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SSPX Sentences Priest To 1,000 Lashes For Smiling During Mass

Society of St. Pius X priest Fr. Donald Johnson has been sentenced to three years in prison and 1,000 lashes for allegedly smiling during the Mass two weeks ago.

Johnson was arrested by SSPX officials in June during a Mass after being caught on video looking happy, SSPX officials reported. Johnson is scheduled to receive 50 lashes a week for 20 weeks.

Officials stated that Johnson first came to the attention of SSPX bishops close to a year ago after a parishioner complained about comments Johnson made during a homily about love. Johnson was accused of saying that some people in the Church often only focus on their anger and God’s judgment, as opposed to the loving mercy of God.

“This is a sad day for us all,” one SSPX bishop told EOTT as he practiced lashing a tree. “But the fact is that Fr. Johnson smiled during the Mass. Perhaps next time he tries smiling during Mass he’ll remember that Christ dying on the cross is no laughing matter.”

The bishop went on to say that without the proper penance and jail time that the lash and bars were certain to administer to the priest, he would run the danger of continuing in his “sacrilegious ways.”

“It’s a slippery slope, you know? One day your smiling during the Mass and talking about love like some sort of a clown, the next day your speaking in the vernacular and committing other mortal sins as well.”