Father George Davids Byers obstinately laboring under interdict imposed by the Holy See: “I am forever defiant!”

Given that certain seminarians are arriving at the hermitage later today, I thought I should fess up. While some may be aware of the terrible burden under which I labor, others may not be so up-to-date as to the actual state of affairs.

One of the very best canonists known to Holy Mother Church, about as high as one can go in the ranks of the Holy See, recently insisted that the decree he himself wrote (so much for Pontifical secrets) is still in force since the first Sunday of November, 2010, despite my being a hermit. It’s kind of like a contempt of court penalty: it continues forever until one gives in and cooperates. There is only one way, only at one location, and only on one day every year, in which I can right what, in my opinion, is mistakenly declared a wrong. That first Sunday of November couldn’t be farther away. It’s a kind of Yom Kippur just for me, a day of atonement in which, however, I will forever refuse to participate.

Yours truly, the bearded one, just before being put under interdict.

Yours truly, the bearded one in clericals, just before being put under interdict.

The text of the decree with conditions:

Attenta proditione strepitenti contra aedem propriam
necnon contra facultatem alumnosque theologiae
apud Pontificium Collegium Iosephinum
in Statibus Foederatis Americae Borealis;

Attento quod gravis culpa huiusmodi suscitare debet
ut poena interdicti personali reo plectetur;

Praehabitis quoque omnibus adiunctis in causa;

Omnibus iure habentibus apud supradictam domum interpellatis;

Rev.dus Pater Georgius David BYERS
ex Congregatione Presbyterorum a Misericordia
declaratur subesse interdicto personali in aedem lato, et ad mentem:

scilicet, sub conditione, ut Rev.dus Pater, ante certamen lusorium,
clare ac publice suam fidelitatem erga suos turmales aedis
se aut pronuntiet aut demonstret.

I have never given in to this demand.
I obstinately and forever refuse to give in to this demand.

With so much going on in the Church right now, and with our rejoicing in the opening of a Pontificate dedicated to the evangelization of the peripheries (see: Pope Francis and The Judas Crisis), one would think that the Holy See would back off, right? Instead – sigh – this seems to have given various higher-ups a great deal of energy. However, as the coercion builds, so does my obstinacy.

Hier stehe ich.
Ich kann nicht anders.

Perhaps I will be in Skype contact with my rightly famed prosecutor later this evening. Skype is recordable, but he will never get me to recant. Never, I say! To find out more, click on the category – Filed under… “Interdict” — just below.