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Fr. Altman receives his petition.

PETITION: Stand with priest who faces Church penalties for saying “You can't be a Catholic and a Democrat.”! Sign the petition here.

September 23, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — LifeSiteNews delivered a petition in support of Fr. James Altman this past Saturday at his parish, St. James the Less, in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The petition numbered over 64,000, and since then, the petition signatures have climbed to over 69,000. Elizabeth Garibaldi representing LifeSiteNews presented the petition to Fr. Altman.

Fr. Altman sent shockwaves through the American Catholic Church that have reverberated around the world in the past three weeks when he published a now viral video entitled “You can’t be a Catholic and a Democrat.” Shortly after the video garnered thousands of views, Bishop Callahan asked that Fr. Altman cease the livestreaming of his Masses, and asserted that “[c]anonical penalties are not far away if my attempts at fraternal correction do not work.”

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LifeSiteNews launched a petition thereafter asking Bishop Callahan to support Fr. Altman and, further, to “not allow yourself to be deceived or bullied by the Democratic Party or by the mainstream media — neither of which have the best interests of the Church at heart.”

This petition to His Excellency was delivered to the chancery in La Crosse, Wis., today, Wednesday, September 23. It was delivered in conjunction with “Stand with Fr. Altman,” a lay-run Facebook group who started their own petition and accompanying letter. The letter pleads with the bishop to “please focus on the truth of his message” and then goes on to list the good fruit that Fr. Altman has born, for “by their fruits you will know them,” as Matthew 7:16 states.

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Some of the inspiring quotes from viewers online include the following:

The letter concludes, “We respectfully submit to you that this is verification of all the good Fr. Altman has done to bring the faithful back to the fold with clarity and charity” and a strong appeal to Bishop Callahan not to impose penalties on a true shepherd who is laying down his life for his sheep.