Target of protest ‘shocked’

Deepa Bharath

A Roman Catholic priest who was the target of a protest on Sunday

says he feels “betrayed” by the acts of a few parishioners who

disagree with his decisions.

The Rev. Joseph R. Robillard, who has served as pastor of St.

Joachim’s Catholic Church for six years, said the more than 80

protesters took his statements out of context and misinterpreted his

actions because “they don’t like me.”

Lucidia Rosales and others who organized the event said that

Latinos at the church are mistreated during sacraments, confessions

and other Catholic rites. She said that many people in the parish

have tried to meet with Robillard to no avail.

They also claimed that in the past Robillard referred to members

of the Latino community as “pigs” in Spanish and two weeks ago fired

four employees of the Vida Familiar, the Family Life group run by the

parish, for what they perceive as no real reason.

Robillard called the group’s allegations “a bunch of lies.”

He said their antagonistic attitude toward him had “gotten to a

point of ridiculousness.”

“I’d mentioned at some time that when I was in another church I

had confused the Spanish word that meant “blind” and the word that

meant “pig” and used one instead of the other,” he explained. “I told

them that I had to apologize to people at that church for the mistake

I had made.”

Robillard said he is still in the process of learning Spanish,

spoken by a majority of St. Joachim’s parishioners.

“It’s not my native language,” he said. “But I can carry on a

conversation. This has all been taken out of context.”

Robillard also said that three out of the four employees of Vida

Familiar were fired because of budgetary constraints.

“We had problems,” he said. “We were short $2,000 a week. And we

had to lay off three people.”

The fourth person quit for personal reasons, which Robillard said

he cannot discuss.

He said the group protested “to embarrass me.”

“I’m not only shocked by it, but I’m also disappointed,” Robillard

said. “I’ve helped some of those people during real difficult times

in their lives. I feel betrayed.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].