Both priests “maintain these errors and refuse the opportunity to renounce them,” the bishop said. “This disqualifies them from being granted permission to publicly celebrate the sacraments using the 1962 Missale Romanum and from leading a personal parish like Our Lady of Lourdes.”
“I did not take this action lightly,” the bishop said. “I consulted with the vicar general, the deans, the judicial vicar, and brother bishops before determining the action I must take in this situation.”
Iffert wrote that he intends “to provide for the pastoral and liturgical care” of the parish, although he noted there were “obstacles” to that goal, including that the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist own the building and are “no longer willing to permit the diocese or Our Lady of Lourdes Parish to use the building.”
The bishop said he was exploring other locations for the parish’s liturgies.
“You are in my constant prayer as I work to resolve these difficulties and provide faithful and true pastoral leadership for Our Lady of Lourdes Parish,” the bishop told the parish.
On its website, the parish says that “at this time there will be no public Masses, confessions, or other sacramental rituals offered at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Park Hills for the foreseeable future per order of His Excellency Bishop John Iffert.”