Catholics to hold Rosary vigil in support of traditional priests canceled by pro-LGBT Kentucky bishop

COVINGTON, Kentucky (LifeSiteNews) — Faithful Catholics are planning a Rosary vigil to support two traditional priests who had their faculties removed by the bishop of Covington, Kentucky last year.

On February 11, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, Catholics are scheduled to gather in front of the Covington cathedral to pray the Rosary for the reinstatement of Father Shannon Collins and Father Sean Kopczynski who were stripped of their faculties by their ordinary, Bishop John Iffert in January 2024.

Iffert recently gained notoriety for celebrating Mass for a heterodox, pro-LGBT group.

“Many of us have been waiting for an opportunity to do something tangible in support of the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist since the devastating news of the removal of the faculties of Father Shannon Collins and Father Sean Kopczynski,” event organizer Jesse Evans wrote in a press release sent to LifeSiteNews.

“While the faithful have been offering daily Rosaries, Mass intentions, penances, financial support, and sacrifices for this cause, the time has come for us to unite in a public and prayerful effort,” the release continued.

Frs. Collins and Kopczynski belong to the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist, a “public association of the faithful” that was erected by Iffert’s predecessor, Bishop Roger Foys, in the Covington diocese in 2019. The group is currently training several young men for the priesthood.

Aside from preaching retreats, Frs. Collins and Kopczynski provide the traditional sacraments to laity at Our Lady of Lourdes and at the Oratory of the Holy Family, located 28 miles southwest in Union, Kentucky.

During the vigil, Catholics will pray 15 decades of the Holy Rosary in addition to singing Marian hymns. The Catholics also plan to present Iffert with a letter explaining the purpose of the Rosary rally.

“This prayerful event seeks the intercession of Our Blessed Mother for the reinstatement of the faculties of the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist and the lifting of the suppression of their order,” the press release explained. “To defend their good name and highlight the ongoing need for their missionary work within the Church.”

The event is not sponsored by either the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist or Our Lady of Lourdes Parish but is led by laity who are concerned by the loss of their priests.

“Let us come together in prayer, humility, and boldness, trusting in the intercession of Our Blessed Mother to guide our efforts for the greater glory of God and the good of His Church,” the press release concluded.

As LifeSiteNews previously reported, Fr. Collins was removed for preaching a “divisive sermon” several months ago that the diocese says undermined “unity” in the Church. LifeSite learned that the sermon below is what prompted Collins’ removal.

In it, Collins refers to the Novus Ordo liturgy as being “largely against the old order of things.” By “definition” the “Novus Ordo Missae and the new Rites’ sacraments are a protest, sort of, against the Traditional Latin Mass and the more ancient sacramental rituals,” he observed. “Not only was the Mass changed but every single sacramental ritual was changed. Every one.”

LifeSiteNews also learned that Collins refused to concelebrate a Novus Ordo Mass with Iffert.