Last week, Kyle Hooten of Alpha News interviewed Fr. James Altman, a priest who has been compared to a modern “Elijah.” Fr. Altman is the pastor of St. James the Less in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He has been known for his courage to speak the truth and zeal for the salvation of souls.
Fr. Altman began the interview by highlighting the overwhelming sense of fear in the populace, one that is artificially created and harmful for the soul. Claiming that “without data, without justification, the new masking order that’s based on some model in the state of Washington” is there to only save “a tiny, tiny fraction” of the population “while dehumanizing everyone involved.”
Fr. Altman commented on how the widespread fear has been debilitating even in his congregation.
“There are people afraid to go to church, the one thing we actually need.” Sadly, the faithful have been pushed away from what they need the most, said Fr. Altman. “Let’s say we get sick, we need to be in a state of grace by receiving the sacramental life and Body of Christ.”
He stressed how “everyone is afraid to die, but our faith tells us there’s something better that is coming.”
Hooten brought up the ostensibly unequal regulations under the COVID-19 pandemic, with places like “Family Dollar or Walmart” still inviting large crowds to come and shop.
“If the government, and scientists and medical experts really believed that there was something really dangerous out there that would really get us,” said Fr. Altman, “there is no way on God’s green earth that they would let 1,000 people into [Walmart] at the same time.”
With a lack of leadership in religious groups, Fr. Altman emphasized that “so many who were supposed to be the shepherds of the Church did not speak up and speak out.”
Hooten pointed out that whenever ministers give political messages from the pulpit, it seems to be only from a leftist point of view. Hooten then asked if Fr. Altman had been receiving any backlash or criticism for his outspoken point of view, to which the priest replied with a laugh, “oh yeah.”
From giving a Biblical exegesis on the current political implications of the temptations of Christ to accentuating examples of personal holiness in the saints, Fr. Altman spoke compellingly to promote the truth.
He brought up the challenges associated with the “spiritual communion” that goes hand-in-hand with staying in lockdown.
“Thomas Aquinas was not infallible; but [the Council of] Trent was … You go and receive Communion if you are in a state of grace,” he stated.
“It is not true that spiritual communion is an equivalency with actual communion,” he added.
In concluding the interview, Fr. Altman stated that each of us “has a duty to build [our] faith” through prayer.
Watch the full interview below:
