c. 2006 Religion News Service
Vatican Upholds Excommunication of Call to Action Members
(RNS) A Vatican official has upheld the wholesale excommunication of hundreds of lay Catholics affiliated with dissident and reform groups by a Nebraska bishop 10 years ago.
Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb., issued the excommunication order in 1996. It was confirmed in a Nov. 24 letter to Bruskewitz from Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, head of the Vatican’s office in charge of bishops.
Bruskewitz decreed that membership in the Catholic reform movement Call to Action and 10 other groups was “always perilous to the Catholic faith.”
Several members of Call to Action had appealed the excommunication, which led to Re’s letter.
Re wrote that “the Holy See considers that Your Excellency’s ruling in the case of `Call to Action Nebraska’ was properly taken within your competence as Pastor of that diocese.”
Bruskewitz, one of the most conservative U.S. bishops, publicized the letter Friday (Dec. 8).
“The judgment of the Holy See is that the activities of `Call to Action’ in the course of these years are in contrast with the Catholic Faith due to views and positions held which are unacceptable from a doctrinal and disciplinary standpoint,” Re wrote.
Founded in 1978, Call to Action has 53 U.S. chapters and approximately 25,000 members, according to Nicole Sotelo, a spokesperson for the group. The group advocates comprehensive changes in the church, including the ordination of women and the removal of celibacy requirements for priests.
The other groups excommunicated by Bruskewitz include Planned Parenthood, Catholics for a Free Choice, several Masonic groups and the Hemlock Society, which supports assisted suicide.
Members of Call to Action in Lincoln will again appeal the excommunication, this time to the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican’s supreme court, according to Sotelo.
Sotelo said Call to Action has not yet been allowed to present its case before the Vatican.
It is unclear what effect the excommunication will have. Individuals were not named in Bruskewitz’s order. Catholics who are excommunicated are not allowed to take part in public worship or receive the sacraments.
Sotelo said members of Call to Action attended Mass on Sunday and received Holy Communion with no problems.
“Our members plan to continue to participate in the church. We don’t see this as stopping our faith as Catholics, nor do we see this as stopping our work for justice in the church,” Sotelo said.
_ Daniel Burke
Military Watchdog Group Seeks Investigation of Religious Video
WASHINGTON (RNS) A group monitoring religious freedom in the military asked a Department of Defense inspector general Monday (Dec. 11) to investigate the presence of top military brass in a Christian ministry’s promotional video.
“Service men and women shown in uniform, and civilian DOD personnel, at the Pentagon enthusiastically promoting a private, sectarian religious organization appears to violate a number of Department of Defense directives,” wrotes Ezra W. Reese, lawyer for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
In the video, shown Monday to reporters at the National Press Club, Air Force Maj. Gen. Jack Catton spoke of the influence of the Arlington, Va.-based Christian Embassy on himself and other officers.
“I think it’s a huge impact because you have many men and women who are seeking God’s counsel and wisdom as we advise the chairman and the secretary of defense,” said Catton. “Hallelujah.”
Mikey Weinstein, president and founder of the Albuquerque, N.M.-based foundation calling for the investigation, said the promotion of a particular religious point of view while in uniform at the workplace is not appropriate.
“It’s an outrage,” said Weinstein of the video.
Maj. Stewart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman, said the inspector general’s office has received the request but “it would be inappropriate to speculate as to what actions will be taken at this point.”
He added that the military doesn’t endorse any one religion.
“The Department of Defense provides opportunities for military service members to practice their faith,” he said.
Robert Varney, executive director of the Christian Embassy, said his ministry received permission from the Pentagon to film the video clips.
“We think that the context of the video is self-explanatory, that the opinions are definitely personal,” he said.
Varney said his organization, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, was placing a disclaimer on its Web site, where the video appeared, to clarify that the opinions on it do not represent the U.S. government.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Milingo Ordains More Married Priests
WEST NEW YORK, N.J. (RNS) A renegade Catholic archbishop, who was excommunicated after he ordained four married priests in September, continued to defy the church Sunday (Dec. 10) by ordaining two married deacons as priests.
Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo ordained the former deacons _ Dominic Riccio, 72, and Raymond A. Grosswirth, 57 _ with all the trappings of a solemn Catholic ceremony, including anointment with holy oils.
The Roman Catholic Church will not recognize the ordinations and these priests have excommunicated themselves by their action, said James Goodness, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark.
“That is very sad and very distressing,” said Goodness.
Riccio, who has been married since 1958 and has four children, acknowledged that he would be excommunicated but said he feels comfortable with his decision.
“I will be a bishop, joining the ranks of all my brother and sister priests,” he said. He said there are already examples where the Vatican has recognized marriage in priesthood, including former Episcopalians who wed before they converted.
Grosswirth, who was married in 1984, said that he will always consider himself a Catholic, and described his ordination as “valid but illicit.” He said he would practice services outside the official church.
“I hope my action will call attention to the injustice of the mandatory celibacy rule,” said Grosswirth.
The church where the ceremony took place, Our Lady of Guadalupe, is not recognized by the archdiocese because its pastor _ the Rev. Patrick E. Trujillo _ is one of the married priests Milingo ordained in September. Trujillo, along with 200 family and friends of the two deacons and their wives, participated in Sunday’s ceremony.
Milingo, a native of Zambia, said that mandatory celibacy is not a central part of the Christian faith, but was a rule added several centuries after the religion was established. “Jesus Christ never connected celibacy with the sanctity of priesthood,” he said.
Married Priests Now!, the organization Milingo heads, claims there are 150,000 married priests worldwide.
Milingo married his Korean wife, Maria Sung, in 2001 in a group wedding conducted by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church. Milingo also recently acknowledged that Moon has financed his organization.
_ Charles Hack
U.S. Responds to Demolition of Hare Krishna Property in Kazakhstan
(RNS) The U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan has condemned the recent destruction of a dozen homes of Hare Krishnas in the central Asian republic as unjust treatment of the religious group.
“The forceful eviction of homeowners in freezing temperatures and the destruction of their possessions contradicted principles of due process and fairness,” the embassy said in a Dec. 5 statement.
It urged authorities to halt “further aggressive actions” and seek a peaceful end to ongoing legal disputes with Hare Krishnas, who are members of a Hindu devotional movement.
Hare Krishna officials in the U.S. had called for an international response to the Nov. 21 demolition of 13 homes and a range of groups have condemned it, from the British Parliament to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The State Department’s 2005 International Religious Freedom Report noted instances of “continued local government and police harassment” reported by Hare Krishnas in Kazakhstan. It reported that more than half of the country’s population is historically Muslim, but the republic includes congregations of Russian Orthodox, Baptists and other Christian groups.
In a statement issued after the demolition, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom expressed concern about the treatment of Hare Krishnas.
“Recent steps against the Hare Krishnas and members of other religious communities indicate that the government of Kazakhstan, regrettably, is moving in the wrong direction with regard to respecting the universal right to freedom of religion or belief,” said Felice D. Gaer, chair of the independent federal panel.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Quote of the Day: Singer Patti LaBelle
(RNS) “When I record anything in the studio, be it gospel or be it secular, you’re going to get the same Patti LaBelle. It’s not going to be, OK, now let me get my gospel voice on.”
_ Singer Patti LaBelle, currently on a tour of African-American megachurches promoting her first gospel album after decades of performing soul, pop and R&B music. She was quoted by The Washington Post.
KRE/PH END RNS
