father united with the Cross of Jesus Christ for reparation and for conversion. 
Friends, we have much work to do for Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church. It will not be long until the Synod is upon us. We must be vigilant in proclaiming the eternal truths of the Church and the upholding of doctrine on matters of marriage and the family and most especially, the Holy Eucharist.
All of us have a responsibility and a duty under God to stand for truth and proclaim it from the housetops. We have a duty to stand for Our Lord Jesus Christ, His Church and His Blessed Mother, and all that the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church has taught Magisterially from the beginning. We have our keyboards even if we are not bishops or liturgists and we have our rights and duties under Canon Law. We have God-given abilities and talents and we must use them and not bury them in the sand as we will surely be condemned for doing so. 

Our parents and our grandparents did not have the tools and knowledge that we do today. If they did, we can all presume with some certainty that the so-called "spirit of Vatican II" and the "hermeneutic of rupture" spoken of by our dear Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI would not have occurred or what have been confronted in a way to stamp it out or minimize it. I am reminded of what they would think if we fail them now with the words of John McCrae a Canadian military hero, physician, and poet; "To you from failing hands, we throw the torch; be yours to hold it high if ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep." 
May the Holy Family that model of perfection and love guide us and may St. Michael the Archangel protect us.
God bless you.
Francoise and David Domet

37 comments:

P said...

Fr Rosica is quite the smooth talker now, isn't he! So reasonable, so caring...

An enemy speaks sweetly with his lips,
but in his heart he plans to throw you into a pit;
an enemy may have tears in his eyes,
but if he finds an opportunity he will never have enough of your blood.

Sirach 12:16

I'm glad you've won this battle David. Deo gratias!

Lizzy Deep said...

I am so HAPPY that Fr. Rosica "fully supports the teachings of the Catholic Church"...

LD said...

Really?! Jeramiah??... Really?

Winefred said...

Keep those emails (you know which ones) in a safe-deposit box!

Anonymous said...

I am a little confused. First,Fr. Rosica threatened to sue you. Then, he says he never had any intention to sue you. Did he lie in saying he would sue you are when he said he had no intention of doing it. For a man who has such a good command of the English language Fr. Rosica sure is confusing! Max

Dorota said...

It fills me with great sadness that rather than offering apologies Fr. Rosica, an obvious bully, presents himself as a victim now. One never ceases to hope for a change of heart in those who commit evil acts. Some will believe that it is he, a faithful servant of the Church, who has been threatened - by those dangerous traditionalist Pharisees. This is a very skilful and certainly not divinely inspired manipulation directed against us. Not surprisingly, this is consistent with his previous actions revealing a character lacking in honour, humility and integrity, educated and talented in the ways of the corrupt world of flesh. Isn't "tolerance" and ability to "value the gifts" of offences against God calling for vengeance to heaven, which drive these people? Isn't sin (I know, this term has long outlived its usefulness to "open-minded" clergy) to be promulgated and celebrated proudly as a life style? What style is it exactly? Can we find it recommended to us in the Word of God?

It seems that either this man's heart has been hardened beyond my understanding or he truly can't see his grave mistakes. Yet even his admirers and supporters, reading the admission to issuing a threat, might want to ask themselves whether Fr. Rosica's ways are indeed the ways of a follower of Jesus Christ.

This new language he talks about is a language of deceit and duplicity, irrespective of the harm caused to honest people. His letter has the potential of becoming deadly ammunition against honest Catholics. This is not the end, only the beginning.

BillyHW said...

I hope Rosica is reading this: It's not slander or calumny if it's true, father.

Anonymous said...

"Fr Rosica is quite the smooth talker now, isn't he! So reasonable, so caring"

Just like Father Volpi....birds of a feather ...these progressive Catholics all sound the same and have the knack of turning the tables upside down and manipulating facts and objective reality under a mask of religious rhetoric.. They are the passive aggressors ...but when someone calls them on it they artfully turn themselves into the victims. A shocking thing for Catholic priests to do.. (They do not know The Man)
Dear Lord have mercy on us all...keep me especially in your truth ...as it is terrifying where one can end up even in the confines of Holy Mother Church...

