excommunication.net

A Nebraska bishop emphasizes that he wants to avoid a public scandal. But in order to safeguard the faith of his flock, he felt it necessary to excommunicate members of dissenting organizations. How will those dissenting Catholics--and his brother bishops--respond?

By Domenico Bettinelli, Jr.

Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz has raised the episcopal ante in dealing with diocesan dissent, his "severe mercy" sending shock waves through the Catholic Church in the United States. On March 22, the bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska, caused a national media uproar by issuing an edict of excommunication for Catholics of his diocese who belong to twelve organizations that he characterizes as "perilous to the Catholic Faith."

After "engaging in extensive consultation over many months"--according to the Lincoln diocesan newspaper--Bishop Bruskewitz informed his flock that groups such as Planned Parenthood, Catholics for a Free Choice, Call to Action, the Freemasons, the Hemlock Society, and the Society of St. Pius X are "totally incompatible with the Catholic Faith."

Therefore any Catholic in the Diocese of Lincoln who remains a member of these groups after April 15, 1996 is under interdict, a formal canonical term meaning that the affected person will not be able to receive any sacraments or sacramentals, including Holy Communion. If such a person persists in such membership after May 15, 1996, they "will by that very fact (ipso facto latae sententiae)" be excommunicated, which adds the additional burden of exclusion from any Church office.

The reaction to this announcement was immediate and wide-ranging. Predictably, the affected organizations issued public statements rejecting Bishop Bruskewitz’s decision. But the story also gained wide coverage in the national media, including segments on NBC Nightly News, mentions by CBS’ 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney, and conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, and articles in national newspapers.

Some reactions have been openly hostile. Father James Coriden, professor of canon law at the Washington Theological Union, wrote in a statement to Call to Action, Nebraska, that the law is "so contrary to the spirit and letter of canon law…so intemperate and so contemptuous of the precious value of ecclesial communion," it is at best a doubtful law, which Catholics are not obliged to obey. "Not to worry, southern Nebraskans," Father Coriden wrote, "the threat is idle." Father Richard McBrien, a University of Notre Dame theologian, urged Lincoln Catholics to ignore the legislation. "This edict is so irresponsible that no one is bound by it," he said.

Frances Kissling of Catholics for a Free Choice dismissed the inclusion of her group among those banned saying, "If he is saying these people have excommunicated themselves, our response is ‘Sorry, we have not done that.’" Kissling acknowledged that Catholics for a Free Choice is not a formal membership organization, although there are subscribing associates. However, the group has no associates in Lincoln.

Kissling rejected what many dissenting Catholics see as another heavy-handed attack on those who disagree. "We would all do better if we attempted to negotiate, dialogue, discuss our differences within the family rather than kicking people out of the family," she said. Bishop Bruskewitz, she charged, "is more concerned with authority than with souls."

The bishop was unprepared for the national uproar. His most pressing concern in presenting the legislation, according to Msgr. Timothy Thorburn, Chancellor of the Diocese, was "to deal with present pastoral problems and questions" in Lincoln, not to cause controversy anywhere else.

"All of these organizations have had an impact locally," Msgr. Thorburn said. "For example, Planned Parenthood recently opened an abortion clinic, and Catholics for a Free Choice directly participate in that action." Monsignor Thorburn also points out that the Hemlock Society is currently sponsoring legislation in the state of Nebraska regarding death for the aged and infirm. The Pius X Society--founded by excommunicated Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre--and its’ St. Michael the Archangel chapel have been advertising in local papers, claiming to be fully in union with the Catholic Church. Regarding Masonic organizations, Monsignor Thorburn said there had been confusion among Catholics regarding their ability to be Masons.

However, the most likely catalyst for the edict would be Call to Action and its local affiliate, Call to Action, Nebraska. The organization, which promotes continuing discussion of such matters as contraception and female priests--despite definitive Church teaching, and repeated magisterial statements indicating that debate on these issues should be closed--recently began organizing a new chapter in the diocese.

