Parishioners alleged ‘loss of psychological safety’ as result of pastor’s orthodoxy.
When the Rev. Daniel Ciucci stands before his Denver parish to deliver a homily, he looks out onto a congregation divided over whether he’s fit to lead.
A rift within the Most Precious Blood Catholic Church parish fueled a petition with more than 750 signatures calling for Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila to address Ciucci’s leadership, accusing the pastor of eroding a vibrant, welcoming faith community with “fire and brimstone,” dogmatic messaging and a refusal to listen to parishioners.
Former Most Precious Blood parishioners said the fracture within the church since Ciucci was installed four years ago — in part because of more progressive Catholics clashing with a traditionalist priest — represents a microcosm of what’s happening within the local archdiocese.
“There has been a liberal schism in the Denver Archdiocese,” said David Thomas, a former Most Precious Blood parishioner. “I really view this as a problem with Aquila and not a problem with Daniel. I think Daniel is a symptom. The bigger problem is the overreach or micromanagement of the parish from Aquila in order to reel it back into compliance with his personal philosophy about what a Catholic parish ought to be.”
After reading the online petition and dozens of accompanying testimonials, Ciucci delivered a homily earlier this month — titled “Why Hell Is Welcoming” — that he said was inspired by the conflict. He lectured about the dangers of putting anything or anyone above God and the sin of not attending Mass every Sunday.
“This petition has broken open now the real conversation, because the thing that is most argued against implicitly, although almost nobody is willing to do it, is the fact that people get offended that they need to be saved by Jesus,” Ciucci told his congregation, according to video of the Aug. 3 homily.
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