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Fr. Chris Carpenter is now called by some the “Chancellor of the Diocese of St Joseph the Worker in Southern California”. Only he is no longer allowed to hold himself out as a Roman Catholic Priest. He separated himself from the Catholic Church and incurred the penalty of excommunication. That has now been formally recognized by an official decree. However, Chris Carpenter still calls himself a priest. Only now he claims to be a priest for the so called “Reformed catholic church.” The group has absolutely no connection to the real Catholic Church, has rejected fundamental Catholic teaching and has...

Why am I a Catholic? There are a thousand ways to answer that question, and this book will take up many of them. By its end, there will be one answer. -SNIP- ...and in America (continuing racism), with the recognition that hatred of the Other (whether Jews, blacks, or, say, Muslims) is still virulent. Women came to a new self-understanding, from the workforce jolt of World War II to the claustrophobia of the suburbs in the 1950s to the liberation of the 1960s (the birth control pill) and 1970s (Roe v. Wade). Sexual sensibility itself was upended, with gay rights,...

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Two newspapers say Pope Benedict XVI has decided to lift the excommunications of four bishops consecrated 20 years ago by the late French ultraconservative Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.Lefebvre rebelled against the Vatican's modernizing reforms of the 1960s, including replacing Latin with local languages at Mass.Benedict has already reached out to the rebels in the hopes of bringing them back into the Church by making it the old Mass more readily available.The Italian newspapers Il Giornale and Il Riformista said Thursday that Benedict has now decided to meet their demand that the excommunications be lifted. The newspapers said,...

Pelosi warns Lieberman for undercutting Obama Zachary Coile, Chronicle Washington Bureau Thursday, August 14, 2008 (08-14) 04:00 PDT Washington - -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted Sen. Joe Lieberman on Wednesday for making what she called "totally irresponsible" remarks about Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and warned that the Senate might retaliate by revoking Lieberman's committee chairmanship. Pelosi also chastised some of Hillary Rodham Clinton's supporters for being "less than gracious" toward Obama, although she praised the New York senator for rallying behind the party's nominee after a bitter primary fight. Pelosi's remark in an interview with KGO Radio talk...

In commenting on the decree in "L'Osservatore Romano" of June 1, the secretary of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith at the time, Archbishop Angelo Amato – now prefect of the congregation for the causes of saints – explained the decision to issue it as follows: "There have been individual episodes of so-called ordinations of women in various areas of the world. Moreover, the general decree is an instrument of assistance for the bishops, to ensure a uniform response from the whole Church in the face of these situations." In effect, the instance in Saint Louis is only...

<p>The creator of a calendar featuring pictures of bare-chested Mormon missionaries has been excommunicated after a disciplinary meeting with local church leaders in Las Vegas.</p> <p>More than 10,000 copies of the $14.99 calendar entitled Men on a Mission have been sold since its launch last year. It includes portraits of 12 topless missionaries wearing black trousers in modest poses.</p>

"Look at me I have been automatically excommunicated and it is reserved to the Holy See to lift it."The annoying thing about these faux ordinations is that they are hard to parody when they go to so much effort to parody themselves.Come on tie-dye stoles?  Plus exactly what part of the ordination ceremony calls for the above rubric?  The blankets are a pretty tacky detail.  Them seem more fitting to send with your kindergarten kid for nap time.  Seen plenty of pictures of priest being ordained and don't think I ever saw one with them prostrate on a blanket....

You won’t find it in your local newspaper or anywhere on the internet, but reliable sources tell me the Zion Train is coming our way here in the Archdiocese of Portland Oregon on Saturday, June 7th, 2008. That is, Zion United Church of Christ in Gresham is offering its worship space to misguided Catholics assisting them in committing the canon crime of self-ordination in direct opposition to Catholic faith and tradition.

ROME (CNS) -- At the start of a visit to Italy, excommunicated Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo was denied Communion when he attended a Mass at a local parish church near Naples. The former Zambian archbishop and his wife, Maria Sung, attended an early evening Mass at a local church in Pompeii Jan. 10, one day after his arrival in Italy from South Korea. When the archbishop approached the celebrant -- Father Francesco Soprano -- he refused the Eucharist to the archbishop, who then reportedly blessed the celebrant and lightly touched his head, according to Italian media reports. Archbishop Milingo, who was...

