EWTN News reports on a new Clergy Outreach and Resilience (COR) program in the Archdiocese of Denver and Diocese of Colorado Springs, launched in January 2026. The program, inspired by police peer-support models, trains deacons and priests to recognize signs of stress and burnout in one another, framing clergy emotional suffering as a mental health issue requiring clinical and peer intervention. Deacon Ernie Martinez, its director, states the goal is to create a culture where “asking for help is not seen as weakness but as wisdom,” emphasizing “true fraternity” and “spiritual fatherhood” within a therapeutic framework. The article omits any reference to the supernatural causes of clerical crisis—loss of faith, sacramental grace, or adherence to Catholic doctrine—and presents a solution wholly naturalistic, relying on psychological methods and human bonds. This program is a stark symptom of the post-conciliar Church’s apostasy, replacing the spiritual remedies of the true Faith with the secularized “care” of the conciliar sect.
The Naturalistic Reduction of a Supernatural Crisis
The article’s foundational error is its complete reduction of the clergy crisis to a psychological and emotional problem. Martinez states clergy “absorb that pain” from the people they serve and “carry it alone,” implying the primary danger is emotional overload. The proposed solution is a peer-support system modeled on law enforcement, with training by a clinical psychologist to recognize “distress” and facilitate “care… spiritually, emotionally, and clinically.” This is a catastrophic omission. The true crisis of the modern clergy stems from their participation in the sacrilegious Novus Ordo Missae, their rejection of the immutable doctrines of the Faith in favor of Modernist errors, and their service in a schismatic structure that has abandoned the reign of Christ the King. As Pope Pius XI declared in Quas Primas, the root of societal and ecclesial decay is the removal of “Jesus Christ and His most holy law from… public life.” The program’s silence on the loss of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the profanation of the sacraments, and the apostasy of the conciliar hierarchy is not an oversight; it is a deliberate confinement of the discussion to the natural order, thereby perpetuating the very apostasy it pretends to address. The “pain” absorbed by these “priests” and “deacons” is first and foremost the guilt of sacrilege and the anguish of leading souls to perdition through false worship and doctrine—a reality utterly absent from the article’s naturalistic framework.
The Language of Therapy Replaces the Language of Faith
The article’s vocabulary is a telltale sign of Modernist infiltration. Phrases like “walk together in crisis,” “battling darkness,” “resilience,” “mental health,” “peer support,” and “emotional demands” form a lexicon borrowed from secular psychology, not Catholic tradition. Martinez quotes Galatians 6:2 (“Bear one another’s burdens”) but strips it of its Catholic context. In the integral Faith, bearing burdens means guiding one another in the path of penance, prayer, and doctrinal purity to save souls. Here, it means sharing emotional weight to prevent “burnout” and “despair.” This is a hermeneutic of continuity in action: taking a sacred text and reinterpreting it through a naturalistic, humanistic lens. The “fraternity” promoted is not the hierarchical, Christ-centered brotherhood of the priesthood, where the superior is a father in Christ to be obeyed, but an egalitarian “one-on-one support” model where “brother” is a peer. St. Pius X, in the encyclical Pascendi Dominici gregis (implicitly confirmed by Lamentabili sane exitu), condemned the Modernist tendency to “reduce the nature of faith to a mere psychological sentiment.” The COR program operationalizes this error, treating sacerdotal crisis as a psychological deficit rather than a supernatural failure requiring doctrinal correction and sacramental penance.
Omission of the Supernatural: The Gravest Accusation
The analysis must focus on what the article omits. There is no mention of:
- The necessity of the integral Catholic Faith as the sole remedy for spiritual desolation. The program offers no call to return to the Traditional Latin Mass, the source of true spiritual strength.
- The doctrine of grace and the state of grace. Clergy suffering “darkness” are likely in mortal sin due to their participation in the conciliar cult. The article provides no mechanism for confession, amendment of life, or rejection of heresy.
- The Sacrifice of Calvary as the true source of resilience. Martinez quotes 2 Corinthians 4:8 but divorces it from the context of apostolic suffering for the Faith. The “resilience” of a true priest comes from offering the Unbloody Sacrifice and conforming to Christ the King, not from peer counseling.
- The final judgment and the salvation of souls. The program’s goal is preventing “hopelessness” and building “hope” in this life, not securing eternal life through fidelity to Catholic doctrine. This is the ultimate naturalism: reducing the priesthood to a high-stress profession rather than a participation in the priesthood of Christ.
- The primacy of God’s laws over human “well-being.” Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors condemns the idea that “moral laws do not stand in need of the divine sanction” (Error 56) and that “the science of philosophical things and morals… may and ought to keep aloof from divine and ecclesiastical authority” (Error 57). The COR program, by relying on clinical psychology and human fraternity, implicitly accepts these condemned errors.
This silence is not neutral; it is a positive embrace of the Modernist principle that the Church’s mission is primarily humanistic, not supernatural. As Lamentabili condemns (Proposition 26): “The dogmas of faith should be understood according to their practical function, i.e., as binding in action, rather than as principles of belief.” The COR program applies this error practically: faith is reduced to a tool for “resilience” and “fraternity,” not a set of truths to be believed with divine and Catholic faith.
