Open Letter to Bishop John C Iffert
Your Excellency,
We, the men of Christ is King Action Ministries, write to you not as enemies, but as faithful sons of the Church.
We resist certain recent actions and approaches in our diocese not out of pride, animosity, or contempt for your
office, but out of love for the Church and a deep concern for souls.
We are particularly troubled by the involvement of groups such as “Catholics Embracing All God’s Children” and
“Fortunate Families” within the Covington Diocese. We believe these groups may not be forthright with you and
perhaps have misled you regarding their true aims. Through our efforts, we have worked to expose the ways in
which these groups are undermining Church teaching, sowing seeds of error within the vineyard of our Lord.
Our concern is not simply with their presence but with the damage they have done. The distribution of a
blasphemous “litany of queer saints” at St. Joseph’s Parish on August 28th is one example of this. For many
years, these groups have been active within the diocese, causing spiritual harm to the faithful, and it is our
sincere request that their activities be addressed, corrected, and that they no longer be allowed to work officially
within the Church in the Diocese of Covington.
Additionally, we ask that reparation be made for the litany that was distributed, as well as for the broader harm
caused by these groups.
We firmly believe that true Christian charity, which we must extend to all people, including those who have fallen
into the grave sin of sodomy and other unnatural vices, involves not affirmation of sin but a call to repentance.
The concept of accompaniment, when properly understood, means walking with someone toward Christ and His
truth, not leaving them where they are in their sin. The goal is always conversion, and any pastoral approach that
downplays the need for moral transformation is misguided.
Our Lord Himself called sinners to repentance, whether it was with the woman caught in adultery (John 8:11) or
the rich young man (Mark 10:21). While He welcomed sinners with mercy, He never affirmed them in their sin,
always calling them to repentance and new life.
As a bishop, you are entrusted with the care of souls and bear the responsibility of guarding them from spiritual
harm. The approach of accompaniment, if it does not call individuals to the truth of Church teaching and lead
them to repentance, becomes a form of false charity that places souls in jeopardy. True love must always be
rooted in truth, as Scripture tells us, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.”
(Proverbs 27:6).
By promoting a pastoral approach that affirms individuals in homosexual acts, the Church’s teaching on the
nature of sin and human sexuality is being undermined and directly attacked by these groups. The Church, in line
with Scripture and Tradition, has always taught that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered (Catechism of
the Catholic Church, 2357) because they violate the natural law and the purpose of human sexuality. To downplay
this truth in the name of accompaniment sends a confusing and dangerous message to the faithful, suggesting
that one can remain in grave sin without seeking penance and reconciliation.
To address these serious concerns, we felt compelled to record the statements made by leaders of these groups
regarding Church teaching on sodomy, without their knowledge, as we feared these errors were being spread
without transparency. We sought to preserve an accurate account of the words spoken in order to reveal the
depth of the doctrinal errors being taught to the faithful. This was done not to stir scandal but to ensure that the
truth of God’s unchanging law could be properly defended. After much prayer and discernment, we concluded
that going public with this evidence was necessary to safeguard the integrity of the Church’s teaching.
Church teaching on matters such as sodomy is not merely an ideal to strive for, but the binding, unchanging law
of God, rooted in both Scripture and natural law. To remain silent in the face of such grave doctrinal errors would
be to fail in our duty as faithful Catholics to defend the truth. Our action was taken with the intention of correcting
these falsehoods and calling for a clear reaffirmation of the Church’s perennial teaching.
Your Excellency, we ask you to take swift and decisive action to correct these errors, to stop the influence of these
groups within our diocese, and to ensure that the truth of the Church’s teachings is clearly upheld.
With respect, prayers, and in service to His Majesty Jesus Christ,
Christ is King Action Ministries
