Falsely accused priest dies in prison…

People who knowingly lie and falsely accuse priests of things they did not do, risk eternal Hell.  They not only violate the truth and justice, they commit the heinous sin of sacrilege.

From MediaReport:

The night before falsely accused priest Rev. Charles Engelhardt passed away on November 15, 2014, Pennsylvania prison officials denied the dying cleric critical medical care, and Engelhardt issued a last declaration of his innocence, according to a recent court filing by Engelhardt’s cellmate and exclusively reported by journalist Ralph Cipriano.

According to Cipriano, Engelhardt told cellmate Paul H. Eline before he died: “Paul, I do not feel well. Please understand that I am an innocent man, who was wrongly convicted.”

This sad episode adds yet another chapter to the gross injustice against three men – Engelhardt, former teacher Bernard Shero, and ex-priest Edward Avery – who were wrongly convicted for crimes they never committed.

[…]

Read the rest of this sad story there.

 

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14 Comments

  1. LarryW2LJ says:

    I pray for the repose of the soul of Fr. Engelhardt. I also pray that whatever time he may spend in Purgatory (if any) will be short and that he will receive his martyr’s crown from our Lord.

    Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the Martyrs, pray for us!

  2. JesusFreak84 says:

    I think this qualifies as “your reward will be great in Heaven.”

  3. Supertradmum says:

    Well, he is the proto-martyr of many priests who will be thrown in prison on false charges of some sort and die there…Catholics have seen all this before in England, France, and Communist Russia, as well as other places. America will fall into step persecuting priests within a generation of priests. imo.

  4. The Egyptian says:

    and the leftist Marxist press and their political masters will dance on his grave, their complicity will not be forgotten by the heavenly hosts, may they reap their reward in their allotted time

    may he rest in peace
    may his soul and the souls of all the faithfully departed in the mercy of God, rest in peace
    Ahem

  5. NBW says:

    May Fr. Charles rest in peace. I hope and pray the people responsible for this repent and do penance.

  6. Elizabeth D says:

    May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen. Jesus our High Priest, falsely accused and put to death, now risen, is the judge of every soul.

  7. Packrraat says:

    This week’s These Stone Walls posting, which comes out Wednesday morning, is about this very upsetting addition to the falsely accused priest saga. I’m sure Fr. Gordon MacRae will have much of worth to say about it. I know he is very angry, as we all should be.

  8. Fr. Vincent Fitzpatrick says:

    Let’s not forget Bishop Austin Vaughan, in jail in Albany for attempting to save the lives of babies. While celebrating Mass in his cell, he was beaten up on orders from Gov. Mario Cuomo.

  9. Fr. Vincent Fitzpatrick says:

    The Canonization of Mario the Pious:

    http://youtu.be/0JvJYESdeY4

    Watch the procession. These are the priests who will hand over Catholics to the torturers and executioners, as they have been handing over the babies for forty years.

  10. andia says:

    My heart breaks for him and all falsely accused – and those who love them. Too many good priests are suffering this. Something needs to be done to protect priests from this.

  11. Cradle Catholic says:

    @Packrraat ,
    Thank you for mentioning Fr. MacRae’s blog, These Stone Walls. I was appalled, when I stumbled across the blog, to read about the injustice done to Fr. MacRae, not only by the state, but by the local hierarchy of the Catholic Church.
    @ andia,
    Indeed, some thing needs to be done to protect priests from this… and priests who are falsely imprisoned should also know of our support of them. To this end, I would encourage those who want to find out more about Fr. MacRae’s false imprisonment ( he has been imprisoned since 1994), to either google These Stone Walls or click on the very last link under ‘Blogs by priests’ that Fr. Z has kindly provided. I pray, not only for Fr. MacRae but all priests who are falsely imprisoned.

  12. Cradle Catholic says:

    I also meant to add that I have added Rev. Charles Engelhardt to my prayers for souls of the Faithfully departed.

  13. pelerin says:

    I have followed Fr MacRae’s inspiring blog since the very beginning and have been horrified to learn how prisoners are treated in the USA. Fr MacRae has been behind stone walls for twenty years – you don’t even get that for murder in Britain – and I understand that if he had been prepared to say he was guilty he would have been out years ago.

    Reading today’s post in ‘These Stone Walls’ I have learnt that Fr Engelhardt was shackled to his bed by his left wrist and right foot as he lay dying with two guards at his side but no relatives or friends and presumably no Priest to administer to him in his last moments. The authorities waited three days before notifying his family of his death. Truly heartbreaking.

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