Thanks for posting the link to Barnhardt's blog. I was unaware that Father Hearty requested dismissal from the clerical state.

Still hard to believe that James Jackson was able to hide his intrinsically disordered deviancy in the 15 years he was at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Littleton, Colorado and that it only came to light after his move to Providence, Rhode Island. This revelation will no doubt provide a substantive test of the faith of many of his former parishioners and followers throughout the Church. By all appearances he not only talked the talk but he walked the walk. By all appearances he was the model of what a faithful Priest should be. This is simply the manifestation of the power that Satan possesses and the control he can exert if given the opportunity and why each and every one of us, particularly the ordained and consecrated religious, must remain ever vigilant to ward off his unending attacks.

Will we ever be able to completely trust any Priest again? Will we ever be able to seek and accept their counsel and catechesis without a hint of skepticism? Will we ever be able to completely bare our souls inside of the confessional? It’s relatively simple to assess the nonsensical relativism, apostasies, heresies and heterodoxies of the Martin’s, McElroy’s, Cupich’s, Tobin’s, Stowe’s, Marx’s, Kasper’s, Bergoglio’s, et al of the Church – who make no effort to hide same – dismiss them out of hand and avoid them like the plague while still praying for their conversions. It’s much more difficult to believe that the Priest who appears to be serving the faithful as Christ intended is not simply another con artist wearing a Roman collar.

May James Jackson spend the rest of his days atoning for his admitted crimes and repenting for his admitted sins and may Almighty God have mercy on his soul.