Way back in the mid-1990s, when I had my “reversion,” it was common knowledge among the faithful that Fr. Richard Rohr was a dissident, New Age guru-priest to be avoided at all costs. The Wanderer newspaper had lots of info on the man, including his weird “Wild Man Retreats” where, to the priest’s delight, grown men would get naked in the woods and, uh, bond. Rohr assures us that “this nudity occurs spontaneously”—though it’s always expected and most welcome.

To get a preliminary feel for who Richard Rohr is, read through his own explanation of his “retreats” and talks. It shouldn’t be hard to notice red flags whirling like helicopter blades: The almost gleeful focus on male nudity, touching, homoeroticism, talk of “burning their balls,” “semen,” “lovemaking,” “self-massage,” and homosexual affirmation makes for an uncomfortable read, but even more so after living through the last year of Church scandals, where the lavender mafia has continued to be, ahem, exposed, and yet is still firmly and brazenly running the joint. Read for yourself:



I once saw Richard Rohr in person. It was before Bishop Thomas Olmsted came to Phoenix, when our diocese was still one of the most dissenting and “liberal” in the nation. I was a brand-new, on-fire revert already teaching RCIA in my parish when I signed up to attend the diocesan catechetical conference. I was warned by faithful Catholics to wear my scapular and bring holy water to the event.

My friends were not exaggerating the spiritual danger. Fr. Richard Rohr was one of two keynote speakers, and the other was a Buddhist nun. Yes, a Buddhist nun. There was (of course!) no tension between their beliefs or presentations. Rohr was wearing a comfy sweater as he pontificated against both the “institutional Church” and the reigning pontiff, John Paul II.

The workshop/session leaders were cut from the same cloth as Rohr.

For example, one workshop I attended was on “women’s spirituality,” where the radical feminist who led us began by stating, almost apologetically, that “we will reference Christian scriptures today, because those are the ones we are probably most familiar with!” This smiling lady spouted so much incomprehensible fem-speak that I had to ask my friend and fellow attendee—newly liberated from radical feminism herself—to translate some of it later. She told me she felt like she was back in her previous life, surrounded by her wiccan and lesbian friends; she knew the lingo.

During another workshop, this time on the liturgy, a feisty religious sister encouraged a hundred eager catechists to—I kid you not—protest part of Holy Mass. “You should remain silent when prompted to say ‘Lord, I am not worthy to receive you’….You are worthy!!” she thundered. (The nice older nun next to me saw my stricken face and patted my hand sympathetically during the audience’s frenzied applause.)

Yes indeed, the conference organizers knew that Fr. Richard Rohr would fit right in with the particular, uh, spirit of the conference.

Fr. Rohr’s unfortunate popularity among some younger Catholic bloggers and writers (some with book deals and real influence), and the fact that his programs are still used to form deacons in some dioceses, necessitates a deeper look into his bizarre beliefs. In no particular order:

Rohr participates in illicit intercommunion. Watch and cringe as he receives and distributes communion at an Episcopal church. At least the wafer of bread that he drops on the ground is not actually Jesus (since the Episcopalians do not have valid holy orders), although I’d bet the farm that Rohr thinks it’s all the same.