In one of Orange County’s most hotly contested races, a new Church controversy has been added to the mix in the Sheriff’s race. Bishop John Noonan of the Catholic Diocese of Orlando sent a scolding letter to Sheriff Demings after a campaign visit to St. John Vianney Catholic Church.
In the letter, Bishop Noonan says Demings, who was there with School Board member Kat Gordon and other supporters, attended mass “for no apparent reason than your own political motivation.” The Bishop goes further stating, “If this is true, you disrespected the Lord’s house by entering His sacred place in the middle of the Mass with this motive in mind.”
Demings has said he and the others asked permission to attend and when asked to introduce himself, he only stated he was the Orange County Sheriff and did not mention his candidacy.
However, Bishop Noonan’s letter continued. “You owe an apology to the parishioners of St. John Vianney Catholic Church. Most importantly, you owe an apology to the Lord, God for placing your personal motivations before His.”
There has already been a lot of back and forth between Sheriff Jerry Demings and his opponent John Tegg, including Tegg’s latest accusations of Demings cooking the books on crime statistics, which Demings denies.
These catholic Bishops have been acting like a&&holes throughout the campaign season,
The Catholic Church does not take sides but they will defend the Church and it’s members right to Religious Freedom. It’s people who use that kind of language that are the problem. NO RESPECT!