From the semi-official daily of the French Episcopate, La Croix (October 9, 2007): [At a conference at Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet, on October 5] The head of the Lefebvrists [Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior-General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X - FSSPX/SSPX] also hopes that the excommunications pronounced in 1988, at the moment of the illicit episcopal ordinations in Écône, will soon be lifted. "Maybe from now to the end of autumn." Also in Tuesday's edition of La Croix, Isabelle de Gaulmyn reports in the main article: Due to these difficulties in the application of the text [of the motu proprio Summorum...

Last week 25-year-old Jessica Rowley became one of about a dozen women nationwide to make a highly unusual career move: she was ordained a Catholic priest. Rowley’s ordination—which took place at Eden Theological Seminary, a progressive institution in Webster Groves, Mo.—is approved by the Ecumenical Catholic Communion, a group of churches that decline to recognize the authority of the pope but see themselves nevertheless as Roman Catholic. This week Rowley—who is also married—begins working full-time as an associate pastor at Saints Clare & Francis, a breakaway parish in Webster Groves. The Roman Catholic Church, not surprisingly, does not recognize Rowley...

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,...

MAYAGUEZ, Puerto Rico (AP) -- A Roman Catholic bishop here has excommunicated members of a communal sect whose leader allegedly claims to be a manifestation of the late Pope John Paul II.Sect leader Edwin Gonzalez Concepcion and his followers can no longer receive communion or participate in church activities, according to the order issued by Mayaguez Bishop Ulises Casiano Vargas.Gonzalez, a former firefighter in the town of Aguada, has told his followers that he became a manifestation of John Paul when the pope died in April and that Pope Benedict XVI is the "antichrist," according to the order, which priests...

Dec. 7, 2006 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican has confirmed an American bishop's decision to excommunicate members of the dissident group Call to Action. Call to Action is "causing damage to the Church of Christ," wrote Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re (bio - news), the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, in a letter to Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska. In March 1996, Bishop Bruskewitz had announced the excommunication of all Catholics in his diocese who were members of Call to Action or several other dissident groups which he described as "totally incompatible with the Catholic faith." The Nebraska chapter of...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Jacksonville bishop has excommunicated a defiant priest. Officials said the Reverend Rouville Fisher's decision to join a national organization promoting a married priesthood has resulted in his excommunication. It was the first excommunication since Victor Galeone became bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine in 2001. A diocese spokeswoman said the action disqualifies Fisher from performing or participating in any church rites, but it does not strip him of his lifelong Catholicism. Fisher was excommunicated because he joined Rent A Priest, an organization of Catholic priests removed from ministry because they married. The organization provides priests...

Excommunicated priest holds ‘illicit’ Mass Hundreds attend service in St. Louis despite Church objections The Associated Press Updated: 5:11 p.m. ET Dec. 25, 2005 ST. LOUIS - At least 1,500 people attended Christmas Eve Mass presided by an excommunicated Roman Catholic priest, despite warnings from the archbishop that participating would be a mortal sin. The Rev. Marek Bozek left his previous parish without his bishop’s permission and was hired by St. Stanislaus Kostka Church earlier this month. As a result, Bozek and the six-member lay board were excommunicated last week by Archbishop Raymond Burke for committing an act of schism.

Introduction I write, with heavy heart, about a situation which I, as bishop, had hoped that I would never have to address. I refer to the recent break with the communion of the Roman Catholic Church on the part of the board of directors of the civil corporation of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish in the City of St. Louis, and on the part of the priest from the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, whom they have hired to serve them.  It saddens me, in particular, to address such a deep wound to the Church in our archdiocese in these days of our...

The St. Louis archbishop informed the six board members of the parish that the priest they hired is also excommunicated from the Catholic church.

TO THE SOCIETY OF ST. PIUS X: "YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS!" Bishop Bruskewitz -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Foundation has received more compliments on the lead article in the last issue than any article which has appeared in CHRISTIFIDELIS since the newsletter began publication in 1984. The Diocese of Lincoln has received thousands of letters expressing support and gratitude for Bishop Bruskewitz's action and only an insignificant number criticizing him, so I am not surprised that our readers would react as they did. Even so, there is one category of criticism received by the Diocese of Lincoln and the Foundation which...

Marcel Lefebvre -- by Bishop Tissier de Mallerais Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais is one of the four episcopal “sons” of Archbishop Lefebvre, uniquely qualified to offer a definitive account of Lefebvre’s life and career, much of which he personally witnessed. His personal experience of the archbishop, and his having been formed in the priesthood – and the episcopate – by Lefebvre himself, certainly provide a much-needed “inside view” of the prelate’s motivations and character, something often lacking in the thirty-second soundbite polemics of our day. Nevertheless, the work undertaken here by Bishop Tissier de Mallerais is not a personal...

