Last month I wrote my bishop, Barry Knestout.
I asked if we could work together with a mediator, or with a brother priest, or with anyone he might think helpful, in order to try to resolve our dispute over this blog.
I made the same request a year ago, and never got a direct response.
This time, I got this response:
Bishop Knestout has written to the Vatican, demanding that I be removed from the priesthood completely, without any further dialogue or recourse.
The bishop has submitted documents to the Vatican, to support his demand. I have never seen the documents. I have no idea what they contain. The bishop and I have never discussed this.
I have never done anything to justify the bishop’s actions, nothing that Church law forbids, or the moral law, or civil law.
All I want is to continue serving God as a priest. I have asked the bishop for an assignment. He refuses to give me one.
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Would you be kind enough to write to Beniamino Cardinal Stella of the Congregation for Clergy at the Vatican? Could you alert him to the fact that Bishop Knestout has acted in a clearly unfair manner?
And could you share this with others and ask them to do so?
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Write to Cardinal Stella in care of the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C.
His Eminence Beniamino Card. Stella
Prefect, Congregation for the Clergy
c/o The Apostolic Nunciature
3339 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
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Father Mark White Blog 
A letter will be sent Father Msrk. Our church is in a rapid decline. This so called Bishop of ours will have his reckoning but I fear to late for.many that have been trampled on now. We love you Father Mark. Gods ways are truely mysterious and it is a hard time but we will not lose Faith because of the evil around us. Prayers for you and your family through these cruel and unjust times.
For the sake of His sorrowful passion
Here’s the Address and e-mail, write to:
Sua Eminenza Cardinale Beniamino Stella
Palazzo delle Congregazioni- Piazza Pio xıı, 3
00193 Roma
clero@cclergy.va
Absolutely! I will write.
Fr. Mark, my letter to Beniamino Cardinal Stella will go in the mail today. This morning I ,went to the main post office in Roanoke and mailed my letter to the Pope (sent via the Apostolic Nuncio of course), with a copy to His Eminence Marc Cardinal Ouellet, Prefect, Congregation of Bishops. A copy will be mailed to Archbishop Lori also, per the protocol for these matters.
I included two requests, one being that your suspension be lifted and that you be returned to these two parishes.
We are fighting a great evil here. You, and other priests, are punished for speaking out against sin, for refusing to be silent, choosing to obey God’s will over a bishop or archbishop. I simply cannot reconcile their behavior to what Jesus taught us while on earth.
As I read and researched all of the information I had printed over the past two years, in preparation for my letter to the Pope, I concluded that the the bishop has desired to be rid of you for a long time, likely since the time of his arrival in the Diocese. In his “homily” at the mass which he concelebrated with you on April 18, and which I watched live-streamed, he referenced an “old wound.” I recall that you stated in the article for the Martinsville Bulletin that you were surprised by his words, and that you held no grudge against the bishop. Unfortunately it appears the bishop did hold one against you. I believe your personal blog was used by him as the “tool” to achieve his goal of punishing you and ultimately being rid of you. The other “tool” which he has used against you is your desire and willingness to obey God.
Bishop Knestout has ignored the Canon Laws in this entire matter, and so far has gotten away with it.
It is time for the world to know what he did.
I do not know what God’s plan for you may be, but I know that you are a good priest and desire to continue serving God as a priest. I pray that it will be God’s will for you to serve him as a priest, that he will protect you from those persecuting you. The Church needs you and all the priests who speak the truth and are not willing to be silenced.
My prayer has been, and will continue to be, that God protect you, support you with His strength and love, and keep you safe.
Judy R.
Second comment: just finished letter to Card. Stella and included copy of my letter to the Pope. It will be in the outgoing mail today. I shared with Card. Stella, along with other remarks, that, “The removal of Fr. White from the priesthood would severely damage even further whatever amount of respect may remain for the bishop, as well as accelerate the departure from the Church of disillusioned parishioners.” I hope Card. Stella can understand the damage that is being done to everyone in the bishop’s frantic attempts to have you “gone.”
Judy R.
I said it once and let me repeat it again: bishops have unlimited power over their own dioceses. The only way to help Fr. Mark is to find him a new diocese or religious order, where he can still exercise his priestly vocation. He has to do it fast.
So sorry Father. You have endured a level of persecution and punishment that long ago would have broken most people. It broke me. You are in my prayers.
Father Mark, I have addressed and mailed the following letter:
His Eminence Beniamino Cardinal Stella
Prefect, Congregation for the Clergy
c/o The Apostolic Nunciature
3339 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
Your Eminence,
I am a member of Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Martinsville, VA.
I think that if Bishop Knestout has a personal problem with Fr. Mark White, it’s up to the Bishop to set aside his adolescent bickering and settle his difference with Fr. Mark without involving the parishioners.
I have never known of Fr. Mark to preach or teach against the doctrine of the Catholic Church. He has always supported the church. One of the many things I love about Fr. Mark White is the fact that I have never heard him speak against anyone until he spoke up against sexual abuse and that should never be silenced anywhere.
I request Father Mark White’s suspension be lifted and that he be returned to the Rocky Mount and Martinsville Virginia parishes.
Thank you for your consideration.
Shirley H. Whitlow