Last thing, have you also noticed how boring these progressive clerics and even Pope Francis sound? Their words are empty - like they are playing a part ....a role...going through the motions...they don't care about the objective truth...they are too busy defending their own egos and ideologies....creepy time for Holy Mother Church...

But, the truth will prevail sir, keep up the good work...

prayers,


Micky

FrereRabit said...

I am glad Fr Rosica has had the common sense to climb down from his original position. It is puzzling that he can deny the intention that is clearly there in the two paragraphs of the original lawyers' letter. Whatever he may say, this in itself is a dishonest withdrawal. He has clearly been given some very definite instructions to retract. You deserve an apology, not that you are likely to get one!

M. Prodigal said...

Riiight...because "Salt and Light" has been such an orthodox use of the internet.

Sitsio said...

All good comments. I also find it interesting that Fr. Rosica seems to go out of his way to mention "The recent Extraordinary Synod of Bishops has invited us to mature, honest dialogue and conversation and to find new ways and a new language to communicate the ancient story of the Church and our beautiful, unchanging doctrine to future generations." This appears to directly contradict his own words in a speech he gave as part of Assumption University's Christian Culture Lecture Series

Anonymous said...

I wonder if that Jim Hennelly is any relation to the Jim Hennelly who is a big litigation lawyer in the USA?

Scratch his comment, Vox. Meanwhile, I agree with you on this absolutely. There has never been the ghost of a breath of a scandal of this kind touching Father Rosica, and only someone hoping to make a dime in litigation would suggest it.

Toronto Catholic

Unknown said...


The part of of Father Rosica's reply that caught my eye was ... "Having been strongly advised to respond ..."

Who could have possibly advised that? That someone had strongly advised him to sue ... Was it, with all due respect, someone from the Vatican or someone from the Archdiocese ... or someone in another capacity?

Either way ...

God Bless you David for having fought the good fight!

Vox Cantoris said...

To Jim Hennelly

I have never heard of what you wrote and I have never seen nor heard any record that this has ever been the case. I do not believe this to be true nor do I have any indication that it may even be remotely true.

I will not tolerate such an unfounded allegation.

There is a web site in Canada - The Inquiry which we also refer to as Sylvia's Site where every case is logged.

http://www.theinquiry.ca/wordpress/?s=rosica

Given Father's position with the Basilian Congregation he has been a spokesman from time to time with reference to the charges and convictions of his brother Basilians; so you can find there all news where he is mentioned.

What I can attest to is that I have never heard anything untoward said or written about him in Toronto in this regard and I state emphatically that your question is without foundation.

Vox Cantoris said...

Toronto Catholic said ... "I wonder if that Jim Hennelly is any relation to the Jim Hennelly who is a big litigation lawyer in the USA?

Scratch his comment, Vox. Meanwhile, I agree with you on this absolutely. There has never been the ghost of a breath of a scandal of this kind touching Father Rosica, and only someone hoping to make a dime in litigation would suggest it."

Done, TC and thank you!

This is a lesson for all of us; we can comment on the public pronouncements and we have a right to an opinion on those, this is "fair comment" in law and there is legal precedent in Canada for bloggers in this regard.

But facts, not fallacy and vengeance.

Thanks again and God bless you!

Anonymous said...

I'm happy that the man has called off the dogs on you. I find his statement as others do, as an attempt to turn himself into a poor victim. I also find that he is deceitful when he says he holds the Catholic Faith, where it is clear since he had the spotlights turned on him that he is an catholyc/episcopalian/lutheran/ posing as a Catholic. Obviously, he knows now that others have seen this too and he's very concerned since he's drawing attention to others just like him who have been deceiving Catholics for a long time. I can imagine the "dialogue" that occurred and is still on-going no doubt, as he and those around him try to salvage their ill-deserved reputations.

The Truth is behind you and this punk learned that very quickly.
Sadly, he's a bully that didn't think anyone had your back. When he saw you had many well-armed people behind you, now he's crying that they're coming after him and being mean to him. It's typical of all bullies and especially leftist-socialist-progressive twits.

