Posted on 02/22/2007 6:55:17 AM PST by Alex Murphy
LINCOLN, February 21, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) The Vatican’s second highest juridical authority has rejected the appeal of an American leftist group, Call to Action (CTA), to overturn a decree of excommunication by the bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska, who called the group and “anti-Catholic sect”.
A letter from the Apostolic Signatura, the Catholic Church’s supreme tribunal and the highest judicial authority after the Pope himself, dismissed the group’s attempt at appeal with a terse message that it had “no competence” to overturn the decree.
The Signatura’s letter reiterates a December letter from the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, Giovanni Cardinal Battista Re, upholding the 1996 decree. In his letter, Re said CTA and the other groups were “causing damage to the Church of Christ” and that the bishop’s action “was properly taken within your competence as pastor of that diocese.”
Re agreed with Bruskewitz’s description of the groups named in the decree as “totally incompatible with the Catholic faith”. They also included the abortion lobby groups Catholics for a Free Choice and Planned Parenthood and the euthanasia advocacy group the Hemlock Society.
Call to Action is the US’ leading anti-Catholic organization, founded in the 1960’s to agitate within the Catholic Church to overturn Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life, marriage and the meaning of the priesthood.
At the time, CTA responded to the decree by holding a press conference in Washington DC and boasted that the decree had caused a “bonanza” of publicity for their cause and a wave of new memberships.
A formal decree of excommunication has always been extremely rare throughout the history of the Catholic Church and has typically been used as a last resort. It can be overturned by the bishop or the Pope when the individual concerned pledges to return to the normal practices and beliefs of Catholicism.
Rachel Pokora, president of Call to Action-Nebraska responded that the group would continue to attempt to overturn the decree saying they would be consulting canon lawyers. She told local media that she objected to the term “sect” because it implies Call to Action is “somehow heretical”.
Just a wee bit. Seriously, these people are lawyering up and expect to change the decision of the Church that way? What about doing what the bishop told them to do and renouncing their incompatible positions?
Gee, you think? :P
Hey, hey, hey, goodbye.
I am happy to see this guys kicked to the curb. I hope and pray that it will be the wakeup call they need and they reconcile with the Church.
The question is whether this applies to all members of Call to Action in any diocese. I don't see how it can't.
God bless Bishop Bruskewitz for taking a stand. Hopefully these people will recognize their errors and repent.
Good article - thanks for posting.
Our Lady's Warriors>Dissent>Dissenting Organizations
| A Call to Action | The most visible dissenting group which is a movement of laity and religious seeking to reform the "sinful structure" of the "patriarchal" Church. One could call them the "mother of all dissenting groups" - feminist pun intended. CTA is infamous since its 1994 conference coverage on the CBS news program 60 Minutes. CTA promotes dissent against Church teachings on a broad front, including women's ordination, homosexuality, creation spirituality, married priesthood, and liturgical reforms, while incorporating new age and Wiccan spirituality. Bishop Bruskewitz excommunicated those that belong to this group in his Diocese. Many members belong to local groups called "small faith communities." Renew 2000 also promotes small faith communities. Membership draws heavily from former clergy, feminist nuns, and homosexuals. Members staff COR. CTA serves on the national task force for the We Are Church referendum. Get a more complete understanding of their position from their own information. For a list of their speakers at the 2004 conference, click here. |
I'm thinking that it does!
I guess if we look at the details, the Vatican (acting like the Supreme Court) refused to review the case. So, techinically, this isn't binding on all chapters of CTA, and only pertaining to the competency of Bruskewitz to make the call. What it does seem to indicate, is that the discernment will continue to reside with the local bishop, and any appeals will be fruitless.
This analysis may sound a little disappointing, but on the other hand, this may be a way of the Vatican sending a message to bishops that they will stand by their decisions on matters of excommunication. A best-case scenario is that this will politically free the other hand of other bishops to follow suit without fear of being embarrased with a rebuke from Rome.
re your telephone conversation with the excommunicated Francis Kissling broadcast on 850 KOA.
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