HOLY SEE-SAW BY DUNCAN MAXWELL ANDERSON -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Email Archives Print Reprint October 23, 2004 -- The Catholic Church's eternal teaching against killing the innocent by abortion doesn't apply this year — because it might affect the real world. At least, that seemed to be the message from the Vatican this past week. Throughout his career, Sen. John Kerry has called himself a Catholic while promoting abortion — including government-funded abortion. In June, Los Angeles canon lawyer Marc Balestrieri sued Kerry in Ecclesiastical Court in Boston for heresy. As part of his research, Balestrieri went to the Vatican to ask if...

Kerry Excommunicated! (Not) By Joe Feuerherd Newsflash: John Kerry has not, repeat not, been excommunicated. Nor, it seems, has he excommunicated himself, though those who have been reading the New York Times, viewing the Eternal Word Television Network, or visiting any number of Catholic Internet sites over the last several days are forgiven for thinking otherwise. At the center of the strange situation is Marc Balestrieri, a Los Angeles canon lawyer who is seeking to have Kerry declared a "heretic" for his pro-abortion-rights views. Balestrieri heads De Fide (Latin for "Of the Faith") an "International Non-Profit Association" (though one suspects...

An unusual letter from the consultor to a Vatican agency rules that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights have already excommunicated themselves by their actions – a message that suggests Sen. John Kerry is no longer a member of the church. The Rev. Basil Cole, a Dominican theologian and consultor to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote the letter to Marc Balestrieri, a Los Angeles lawyer of canonical law, the attorney told a host on the Catholic television network EWTN Friday. According to a report in Catholic World News, Balestrieri has previously sued John Kerry in...

News Release No 2. For Immediate Release Sen. John Kerry "Excommuniacted," According To Vatican Response Kennedy, Harkin, Cuomo, Collins Denounced for Heresy Santa Monica, Ca - A Los Angeles based expert in Canon Law, the legal code used by the Roman Catholic Church, announced Friday on EWTN's the World Over Live with Raymond Arroyo that an important Vatican congregation has given an unprecedented boost to his case for heresy against presidential candidate John Kerry. Marc Balestrieri, JCL who has filed a formal case for heresy against Kerry in his support for the right to abortion, revealed that he has received...

Kerry said to be excommunicated Los Angeles, Oct. 18 (CWNews.com) - A consultant to the Vatican has said Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has incurred the penalty of excommunication from the Catholic Church. The consultant made his statement in a highly unusual letter to Marc Balestrieri, a Los Angeles canon lawyer who formally sued John Kerry in ecclesiastical court for heresy. Balestrieri, who launched his case earlier this year by filing a heresy complaint in Kerry's home archdiocese of Boston, told EWTN's "World Over" program on Friday that he had received an unusual, indirect communication from the Vatican's Congregation for...

TESTING THE FAITH Is Kerry excommunicated? Indirect Vatican letter says pols who support abortion condemn selves Posted: October 18, 2004 3:20 p.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com An unusual letter from the consultor to a Vatican agency rules that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights have already excommunicated themselves by their actions – a message that suggests Sen. John Kerry is no longer a member of the church. The Rev. Basil Cole, a Dominican theologian and consultor to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote the letter to Marc Balestrieri, a Los Angeles lawyer of canonical law, the...

Los Angeles, Oct. 18 (CWNews.com) - A consultant to the Vatican has said Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has incurred the penalty of excommunication from the Catholic Church. The consultant made his statement in a highly unusual letter to Marc Balestrieri, a Los Angeles canon lawyer who formally sued John Kerry in ecclesiastical court for heresy. Balestrieri, who launched his case earlier this year by filing a heresy complaint in Kerry's home archdiocese of Boston, told EWTN's "World Over" program on Friday that he had received an unusual, indirect communication from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith...

  Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesJohn Kerry with the Rev. Michael J. Chaback after attending Sunday service in Bethlehem, Pa., on March 14, before a day of campaigning Kerry, Candidate and Catholic, Creates Uneasiness for ChurchBy LAURIE GOODSTEINPublished: April 2, 2004 enator John Kerry's support for abortion rights and stem cell research has prompted discussions among Roman Catholic bishops and Vatican officials over how to respond to a presidential candidate who professes Catholicism while taking stands contrary to church teaching.The issue has been a topic in the Vatican this week as bishops from Florida, Georgia and North and South Carolina...