Finally, thank you for standing up for yourself, and everyone else. Also, I appreciate that you addressed the comment about abuse by Rosica; he may be many things but I never saw or heard that.

May God continue to bless you and Francoise!

St. Benedict's Thistle said...

First time commenter, now regular reader (thanks to Fr. Rosica). Thanks be to God for your small victory. I say small because a resounding victory would have been an acknowledgment of wrongdoing from Fr. Rosica, and an apology. It would do his soul good.

I will keep you and all other defenders of Holy Mother Church in my prayers and, if needed, donations to a fund. I say that because the powers now have you in their target. They will work quietly in the background, but they will be seeking ways to attack.

Never give up your vigilance for even a moment. May our Lady intercede continually for you and all defenders.

Anonymous said...

I wonder of THIS had anything to do with Fr. Rosica's withdrawel:

http://www.leaderpost.com/news/Dawg+licks+wounds+Court+rules+that+defamation+Ottawa+blogger/10858397/story.html

Not exactly the same situation, but nevertheless, a possible precedent to site?

Awfully coincidental that Fr. Rosica's withdrawal came within 48 hours after the above article was published.

Pedro Erik Carneiro said...

Congratulations to all Vox Cantoria family. I feel myself part of them.

By the way, I read Cardinal Burke expressing disaproval to father Física in an interview to Rorate Coeli yesterday.
Did you see?

I will inform my readers about the news and your letter.

ICXC NIKA.

Unknown said...

Make the smart play: move your blog to the USA and tell 'em to eat a bowl of sticks. There is no freedom in Canada or the UK.

Bear said...

Glad to hear he's not pursuing the suit.

Mary Ann Kreitzer said...

Well, Fr. Rosica blinked. If you're going to try to stare down a godly man, you'd better be prepared for a tough fight. God bless you, Mr. Domet, and I hope he has boosted your daily blog hits exponentially.

kathleen said...

I think his alarm bells went off at the word "crowdfunding". Let Rosica and his ilk be on notice: we won't take their nonsense lying down.

Elizabeth Dianne said...

Last word to Fr. Rosica who wrote:

“‘And two were left… one filled with misery, and one filled with mercy.’”[The Woman Caught in Adultery] Which person are we at this moment in our own personal journey? There is lot of misery in our world and in our Church, and both the world and the Church desperately need merciful communities, and merciful, joyful, hopeful people. Let us pray that we will become more and more a people, a church and a community overflowing with mercy.”Salt and Light Blog, Sept.3, 2009

Brian said...

Rosica wrote...
"The recent Extraordinary Synod of Bishops has invited us to mature, honest dialogue and conversation and to find new ways and a new language to communicate the ancient story of the Church and our beautiful, unchanging doctrine to future generations."

"Mature...dialogue...new ways... new language...ancient story" What a toxic fog. In other words, change the doctrine. This is typical dissent-speak. Sadly, this modus loquendi will be flourishing, at the upcoming "dissent fest", in October.

ek said...

Thank you and your wife for your courage very much, my friend! You are right, we are a big Catholic family throughout the world and we are ready to help each other. And Our Mother Most Holy protects us with even more determination than our earthly mothers ever could-if you can imagine that!
I am deeply sorry for the anguish you and your wife went through, but we have all learned from this experience.

I ask you and all who supported you to pray for Father Rosica and for all the liberals in the Church that they may learn to love the Magisterium of the Church. God bless you and, yes, God bless Father Rosica.

Dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.

TTC said...

When one of their priests is doing serious harm, you can always count on the Romans to protect the priest by giving you a kick in the gut and telling you to shut up.

I can't get over they tried to bully you into silence during the Synod.

You were DEFINITELY a trial balloon to silence faithful Catholics as they attempt to overthrow the Deposit of Faith at the Synod. Had you caved to their threats, had your brothers and sisters been silent, they would have used it against others.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad that Father Rosica has seen the error of his ways and has decided to desist and cease. His threat to sue was unfair and it was based upon his allowing his heart (pride) to dictate his behaviour rather than allowing reason to direct his behaviour. Well done to Vox for standing firm and for standing by the Truth.

