American Catholics "automatically excommunicated" |
---|
"All Catholics in and of the Diocese of Lincoln (Nebraska, USA) are forbidden to be members of the organizations and groups listed below. Membership in these organizations or groups is always perilous to the Catholic Faith and most often is totally incompatible with the Catholic Faith:
"Any Catholics in and of the Diocese of Lincoln who attain or retain membership in any of the above listed organizations or groups after April 15, 1996,
are by that very fact (ipso-facto-latae sententiae) under interdict and
are absolutely forbidden to receive Holy Communion.
Contumacious persistence in such membership for one month following the interdict on part of any such Catholics will by that very fact (ipso-facto-latae sententiae) cause them to be excommunicated.
. . .
Absolution from these ecclesial censures is reserved (to) the Bishop.
This notice, when published in the Southern Nebraska Register, is a formal canonical warning.
By mandate of the Most Reverend Bishop (Bruskewitz) of Lincoln
(signed) Reverend Monsignor Timothy Thorburn Chancellor
March 19,1996"
"An appeal of the threatened blanket excommunication of scores of Lincoln (Nebraska) Catholics has been rejected by the Vatican, the Lincoln Diocese confirmed (in early 2005 ?) .
The order was put on hold while it was appealed.
Under excommunication, Catholics cannot receive Holy
Communion. They cannot be married or buried in the church. Excommunicated Catholics may be forgiven through the sacrament of confession or may be absolved in their dying hour by a priest.
The Vatican notified Bruskewitz 'some time ago' that the appeal was rejected, (and his excommunication was endorsed by the Vatican), said Rev. Mark Huber, a spokesman for the diocese.
He declined to say why the decision had not been made public and deferred questions to Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, head of the Congregation of Bishops in Rome. (Cardinal) Re did not immediately respond to a fax (from the news media) seeking comment sent to the Vatican on Friday.
Huber (the spokesman for the diocese)said the appeal was rejected because it challenged a church law – specifically, legislation from the 1996 Synod of the Diocese of Lincoln – which prohibited membership in the organizations.
'They can't appeal a particular law,' he said. 'They can appeal a judicial sentence or an administrative decree. Excommunication is part of the law.'
. . .
The bishop said in 1996 that people must use their conscience to know if they were affected by the excommunication warning.
Huber said Friday that members of the listed
groups who are aware of Bruskewitz's 1996 order and now know that the
appeal was rejected by the Vatican have two months to severe ties with the
organizations or be excommunicated. 'That's my understanding,' he said.
The appeal of Bruskewitz's order had faded from the public
light until this week, when an official with the Lincoln chapter of Call
to Action told The Associated Press that he was denied communion by
Bruskewitz and two other priests in the past month. John Krejci, a former priest and co-founder of the Nebraska chapter of Call to Action, said Bruskewitz denied him communion at Sacred Heart parish on Feb. 7, with 'an unfriendly wave of his hand.'
Call to Action has long been critical of how the church handled allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests.
Of course, a (leading) member of Call to Action was already denied Communion early last month :
Lincoln, NB man is denied Communion at the altar
One of the founders of Call to Action Nebraska has been denied Communion twice in recent weeks at a Lincoln Catholic parish.
John Krejci, who often attends Mass during the week as well as on Sunday, said
he was not allowed to take Communion on Feb. 7 and again Sunday at Lincoln's Sacred Heart Church.
Chancellor Mark Huber, the diocese spokesman, said in a statement that the bond to the church appears to have been severed 'by the choice of one of the faithful.'
Up until now, though, no members of Call to Action have been turned away from the altar at Communion time, according to members. In the past, Bruskewitz has said
that priests would not confront parishioners at the altar. He has called
excommunication a punishment of the heart.