A U.S. priest recently called for Pope Francis to be killed and likened him to the devil, prompting a Christian organization to launch a petition seeking to have his priesthood removed.
Last month, Father James Altman shared a video on X, formerly Twitter, where he is heard referring to Pope Francis by his birth name, Jorge Bergoglio, and saying, "today, we are going to consider Jesus' teaching on the great millstone as it applies to Jorge Bergoglio."
"The best thing we could do, would be to tie the great millstone around Jorge Bergoglio's neck and throw him into the deep blue Mediterranean Sea," Altman says in the video.
Altman goes on to discuss how he has received criticism and pushback for saying that Pope Francis is not the pope and that "Bergoglio should get Jesus' great millstone treatment."
In another post to X, Altman shared an artificial photo of Pope Francis sitting next to what appears to be the devil. "Birds of a feather...," Altman wrote as the caption.
The remarks by Altman sparked the Christian organization Faithful America to launch a petition saying that "the church urgently needs to laicize him altogether." In 2021, the St. James the Less parish in Wisconsin announced that Altman was removed as a pastor for saying, "You cannot be Catholic and be a Democrat. Period."
The petition created by Faithful America references Altman's removal from the church by Bishop William Patrick Callahan and said, "This isn't the first time Fr. Altman has publicly attacked the validity of Pope Francis's papacy, but it is an escalation, and it comes at a particularly important moment in church history."
"Pope Francis is leading Catholics through a historically inclusive synod -- a global dialogue on the future of the church. This is a time for cooperation and love, not unholy hatred and division," the petition said. "It was a good first step when Fr. Altman's bishop removed him from parish ministry in the Diocese of La Crosse. Now the church urgently needs to laicize him altogether. Add your name to say that for the good the Body of Christ, the Church cannot allow the vicious, anti-Francis Fr. Altman to continue celebrating the Sacraments, wearing the collar, or teaching in any Catholic organization, church, or school."
The petition has a goal of 20,000 signatures and as of Friday morning had just over 18,500.
Newsweek reached out to Altman via social media direct message for comment. Newsweek also reached out to the Vatican via email for comment.
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