Once I was full of idealism, hope, zeal and a pure optimism that I could — one day — start a restoration within the Catholic Church. My journey to Catholicism began in high school, when I started to read on the Crusades. There was something fascinating about warriors, full of passion and tenaciousness, unsheathing their swords to fight against the slavery and oppression imposed on Christians by Muslim Turks in the Middle Ages. For years I had heard that Islam was about war and jihad, but I never once heard a connection made between Christianity and holy war; I never heard of cosmic war fought through physical arms for the cause of justice. Here, I saw something pure, here I saw something awe-inspiring. What if, truly, the Christian faith was not about what I was hearing at church, but something truly … militant? I was completely overtaken with fascination, and my new found interest found space for investigation within the annals from the Crusades, and monks and theologians who wrote on the theology of war. I spent years pouring into texts from Middle Ages, into spiritual writings on both holy and physical combat. I read through much of the Old Testament, especially the first five books of Moses, Joshua, Judges, Kings, Samuel and Chronicles, finding deep inspiration in the stories of war, in that they were not just accounts of physical combat, but tangible reflections of a greater, cosmic, struggle between good and evil. I saw a continuation of this drive to fight evil from the days of ancient Israel into the history of Christianity.
In the Book of Genesis we read of how “the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens.” (Genesis 19:24) The Lord reigning down fury from His Lord was the harmony between the Father and the Son, destroying Sodom. And so, in the struggle against the citizens of Sodom, as it was recounted in both the Old and New Testaments, we see the struggle against the sinister city. The struggle continues, from the days of far antiquity — when Abraham stood by the oaks of Mamre in that rugged terrain — to the days of King Josiah, to the reign of St. Paul, to the apex of Christendom, to now. The cosmic war continues, and I saw in Catholic history my source for knowledge on the sublime intricacies of this struggle for humanity. So, after years of reading through ancient books, I decided to become a Catholic in the year 2013. Being on fire for my new found faith also meant having a strong desire to talk with priests. Within that same year, I met Fr. Robert Kincl. He was a canon law judge, very educated with a knowledge of Latin and Church history. I remember having dinner with Fr. Kincl numerous times and enjoyed his conversation. I thought to myself: Here was a priest who has a passion for the faith and its history; here was a clergyman who held with great respect the ways of the Church. One day, while at a friend’s house for dinner, Fr. Kincl suggested that I join him for a tour in Rome to see the Holy City. I was quite enthusiastic about such a trip. Of course, I would love to see the Vatican, especially with a priest who was well connected to other Catholics in Rome. But then came the disturbing reality. In a private conversation with me, Kincl actually stated that he believes that homosexual fondling is permissible. Having been shocked at his remarks, I told Kincl:
“How can you, as a priest, be so liberal toward such a sick evil as two men fondling each other, or as two men having a “relationship” just as long as they are not going with other men. It is evil and it is reprobate.”
I also told him:
“It is not tolerable for you, as both a priest and a canon law judge, to be permissive to somebody having a homosexual relationship just as long as they are not being promiscuous with other men. It is deplorable, and in the words of St. Paul, “worthy of death” (Romans 1:32).
Kincl defended his position and responded with a rejection of the Old Testament and a twisting of St. Paul’s condemnation of homosexuality in Romans, stating:
“We do not follow the Hebrew Scriptures. We follow Jesus Christ who never mentioned gay relationships. When St. Paul mentioned such a relationship he was referring to the promiscuousness of the Romans using sodomy.”
We later found out that Kincl defended another chaplain confirmed to be guilty of child molestation, named Robert Hrdlicka.
The investigation revealed that Robert L. Kincl had even written the authorities, not to charge the pedophile who molested the young boys, but urged them to send him back to serve as a chaplain:
“Catholic chaplain Lt. Robert Hrdlicka pleaded guilty to molesting boys in 1993. Before his sentencing, six other Catholic Navy chaplains and the church’s archbishop for the military services urged authorities to send Lt. Hrdlicka to a church-run treatment center.
“It is my fervent hope and prayer that he will be able to return to the active ministry as soon as possible,” wrote then-Cmdr. Robert L. Kincl.
Instead, Lt. Hrdlicka went to prison.”
