'Not my intention to offend': Carmel pastor apologizes for anti-Black Lives Matter message

Update, July 1, 3:20 p.m.: Rev. Theodore Rothrock from St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Carmel has been suspended from public ministry by Bishop Timothy Doherty Wednesday after calling Black Lives Matter organizers "maggots and parasites." 

"The Bishop expresses pastoral concern for the affected communities," the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana said in a statement Wednesday. "The suspension offers the Bishop an opportunity for pastoral discernment for the good of the diocese and for the good of Father Rothrock."

Read more here.

Original story, July 1, 9:26 a.m.:

Rev. Theodore Rothrock of St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Carmel apologized Tuesday night after he was criticized for calling Black Lives Matter organizers "maggots and parasites." 

"It was not my intention to offend anyone," he wrote in a message sent to parishioners and later posted on the church's website, "and I am sorry that my words have caused any hurt to anyone."

He continued on to say that all people are welcome in God's kingdom and the church must condemn bigotry, which is "a part of the fabric of our society."

"We must also be fully aware that there are those who would distort the Gospel for their own misguided purposes," Rothrock wrote. "People are afraid, as I pointed out, rather poorly I would admit, that there are those who feed on that fear to promote more fear and division."

In his original message posted on Sunday, June 28, Rothrock wrote that the church must oppose Black Lives Matter and Antifa and carry the "message of peace." 

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"The only lives that matter are their own and the only power they seek is their own," Rothrock wrote of Black Lives Matter organizers. "They are wolves in wolves clothing, masked thieves and bandits, seeking only to devour the life of the poor and profit from the fear of others. They are maggots and parasites at best, feeding off the isolation of addiction and broken families, and offering to replace any current frustration and anxiety with more misery and greater resentment."

The post has since been removed from the church's website.

The newly-formed Carmel Against Racial Injustice group wants the bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana to remove Rothrock from leadership. The group plans to hold a protest in front of the church Sunday, July 5, from 7 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.. 

In a statement posted online before Rothrock issued his apology, Bishop Timothy Doherty said he hadn't approved or previewed the article.

"Pastors do not submit bulletin articles or homilies to my offices before they are delivered," he said. "I expect Father Rothrock to issue a clarification about his intended message. I have not known him to depart from Church teaching in matters of doctrine and social justice."

Doherty also referenced a column he wrote in early June, in which he called the killing of George Floyd brutal and unjust.

He didn't answer IndyStar questions about whether Rothrock would be removed from church leadership. 

Call IndyStar reporter Kaitlin Lange at 317-432-9270. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.