An Indiana priest has been suspended from public ministry after he called Black Lives Matter organizers “maggots and parasites” in his weekly message.

According to the Indy Star, Rev. Theodore Rothrock of the St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Carmel was suspended on Wednesday by Bishop Timothy Doherty.

“The bishop expresses pastoral concern for the affected communities,” the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana said in a statement. “The suspension offers the bishop an opportunity for pastoral discernment for the good of the diocese and for the good of Father Rothrock.”

The diocese’s statement added that “various possibilities for his public continuation in priestly ministry are being considered.”

The newspaper said Rothrock’s original message was posted Sunday, June 28.

“The only lives that matter are their own and the only power they seek is their own,” Rothrock wrote of Black Lives Matter organizers. “They are wolves in wolves clothing, masked thieves and bandits, seeking only to devour the life of the poor and profit from the fear of others. They are maggots and parasites at best, feeding off the isolation of addiction and broken families, and offering to replace any current frustration and anxiety with more misery and greater resentment.”

CNN reported Rothrock has issued an apology.

“It was not my intention to offend anyone, and I am sorry that my words have caused hurt to anyone,” he said.