I sent my findings to Msgr. Don Sawyer, a priest who Kincl was serving with at Our Lady’s Maronite Catholic Church. The phone call from Sawyer eventually came. “I read what you wrote to me,” he said. “And?” I asked. “Why… are you doing this,” Sawyer asked me, to which I felt perplexed. “What do you mean?” I asked. “I mean, why were you having this conversation with Kincl?” “You should be asking him that,” I said, angered that a priest would try to flip the blame on me.
Here I was first introduced to manipulation by a clergyman. As opposed to confronting Kincl on his own insidious ideology, Sawyer was trying to cast blame on me. “He was the one who started talking about homosexuality,” I told the Monsignor. “What have you done about this?” I demanded to know. “I spoke with him”, he replied. “Did you bring up the fact that Kincl defended a pedophile, Robert Hrdlicka?” “I didn’t even bring it up,” Sawyer snapped, with almost a cynically vicious tone. “You’re a monsignor, you’re suppose to be a shepherd of the flock, and you didn’t even confront him on that?” I protested. “I don’t like your attitude,” the monsignor snapped back. “If you don’t do anything about this, I will expose you and Kincl.” “If you do that, then you can expect a lawsuit,” threatened Sawyer.
“Yeah, okay,” I said mockingly. “Have your dad talk to me.” Click. He hung up. I was so furious that I immediately gave a call to the Diocese of Austin. Of course, nobody picked up. Dioceses are notorious for not answering the phone. Its not that there is no one to answer, but that they won’t pick up the phone unless its worth it for them. I tried calling them earlier, but nobody was there. “There is nothing more that terrifies a diocese, than bad publicity,” a journalist of one archdiocese told me. These words were absolutely true. I called the Austin diocese and left a message: “I have a big blog, and a big mouth, and if you don’t do anything about this, I will expose the Austin diocese, Our Lady’s Maronite Church, and Robert Kincl.”
I got a call 35 minutes later. I told them everything. “Do you have any evidence?” the diocesan employee asked. “Of course.” I emailed them my investigation. I got another call back moments later and we set up a meeting for the following week. The next morning I got a call from the diocese requesting that the meeting be made earlier the next morning. “Why the change in schedule?” I asked. “Upon further review, we realize the seriousness of the situation.”
The next morning we had a meeting with two officials of the Austin diocese, Deacon Ron Walker and Vicar General Daniel Garcia. The meeting lasted over two hours. “What do you want us to do about it?” asked Walker. “Well, since you asked, excommunicate him.” Walker rolled his eyes. “The Church can only excommunicate when there is a danger to souls.” This was the response of the diocese, as if the disgusting teaching of Kincl was not a threat to souls. As we departed from the meeting, I asked Deacon Ron Walker, “How will I know that you are doing anything about the situation?” “Call me in 30 days,” replied Walker as he handed me his card.
I did call him, but in the next year, in January of 2015. I asked Walker what he did about Kincl, to which he said that the only thing that occurred was a talk between the bishop (Joe Vasquez) and Kincl. So, nothing happened. Looking back at our conversation, I notice how out of everything that came out of Walker’s mouth, there was nothing about how I was scandalized. He spoke a lot about how the Church seeks to correct (that is, “correct” predators, like Kincl), and how everything must be a matter “between the bishop and the priest” — but not the person who was preyed upon. There was so much talk of sympathy for the victimizer, but not the one who was scandalized. He said: “Its been a matter between the bishop and the priest,” and “The issues with regard to any corrections, that need to be made with errors, in any ministry, normally are done within the Church, and the information you brought forth — of course, assuming any corrections were made — thats a matter between the bishop and the priest.” It was all about keeping the evil reality between the clergy, while there was no thought given to the scandalized.
The shell of my idealism was beginning to crack. Optimism began to shift to pessimism. In the face of a protection of pure evil by the hands of the institution itself, hope was lacerated, and lying with her bloody wounds, she was resurrecting as disillusionment. Within the same year, in February of 2015 (just a month after confronting Walker), I had yet another encounter with a predator, yet again dressed with the collar, yet again capitalizing on the naiveté — the idealism — on good, unsuspecting laity. I met Msgr. Michael Yarbrough in Holy Trinity Catholic Church in San Antonio. He told me that if I ever wanted to talk about spiritual subject matter that I could give me a call. I googled his name and found an article published by the San Antonio Express that revealed all:
“Hector Escalante complained that Monsignor Michael Yarbrough kissed him on the lips and groped him in his office in 1998 when Escalante was 27, on his last day on the job as a St. Matthew’s Parish employee.
