Archbishop: Priest’s posts ‘inappropriate’

A Parkland priest shared a little bit too much, posting items on his Facebook account that were critical of Muslims, Arab refugees, Democrats, liberals and others. Father Ireneusz Ekiert, parish administrator at Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church, apologized Monday for his “lack of prudence and stupidity” for the postings that had a Trumpian, conservative bent to them. He had already closed his Facebook account. One post with the heading NFL Sunday 2021 shows a football stadium with the field covered with Muslims kneeling and bent over in prayer. Another read “Liberal Talking Points: When facts, statistics, intelligence or logic are not on your side, just pull something out of your butt and fling it.” Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski called the posts “inappropriate and unacceptable” and directed Ekiert to delete them and apologize. The archdiocese’s policy on social media says prudence and discretion are required on any site, whether a personal or professional account, and those in a “position of leadership should expect to be held to higher standards,” officials said. Mary Help of Christians Church posted a statement from Ekiert about the posts. “I thought I was being humorous, but I realize now how offensive and inappropriate they were,” Ekiert said. “Even though it was my personal Facebook page, as a priest of the Archdiocese of Miami and the administrator of Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church, I should have demonstrated better judgement,” he said.