Fr. Dwight Longenecker Abuses (Cyber bully) Teen Girl

It seems so-called "traditionalists" or "conservative" Catholics have lost their sense of shame and whatever intelligence they had left. First, we remember Father Z who made ridiculous comments regarding the Vatican light show (see: http://www.sacerdotus.com/2015/12/father-zany-vatican-lights-and-other.html). We all pretty much lost respect for him after this. I unfollowed him as I could no longer take him seriously. Then, we saw how Dr. Taylor Marshall engaged in implicit racism by setting aside decency in favor of scrupulosity that was offensive to Africans (see: http://www.sacerdotus.com/2019/09/racism-from-mundabor-taylor-marshall-so.html). His criticism of a chasuble worn by Pope Francis which represented cultural elements of the African people showed his disdain for non-whites and indirectly presented itself as white supremacy. Well, now we have another one who demonstrated ageism and hate against people with disabilities.

As many of you know, we are in the middle of summits at the United Nation. Every year around this time, leaders from the world gather in New York City to discuss issues that concern the globe. During one session, a young 16-year-old girl named Greta Thunberg from Sweden gave a very powerful speech about Climate Change. I have come to call it the "How dare you" speech. In this speech, she called out the failure of world leaders to engage the crisis with global warming. Here is the speech:



This young girl was met with attacks from those in the conservative faction of politics. They mocked her face, accent, attacked her tone, and worse of all, attacked her disability. Greta has Asperger. No one can expect this sort of puerile behavior from political fanatics, but how about from a Catholic priest? Well, this is exactly what we have witnessed. Fr. Longenecker, a convert and married Catholic priest from the Charleston diocese posted a tweet mocking this young lady. He posted this tweet:

Is it my imagination of does Greta Thornbug look remarkably like Wednesday Addams of the famous Addams family. Is there any possibility they are related? I think we should be told. pic.twitter.com/UrnBEck9xg

— Fr. Dwight Longenecker (@dlongenecker1) September 23, 2019

Screenshot of Tweet

The tweet was met with disgust by Catholics and others who value decency, and rightfully so. The tweet had angered many people from all walks of life. Fr. Matthew of the Legionaries of Christ and who calls himself the "Autistic Priest" gave an excellent response and fraternal correction:

We priests should maintain a high level of discourse.

Even if you consider it a joke, joking negatively about a public figure's appearance is (1) implicitly an argument unless you are a comedian who insults most of them, & (2) below priestly dignity.https://t.co/TitI4NLwqe

— Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC (@FrMatthewLC) September 24, 2019

Other clerics and laypeople joined in the fraternal correction of Fr. Longenecker's tweet. Here are some of their tweets:

You know, Father, you don't actually have to tweet every thought that comes into your mind. I think you should be more prudent in what you tweet, especially since you represent the Church in an official way. And I would refrain from commenting on the appearance of teenagers.

— ♱ (@inflammateomnia) September 24, 2019

Father, in fraternal concern, you need to apologize for your mockery. This was no way to build up the Body of Christ.

— Deacon William T. Ditewig, Ph.D. (@GlobetrotterUSN) September 24, 2019

Wow. A priest mocking a child’s appearance. Disgraceful

— Alexis V. (@alexisvMI) September 24, 2019

This is shameful, Father. Absolutely shameful. Praying that you apologize.

— Tucker (@tucker_moore) September 24, 2019

Fr. Dwight,

This tweet comes off as incredibly petty and tone deaf.

Disagree with her politics if you don't share them, but IGNORING her concerns to instead mock her appearance is beneath you.

— Rev. Robert R. Ballecer, SJ (@padresj) September 24, 2019

People on this thread should know that Fr Dwight has disrespected the Holy Trinity and The Blessed Mother he serves at his church. He has disrespected also the Church as a body. He has transgressed the most basic of Christ’s teachings. I pray he gets the help he obviously needs.

— CHOOSE HUMANITY 👑🌞🕊🌹 (@MB_LMMOG) September 24, 2019

Fr. Longenecker responsed with a different tone which came across as immature and childish. He began to act nonchalant and smug, using gifs to dismiss the concerns of people:

pic.twitter.com/S27k7LJtuG

— Fr. Dwight Longenecker (@dlongenecker1) September 23, 2019

No jokes! You must not make a joke! pic.twitter.com/RRoOBjxnjB

— Fr. Dwight Longenecker (@dlongenecker1) September 24, 2019

However, some returned the favor and mocked his appearance:

IT'S ALL IN THE ADDAMS FAMILY.
Let's see if Longenecker can take his own medicine. pic.twitter.com/0iw1cueBKD

— Adam Lin Cooper (@AdamLinCooper1) September 24, 2019

There is not much I can state regarding this other than Fr. Longenecker was out of line. He was either drunk when he posted this tweet or showed his true colors. How can a priest make fun of a young girl with Asperger's? Where is his morals? I understand people can be overly passionate over the climate change issue, but to attack a child over it? The fact that this is coming from a Catholic priest makes it worse.

In light of the scandals with priests, it was not wise for Fr. Longenecker to post such nonsense which is abusive and offensive. He is abusing a young female child by cyber-bullying her. I cannot imagine how parishioners at parishes Fr. Longenecker works at must feel. They must be thinking as to whether or not he is mocking their own daughters. As the saying goes, children are off-limits when it comes to criticism.

Fr. Longenecker believes this is a joke which tells us that he is not well educated in communication and sensitivity training. As a quasi-representative of the Catholic Church, he has to know that optics matter. The Catholic Church is under the scope now due to scandals. For him to be making fun of a girl with Asperger is distasteful and presents itself as an arrogant priest acting high and mighty above others. Perhaps Fr. Longenecker should read Proverbs 19:29 which says, "Those who make fun of others will be judged. Foolish people will be punished."

Then again, based on Longenecker's reaction, he does not seem to care who he offends and has no idea that what he did was wrong and sinful. This may be a sign of dissociative personality disorder.  It may also be that this is just how so-called "traditionalist" or "conservative" people behave. They rely on ignorance and puerile behavior to push talking points instead of actual facts. This is not surprising with Longenecker since he hangs out with others who do the same. Birds of a feather...?  Look at his company from these screenshots:

Who Were the Historical Wise Men? Dr Marshall Interviews Fr Longenecker on Mystery of the Magi - Taylor Marshall

In Which Fr Z Gets Noticed by Big Media – Fr. Dwight Longenecker

 

Let us see if Fr. Longenecker will find it funny when people storm his diocese asking for him to be disciplined. I am sure many have already contacted the diocese and parish where he is stationed at. I advise readers to voice their concerns as well.

Diocese of Charleston
901 Orange Grove Road,
Charleston, SC 29407
Phone: 843-261-0420
https://charlestondiocese.org/


Father Dwight Longenecker Pastor
Phone: (864) 422-1648 ext 210
Email: dlongenecker@charlestondiocese.org
https://olrgreenville.com/home/our-parish/meet-the-parish-staff/



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