Yarbrough admitted kissing him but said Escalante misunderstood the gesture, which the priest said was common among men in his family. He denied groping Escalante.
The archdiocese’s crisis intervention committee found Yarbrough’s explanation credible, said Monsignor Lawrence Stuebben”
Yarbrough called Escalante, who was working at the church, to his office where he sexually assaulted him. I thought to myself, Either I ignore Yarbrough’s invitation, or I accept and use it as an opportunity to not only expose him, but to instill enough fear into his heart that he will never try to ambush anyone again. I called Yarbrough and said that we could meet at a cafe.
“Oh, I would much rather we meet at my office.” My skin crawled, knowing his past attack on Escalante. “Well, the cafe is closer to my work.” He gave in. We met at a cafe on a Saturday afternoon and had an over two hour long conversation, all of which was recorded. Nearing the end of our conversation, I started asking Yarbrough about his thoughts on demons and homosexuality. Demons, to Yarbrough, were not real, but merely mental illness that the ancient authors of the Gospels mistook for diabolical forces. And, homosexuality was something that Yarbrough refused to confront. I continued to push Yarbrough. He squirmed and wanted to leave. “Before you leave, I have one more question,” I said as I pulled out a piece of paper — the article published by the San Antonio Express. “Does the name Hector Escalante ring a bell?” I read out the article, and also brought up the fact that Yarbrough sent funds to a pro-homosexual, and pro-abortion, Catholic organization called “Call to Action.” He soon bolted. I chased after him, and yelled out to him never to think that nobody knew what he was up to. I was not done with him. Days later I entered his parish, in the middle of Sunday morning mass. The church was packed, and there was Yarbrough serving communion. He saw me, and froze. But I did not say anything to him, I simply looked at him, pointing a camera at his repulsive self. It did not take long for a gang of ushers to approach me. “I don’t care about what was reported,” said one usher after I told him that Yarbrough’s crime against Escalante was reported by the San Antonio Express. “He’s our monsignor!” said another usher.
I published the video and sent it over to the only Catholic media outlet that I believed would publish it, Church Militant. I had been on their broadcast several times at that point and so had built some rapport with its staff. I told a producer there about my confronting Yarbrough and he was interested. “These guys gotta know they’re being watched,” said the producer to me. “They’ve been prowling for decades with no problems.”
I sent him the video and there was no response, which was unusual because he always would reply within the same day of writing him. I sent him a follow up message and he eventually wrote me: “There were some mixed opinions around the studio but I’d say 3 out of 4 were right with you.” He supported me in my efforts, but there was someone at Church Militant who impeded the broadcasting of the confrontation. It was quite amazing that a studio that boasts itself as “militant” would not want to show a video of someone being militant. In fact, it was the head of Church Militant, Michael Voris, who inspired me.
When I first became Catholic in 2013 I remember hearing Voris challenge his audience, that if they were truly followers of Christ, would they be willing to take a whip and drive the thieves out of the Church? He was right. And he had me face a reality of being a Christian. Are we truly determined to combat the evil within the Church? I saw an opportunity and took it, only for the one who inspired me to want nothing to do with my action. Years later, in 2017, it did not surprise me to find out that Michael Voris had invited Milo Yiannopolous to talk at Church Militant. Milo was a homosexual claiming Catholicism who also promoted pederasty stating that “The relationships with those with older men have helped those young boys discover who they are.” And yet, on their website Church Militant wrote that “we [Milo and Church Militant] are on the same page with regard to the unchanging teachings of the Church”. I confronted Voris on this, but he completely refused to engage with anything I was telling him:
In a later interview, Voris asked Milo:
“Do you think that the age of consent should be lowered to 12, 13, something around that age?”
To this Milo said: “I think 16 is about right.”
Voris never objected to this. In fact, he said: “Canon Law would agree with you.”
Not only did I come to realize — at a personal level — that the institution of the Catholic Church itself was defending predators like Kincl and Yarbrough, but the Catholic media outlet that seemed to be the only one willing to combat corruption — Church Militant — was also partaking in the advancement of Sodom. My disillusionment deepened. My hope for a restoration had died long before my conversation with Voris. I found out more disturbing things within the temple of Rome.
