The Anglican Church main website page has posted a strong condemnation of a man (priest-in-charge at St Paul’s Anglican Catholic church in Grand Rapids, Michigan) who ended an anti-abortion rally speech with the Nazi salute.

First, you have to understand this guy freely admitted that he was trying to enrage people by offending them with a Nazi salute. He posted the explanation to his Facebook account:

The joke at the end was a mockery of the hysterical ‘liberals’ who called Elon Musk a Nazi…

He calls the Nazi salute a joke, and he says he had hoped to enrage ‘liberals’ with one, and he says he feels he must defend Elon Musk… none of which seemed to pass muster with the Church.

Father Calvin Robinson in fact has a very well-known history of spewing hate speech that he calls jokes, as if unaccountable. He claims on his social media to be from an extremist right-wing British group, while dropping bombs such as these.

Even more to the point, the UK police (CPS) posted this online warning about hate speech being illegal:

Think before you post!
📲✋ Content that incites violence or hatred isn’t just harmful – it can be illegal.

The CPS takes online violence seriously and will prosecute when the legal test is met. Remind those close to you to share responsibly or face the consequences.

And Robinson relocated to the U.S. in September 2024, after giving this very public reaction to the CPS warning:

Apparently the hate speech he spread online not only was getting him in trouble in the UK, is was getting him a plum invitation from a church in Michigan to lead them.

Second, here is the Church’s response and reaction to this man’s obvious and very long-standing hate campaigns.

At approximately 3:00 pm today (1/29) members of the College of Bishops of the ACC were made aware of a post made on X showing the end of a speech made by Calvin Robinson at the National Pro-Life Summit in Washington, DC. In it, he closed his comments with a gesture that many have interpreted as a pro-Nazi salute.

While we cannot say what was in Mr. Robinson’s heart when he did this, his action appears to have been an attempt to curry favor with certain elements of the American political right by provoking its opposition. Mr. Robinson had been warned that online trolling and other such actions (whether in service of the left or right) are incompatible with a priestly vocation and was told to desist. Clearly, he has not, and as such, his license in this Church has been revoked. He is no longer serving as a priest in the ACC.

Furthermore, we understand that this is not just an administrative matter. The Holocaust was an episode of unspeakable horror, enacted by a regime of evil men. We condemn Nazi ideology and anti-Semitism in all its forms. And we believe that those who mimic the Nazi salute, even as a joke or an attempt to troll their opponents, trivialize the horror of the Holocaust and diminish the sacrifice of those who fought against its perpetrators. Such actions are harmful, divisive, and contrary to the tenets of Christian charity.

Finally, we pray that God will give us grace to lay aside our unhappy divisions, and we commend our nation and ourselves to his Almighty protection.

That’s very well said.