Fr. James Altman

Fr. James Altman is a priest of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, and former pastor of St. James the Less parish in La Crosse. He drew national attention in August 2020 with a widely shared video in which he said that no Catholic can be a Democrat because of the party leadership's support for abortion (Catholic World Report). Wisconsin Public Radio reported that the diocese ultimately acted over his political and anti-vaccine comments (WPR); see COVID-19, vaccines and public health.

After private fraternal correction, Bishop William Callahan asked him to resign; in a Pentecost 2021 homily Altman said the bishop had asked him to step down "because I am divisive and ineffective," declined, and said he would challenge the request canonically. In July 2021 the diocese announced that Callahan had removed him as pastor "for an indeterminate period of time"; Catholic World Report said the decree barred him from celebrating public Mass, preaching, assisting at marriages or administering baptism (Catholic World Report; National Catholic Register). He continued to speak publicly; in 2022 Crux reported he was scheduled to address a "canceled priests" event (Crux), and NCR reported he was still speaking out despite the bishop's limits (NCR).

In 2023 Altman declared in a YouTube video that Pope Francis was not the pope but an antipope, which a Catholic World Report commentary called schismatic rhetoric (Catholic World Report). Commentators disputed how to classify his position: Where Peter Is asked whether he had excommunicated himself (Where Peter Is), while the Padre Peregrino blog asked whether he was a sedevacantist and argued that he is not (Padre Peregrino); see Sedevacantism and Benevacantism. Newsweek reported on a video in which he likened Francis to the devil and spoke of a millstone being tied around the pope's neck (Newsweek). When Callahan's resignation was accepted in March 2024, news coverage of the resignation published by NCR and the Catholic Review noted that Altman had since adopted sedevacantist views and openly called for the pope's death (NCR; Catholic Review). His Wikipedia biography states that he has been barred since 2021 from publicly celebrating Mass or presenting himself publicly as a priest (Wikipedia). After the election of Pope Leo XIV in May 2025, the blog From Rome, which itself disputes Leo's legitimacy, reported in October 2025 that Altman had said on X that he regarded the election as canonically valid (From Rome). See papal-critique and resistance media.