In 2020, I found out that Fr. Christopher Philipps, a priest many of whose homilies I listened to in his parish, was covering up for a deacon who molested children. I used to see Deacon James Orr assisting in mass; he would do the readings (in every Sunday mass, a clergy member will read two verses from the Bible) and would give sermons. That was back in 2013, and now — in 2020 — I learned that he was a child molester. So, just within less than a decade in the Catholic Church I met a predator named Robert L. Kincl (this was in 2013, my first year as a Catholic) who defended another predator priest named Robert Hrdlicka; I met yet another predator (in 2014) named Msgr. Michael Yarbrough who was protected by Catholic authorities; and I would also attend mass in 2013 in a church where the deacon (James Orr) was a child molester and the priest, Christopher Philipps, covered up for him for years. If you were to meet this many predators in such a small number of years within any organization, you would, naturally, be aware that you were within an institution plagued by such evil people, and the fact that they continue on without punishment by their superiors denotes that the very organization is decayed at its core.
My idealism died, my optimism perished, and disillusionment overtook my soul. In my own brief experience, I saw how the Catholic Church had become Sodom. The Church of Rome had went from “beloved of God, called to be saints” (Romans 1:7) to now become, “faithful city, become harlot” (Isaiah 1).
My personal experience was a reflection of the entire state of the Church itself. It would not be surprising at all if the majority of Catholic priests are homosexual. Father James Bretzke, a professor of moral theology at Boston College, stated in 2013:
“It’s an empirical fact that lots of men are gay who are priests. And they are very good priests … I would also observe that the numbers of gay men and women in the church ministry is probably larger than the general population, precisely because they are not seeking marriage.”
Rev. Donald B. Cozzens estimated that as much as 58 percent of priests were gay, and that percentages were even higher for younger priests. Andrew Sullivan wrote that “no independent study has found fewer than 15 percent to be gay, and some have found as many as 60 percent.” Father Dariusz Oko wrote that “According to reliable estimates, it is estimated that about 30 to 40 per cent of priests and 40 to 50 per cent of bishops in the USA have homosexual inclinations”.
With homosexuality being higher within in the priesthood as opposed to the general population, it is not a shock to see so many bishops supporting Sodom and referencing the Pope himself as a justification.
For example, in December of 2021, Heinrich Timmerevers, the bishop of Dresden, called for an utter changing of the Church’s teachings against homosexuality, stating that the Church “misjudged people and left them alone with their situation and sensitivities and de facto put them on the side-lines … Here we have committed injustice and have also become guilty.”
Franz-Josef Overbeck, bishop of Essen, also stated that he rejects “the adherence to a sexual morality which, for example, wants to practically deny people who love someone of the same sex the possibility of a successful and fulfilling relationship.” Overbeck referenced Pope Francis’s support for homosexual civil unions, writing that the pontiff had expressed “a new form of appreciation that can be the starting point for a (local church) re-evaluation of homosexuality.”
We can here see how the Catholic Church becoming Sodom is seen right at the top, to the Pope himself when he said, regarding homosexual marriage, “What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered.” People will defend the Pope by saying he is not supporting gay marriage, but just civil unions. A civil union is a marriage, just as a marriage in a mosque, synagogue or church is a marriage. The Catholic Church is just one step away from going into full support for homosexual marriage. For years we have tried finding a priest who would seriously address this dark reality, to no avail, until we discovered Fr. John O’Connor:
Rome is going down the road of Jerusalem, the city which St. John referred to as Sodom and Egypt (Revelation 11:8). Josephus recounted how the Zealots in Jerusalem, during the Roman-Jewish War, “indulged themselves in feminine wantonness, without any disturbance, till they were satiated therewith; while they decked their hair, and put on women’s garments, and were besmeared over with ointments; and that they might appear very comely, they had paints under their eyes, and imitated not only the ornaments, but also the lusts of women, and were guilty of such intolerable uncleanness, that they invented unlawful pleasures of that sort.” (Josephus, Wars, 4.9.10) If Jerusalem was overtaken by homosexuality before the destruction of the Temple, it would not be surprising that the Vatican — which has been taken over by Sodom — will one day be sacked in war. (It has been conquered several times, the most brutal of which was the sacking of Rome in 1527). It is interesting to point out that in his letter to the Church of Rome that St. Paul warned against homosexuality, writing of how “men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Romans 1:27) It was as if St. Paul was warning the Church of Rome: do not become Sodom. But when you have the Pope himself supporting homosexual civil unions; when you have the reality of predator priests being protected by the very institution of the Church, it is hard to see how the Church is not becoming Sodom. Idealism has been dissipated, disillusionment arose, but reality is clear to see.