Press Release on Calvin Robinson (2/3/2025)

Background on Calvin Robinson and the ACC.

Prior to September of 2024, Calvin Robinson was a priest of the Nordic Catholic Church, an Old Catholic Church based primarily in Scandinavia and the UK. In October of 2023, Robinson visited the ACC’s Provincial Synod in Orlando, FL and subsequently expressed an interest in serving a parish in the US. After undergoing the necessary procedures, he was received in orders and licensed to serve at the parish of St. Paul’s, Grand Rapids, MI. As of January 29th, 2025, he had served in the ACC a little over four months.
 

Why did the ACC take action?

When Robinson was received into the ACC, he was told that there was a distinction of offices between political activist and parish priest. His bishops made it clear to him that he had been received into the Church to minister to a parish, and as such, he would have to eschew the provocative political behavior that characterized his prior career as a TV presenter, blogger, and social media influencer. He has not done so, and what happened at the National Right to Life Summit was not an isolated incident.
 

As Robinson himself has said, “context is key.” He was not hired by the ACC to be an official spokesman, social media influencer, or to provoke the “hysterical liberals” (his words) in online culture wars; he was licensed by an ACC bishop to serve as a parish priest. He was repeatedly warned not to engage in the sort of behavior that he displayed at the National Right to Life Conference, and he did not comply. As such, his license to serve in the ACC was revoked. In doing so, the bishops acted in accordance with ACC canons.
 

What does this mean for Calvin Robinson?

Robinson has not been “defrocked” or “deposed” by the ACC. Those require an extended canonical process. He is still a priest and is free to return to the Nordic Catholic Church, the Free Church of England, or the Church of England, the three Churches, which since 2022, he has been a member of and subsequently left. He may also seek a new Church to affiliate with or continue an independent online ministry. What he may not do is serve in the ACC or with its ecumenical partners.
 

Where does the ACC stand?

The ACC stands by its original statement. The sort of conduct Robinson displayed at the National Right to Life Summit is harmful, divisive, and contrary to the tenets of Christian charity. Priests are certainly called to support the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of life and on a range of other doctrinal issues; but they are not called to provoke, to troll, or to behave uncharitably, even to their foes. This is not “woke” doctrine; it is basic Christian teaching and consistent with the expectations the ACC has of its priests.