In the case where I heard Bartus say this, he was clearly serious, in effect teaching Sunday school for adults. He was being Socratic (or at least, what he felt was Socratic), trying to pull out from us some sort of conclusion that there wouldn't be a whole lot of clappin' and dancin' at an Ordinariate mass, or something like that. "In other words," I clearly remember him saying to this effect, "the Ordinariate is for who. . . ?" In response, he got blank looks, as perhaps he should have. ("Er, people who don't want to clap and dance?") But he answered his own question: "White people. The Ordinariate is for white people." I would find it difficult to imagine that he felt the Ordinariate would welcome the folks who worship by the hundreds at my local Catholic parish, though they don't clap and dance, either.
And my wife, separately, heard the expression "white people" from Bartus at another time -- if he was joking, I'm not sure what kind of joke was involved. It's possible, of course, to be telling what you think is a joke, but to reveal yourself as clueless. Sorry, but Andrew Bartus is going to come back and bite these guys in the butt, sooner or later. However, if Bartus wishes to retract his remarks, apparently heard by different people at different times, and apologize for any misunderstanding he may have caused, I'll be happy to publish it here.
UPDATE: I've had e-mails to the effect that although Bartus is a monarchist (I'm not kidding; he's the Chaplain of the Los Angeles Chapter of the International Monarchist League), he's not a Klansman. My point above wasn't that he's a Klansman; it's that he freely makes remarks that can easily be misinterpreted -- in other words, he's clueless, and his jokes are funny for reasons other than those he intends. This is not the kind of guy whose independent judgment you want to trust. Just sayin'.
