Father Clay: Insightful interview by Marian Casillas, Ed.D.
Father Henry Clay Hunt, III who last served as
Chaplain of Prison Ministry in Bexar County and was previously assigned as
pastor of Saint Joseph Church in Del Rio, Texas was featured in a video presentation
on the Vortex series of Church Militant “ANOTHER PERSECUTED PRIEST: The mounting cost of
being a faithful cleric”.
The web page contains a video, a transcript and a link to the crowd funding site WonderWe Save Fr. Clay Hunt to donate
to help with his case. WonderWe is a free online fundraising platform to raise
money for the important causes of
faith, family, and friends.
According
to the interviewer Michael Voris, the following two (2) incidents brought
Father Clay into the sights of Archbishop Gustavo GarcÃa-Siller, of the
Archdiocese of San Antonio, putting him in a bad light since the Archbishop is considered
a staunch supporter of the pro-homosexual agenda and a left-leaning pro-immigration
politically motivated advocate. He does all this under the guise of being
caring and compassionate at the expense of compromising Church teachings by
allying himself with people in power who donate vast amounts of money for his
allegiance to their liberal causes.
First, Father
Clay had a brief meeting in the office of the mayor of Del Rio, Texas, Bruno
Lozano who proudly showcases his homosexuality, and he tried to warn him of the
spiritual dangers of his public lifestyle of supporting the sin of sodomy, since
the mayor was baptized a Catholic. The mayor called the police and had Father
Clay escorted out, after which Lozano called Archbishop Gustavo and the
Archbishop issued an apology on behalf of Father Clay.
Second, during a clergy
meeting where Archbishop Gustavo was speaking about illegal
immigration, Father Clay politely and respectfully expressed his
disagreement with the Archbishop's political opinions. So, according to
Voris that was two strikes against Father Clay in the eyes of Archbishop Gustavo.
And now Archbishop
Gustavo is prosecuting Father Clay, alleging that he committed a canonical
crime.
And what you may ask is
this great canonical crime that is so serious and severe to cause Father Clay
to lose his priestly faculties?
During the pandemic of
the COVID crisis and apparently going against the Archbishop’s decree, Father
Clay advised the faithful to go to Confession, attend Mass and receive
Communion. That’s it! That’s the grave canonical crime supposedly committed by
Father Clay. Well that was the third strike against Father Clay and the
Archbishop had to put his foot down and take Father Clay out.
Father Clay has been
cited with inciting the faithful to disobedience against the Archbishop,
as laid out in canon 1373 and according to canon law this is a case worthy of canonical
prosecution.
This persecution and
prosecution is outrageous and outlandish since Father Clay only publicly
preached the truth of Catholic teaching.
There is a video of 2:49
length entitled: Priest Apologizes
"We Abandoned You". The video is of a priest,
Father Sergio, apologizing for having denied the Eucharist to his parishioners
during the pandemic.
Unfortunately it appears
that the present-day Catholic hierarchy persecutes and punishes the good and
faithful priests, and praises and promotes the bad and faithless priests.
The group San
Antonio (SA) Resistance –Church Militant has held two rallies in
support of Father Clay, one in December and another one in March. These rallies
which can be viewed on their Facebook page were in front of the Archdiocese
Chancery Office. During these rallies numerous people spoke about the
tremendous impact Father Clay had in their lives, how he has been a faithful
servant ministering to the people of God, and the injustice that is being
committed against Father Clay.
One testimony was from a
young woman, a college student who recalled several things about Father Clay. That
when she attended her first Pro-Life Rally, Father Clay was the only Catholic
priest in attendance and she wondered where were all the other Catholic
priests. That when she asked Father Clay to hear her confession, he immediately
took out his purple stole and heard her confession right then and there, and
she lamented that when she had approached other priests they had told her she
needed to make an appointment. And lastly that when she called Father Clay late
at night, he answered her call and when she excused herself for calling so late
he told her she could call him no matter what time it was that she needed to
talk to a priest. These encounters left a lasting impression on her and she
wished that all priests could be Pastors to their flock like Father Clay who is
truly a spiritual Father to his sons and daughters.
Please pray for Father
Clay and support his cause to have his faculties of priestly ministry
reinstated.
God bless Father Clay!
Marian Casillas, Ed.D.
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