Symptomatic of the Conciliar Apostasy
The program is a perfect microcosm of the post-conciliar Church’s pathology:
- Rejection of Hierarchical Authority: The solution is peer-based, not hierarchical. It bypasses the bishop’s role as the chief shepherd and father, reflecting the conciliar emphasis on “collegiality” and “synodality” that erodes papal and episcopal authority. The true remedy for a priest in crisis is his bishop, who must correct him with fatherly authority and, if necessary, remove him from ministry. This program creates a parallel support network independent of hierarchical governance, echoing the “national churches” condemned by Pius IX (Error 37).
- Syncretism with the World: The model is explicitly taken from police departments—a secular, Masonic-influenced institution. Martinez’s 40-year career with the Denver Police Department is presented as a credential, not a red flag. The Church is importing the world’s methods, violating the principle that the Church must not be “subjected to the civil and political power at the pleasure of the rulers” (Pius IX, Syllabus, Error 47). The “proven peer-support practices” are from “high-stress professions,” not from the treasury of Catholic spiritual direction, asceticism, and the lives of the saints.
- Denial of the Supernatural Order: The program’s language is entirely naturalistic. “Spiritual fatherhood” is reduced to a therapeutic bond, not the ontological reality of Holy Orders. “Fraternity” is a human bond, not the supernatural communion of the Mystical Body. This is the essence of Modernism, which Lamentabili defines as seeking to “renew and restore” the Church according to “the principles of modern philosophy” (Preamble). The article quotes St. Paul (2 Cor 4:8) but strips the text of its context: the Apostles were “afflicted” for preaching Christ crucified, not for emotional burnout from “walking with people through death, trauma, addiction.”
- False Ecumenism of the “Human Family”: Martinez says “authentic bonds are essential to our humanity,” echoing the conciliar “humanism” that places man at the center. The “Church has always called us to be: true fraternity” is a lie. The Church has always called us to be members of Christ, subjects of the King, and heirs of heaven—a supernatural fraternity based on grace, not a humanistic “bond.” This is the “cult of man” condemned by Pius XII and the “religious freedom” error of Vatican II, which places human dignity above the rights of God.
- Complicity in the Usurpation: The program operates under the authority of “Archbishop Emeritus Samuel Aquila” and “Archbishop-designate James Golka.” These men are occupants of diocesan sees in the conciliar sect. Their approval makes the program an official activity of the “abomination of desolation.” Any Catholic participating in such a program, while acknowledging these false prelates, incurs suspicion of schism. The true Catholic, holding to the Faith of all time, must have no communion with these Modernist “clerics.” As the Defense of Sedevacantism file demonstrates, a manifest heretic (and all post-conciliar “popes” and “bishops” are manifest heretics) loses office ipso facto. Thus, these “archbishops” have no jurisdiction, and their “programs” are null and void.
Contrast with the True Catholic Solution
What would a genuine Catholic program for clergy look like? It would be rooted in:
- The Sacrifice of the Mass: The primary strength of a priest is the daily offering of the Traditional Latin Mass, the true propitiatory sacrifice that forgives sins and sanctifies the soul. The Novus Ordo, with its “table of assembly” and ambiguous language, is a source of spiritual desolation, not strength.
- Sacramental Confession: The first recourse for a priest in “darkness” is the sacrament of penance, where he confesses his own sins—especially any participation in sacrilege or compromise with error—and receives absolution from a traditional bishop or priest. No “peer support” can substitute for the grace of the sacrament.
- Doctrinal Formation: The crisis is largely doctrinal. Clergy must be re-educated in the immutable teachings of the Church, using pre-1958 catechisms, encyclicals, and the writings of the Fathers. They must reject the errors of Vatican II, the “hermeneutics of continuity,” and the “evolution of dogma.” The Syllabus of Errors and Lamentabili provide the precise antidotes to the Modernist poison.
- Hierarchical Governance: A bishop who is a true Catholic (i.e., not in communion with the antipopes) must govern his clergy with paternal authority, correcting, admonishing, and, if necessary, removing those who are scandalous or doctrinally compromised. This is not “toxic masculinity” but the divine order.
- Devotion to Christ the King: As Pius XI taught in Quas Primas, the restoration of society and the Church depends on the public recognition of the reign of Christ. A priest’s resilience comes from knowing he serves the King of kings, not a “community” or a “fraternity.” The feast of Christ the King, which the article’s subjects likely ignore or distort, is the true remedy for the “secularism” that has invaded the sanctuary.
Conclusion: A Program of Apostate Self-Preservation
The COR program is not a solution; it is a symptom and a perpetuation of the disease. It treats the emotional exhaustion of clergy who have abandoned the traditional Faith and participate in the sacrilegious Novus Ordo. It offers a naturalistic, peer-based support system that keeps them within the conciliar sect, providing palliative care for a terminal spiritual condition. It is a “ministry” of the “abomination of desolation,” designed to stabilize the false hierarchy by preventing the collapse of its “priesthood.” The true Catholic response is to reject this program and all it represents: the Modernist, naturalistic, human-centered “Church” of Vatican II. The only path to resilience for a priest is to repent of his compromise, return to the Traditional Latin Mass, profess the integral Faith, and, if possible, find communion with a traditional bishop who holds the Catholic Faith without reservation. Anything less is a collaboration with the apostasy and a betrayal of Christ the King, whose reign these “priests” and “deacons” have already abandoned.
Source:
New Colorado program trains deacons, priests to walk together ‘in darkness’ (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 21.03.2026