Luciano said...

I simply don't understand this man.
His statement is the height of hypocrisy, he calls for dialogue that is charitable but he has no qualms posting things like calling a Cardinal a dissenter, labeling traditional Catholics "Taliban Catholics", accusing pro life Catholics of being impolite and unkind...is this charitable respectful dialogue, is this the kind of dialogue a priest should be engaged in...
Mr. Domet perhaps you should countersue as he cast aspersions against your reputation when you only posted factual documented comments..anyhow in my books you have won this battle on behalf of true Catholic laity who care about doctrine and the church...enough is enough, they pulled the wool over they eyes of our parents' generation with the uncalled for changes of Vatican II, but it's not going to happen again with existence of venues like Vox Cantoris and Witness...God bless

Lynda said...

Well done for not being intimidated into ceasing to criticise Fr Rosica's public behaviour. That was, of course, what he had aimed to do with the threat of legal proceedings. There was no question of defamation so no such suit could have got very far. God bless you and your work for the Church.

Thomas Iraneaus said...

I do not trust Fr. Rosica, and I'll give you an example of why. I re-tweeted a few tweets in clarification of what Archbishop Kurtz stated about homosexuality in an interview in response to what was misrepresented by Fr. James Martin, S.J. on his twitter feed. Archbishop Kurtz, in turn, retweeted what I stated as to confirm that he was agreement with my clarification regarding Fr. James Martin's attempted tweets at distorting his comments. It was not long before Fr. James Martin banned me from his twitter feed. I think Fr. James Martin and Fr. Thomas Rosica know each other because I was also banned from Fr. Rosica's twitter feed and I've never tweeted one time anything concerning Fr. Rosica. It seems like some of these folks are insisting and persisting to use social media to advance their own perspective and agenda instead of showing their concern for The Truth within The Church. I've had bad experience with these type folks and never a salable discussion where any points of clarification can ever be made just because I do not accept the way they attempt to twist doctrine, dogma, and Truth. We must pray for them because that's what The Lord would ask us to do. You can view my tweets here:

https://twitter.com/peritutvivat/with_replies

God's blessings to you and your wife. I'm humbled to stand by your side.

Barona said...

"I've certainly admired very much your theology, your writings; but also your love of the Church, your love of Christ, and you help to keep alive - not only the spirit of the Second Vatican Council - but the authentic teaching of the Council".

Fr. Thomas Rosica, addressing Gregory Baum. October 11, 2012, Salt and Light Television.

...now, Fr. Rosica states: "I fully support the teaching of the Church..."

How do we reconcile, on the one hand, admiration for the theology of a man described as an "arch heretic (Msgr. Foy), and a protestation of support for the doctrine of the Church? Fr. Rosica has yet to explain this very strange and bizarre interview.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Domet, my family and I thank you for your stand against those who tried to silence you. We, too, have come to your blog via this brouhaha. Keep the Faith!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your courage. I, like many others, was not familiar with your blog or Father Rosica. Neither of you will be able to fly under the radar now.

Elizabeth Dianne said...

I find it very disconcerting that Fr. Rosica's letter of retraction was prefaced by the prophet Jeremiah. At face value one would think he thinks himself the victim in all this. On the other hand, that particular passage is from a prayer for vengeance. Jeremiah 18 continues in v.21 with:
"So now, give their children to famine, deliver them to the power of the sword.

Let their wives be childless and widows; let their husbands die of pestilence, their youths be struck down by the sword in battle."

The prayer which is more of a curse really finishes with "Forgive not their crime, blot not out their sin in your sight!" v.23

This so-called apology, denial or retraction is none other than a Trojan horse, David. You have been warned.

Mary Ann said...


You need to sue him for publicly sayingy slandered and calumniated him.

Lawrence and Susan Fox said...

God can bring good out of evil! Proof here! New Readers of Vox Cantoris, courtesy of David Domet's sufferings united to Christ. Seems like Fr. Rosica can't harm the church for trying. God bless you. Susan Fox www.christsfaithfulwitness.com