Last month, we heard the story of Fr. Lastiri, a priest of the Diocese of Fresno, California, who was removed from his parish and sent to the notorious St. Luke’s Institute for “treatment” after it was revealed that he had been cruising for gay sex online. His bishop, JohnSteinbock, had defended Lastiri against accusations of heterodoxy and cruising so vigorously that he even accused his accusers of the sin of detraction. But when the evidence was not only presented to him, but published in the local paper, he had no choice but to act.
Now, the Los Angeles Lay Catholic Mission newspaper gives us the rest of the story. It reveals the story of Fr. Joe Baca, an orthodox priest who had been assigned to Lastiri’s parish and who was treated terribly for daring to stand up for the Church’s teachings, eventually being forced to leave under apparently trumped-up charges.