Bishop Bruskewitz recalled the chronology of events in an April 12 interview in the weekly National Catholic Reporter. "Call to Action sent advertisements around to various parts of my diocese saying they were starting a Nebraska chapter," he said. The group invited interested Catholics to attend a Mass and organizational meeting. Although he had still not received any formal notice about the group's efforts, the bishop sent several people to inform him of what was going on. The report he received back was not encouraging. "The Mass was said with an unauthorized Mass text, a creed was recited that had no relationship…to any historic creeds of the Catholic Church," the bishop recalled. In addition, the priests who celebrated the Mass had not received formal faculties from the bishop, in accordance with canon law.

Finally, following several interviews with newspapers in Lincoln and neighboring Omaha, the group sent a short two-sentence letter to Bishop Bruskewitz, informing him of their intention to form a chapter. The bishop left no doubt how he felt about their plans. "Your organization is intrinsically incoherent and fundamentally divisive," the bishop wrote in his reply. "It is inimical to the Catholic faith, subversive of Church order, destructive of Catholic Church discipline, [and] contradictory to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council."

The letter ended with a formal warning to the group that "membership constitutes a grave act of disrespect and disobedience to their lawful Bishop" and that after April 15, members would receive "ecclesiastical censure."

The edict itself — formally issued on March 22 through publication in the diocesan Southern Nebraska Register — is unique in that it is the first example in recent times of a bishop imposing automatic excommunication on Catholics who belong to an organization.

There are two kinds of excommunication provided for under canon law--imposed and ipso facto. The former punishment is issued directly to individuals who openly commit the most serious offenses, after all other avenues of correction have failed, according to Canon 1341 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. The latter type is automatically incurred for certain serious action defined under canon law, such as the procurement of abortion. Canon 1318 states that these automatic excommunications should not be issued except for "oustanding or malicious offenses" which cannot be dealt with by other means, should be issued "with the greatest moderation."

Msgr. Thorburn emphasized that "because the excommunication is in latae, the onus is on the person who is excommunicated to obey the legislation. There will be no attempt to make lists." If a person approaches Holy Communion, the priest must assume that the person has repented and made an attempt to rectify their situation. No individual edicts of excommunication will be issued, he said. And although some groups are compiling membership lists for these interdicted organizations, Msgr. Thorburn made it clear the diocese will take no action against the Catholics listed therein.

The situation is complicated by the fact that Bishop Bruskewitz has reserved to himself the right to lift that penalty of excommunication. So once the May 15 deadline has passed, and a persistent dissenter incurs that sentence, the bishop may be in a position to know, beyond reasonable doubt, that someone who presents himself for Communion is still living under the ban. Bishop Bruskewitz has not said how he would respond to that problem; Msgr. Thorburn merely emphasizes that he hopes to avoid a public confrontation.

No reaction has been forthcoming from the Vatican, or significantly from Archbishop Elden Curtiss of Omaha, metropolitan of the province that includes Lincoln. If those groups affected by the edict choose, they may appeal the legislation under the provisions of canon law, first going to the bishop and then to Rome. During the appeals process, the excommunications are suspended.

While canon lawyers agree the bishop has the right to issue such legislation in his own diocese, support from other bishops has been mixed.

A spokesman for Bishop John Myers of Peoria, Illinois, said that while Bishop Myers respects Bishop Bruskewitz’s right to take such action in Lincoln, his stance is slightly different, encouraging such dissenting Catholics to be honest and declare themselves outside the Church’s communion, but without issuing formal orders of excommunication.

Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, Archbishop James Keleher of Kansas City, Kansas, and Bishop Raymond Boland of Kansas City, Missouri have all issued public statements stating they would not take a position like the one Bishop Bruskewitz has taken.

Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston may have the most telling insight on this whole matter. "However one might view the canonical questions raised by this action," the cardinal wrote in the archdiocesan newspaper the Pilot. "There is no doubt that what this bishop has done is to underscore the fact that Catholic belief is to have consequences in our lives, in our choices, in our opinions, in our involvement in public life."

Grassroots reaction to the edict has been extremely enthusiastic. "The laity’s reaction is most outstanding," Msgr. Thorburn said. The chancery offices have been receiving 60 to 80 letters a day and hundreds of phone calls, 80 to 90 percent of which are favorable. The bishop’s private chapel is overflowing with flowers.

The official response from Call to Action has been decidedly less enthusiastic, and dims any hopes that the bishop's order would be respectfully obeyed. The national headquarters of the organization issued a statement which condemned Bishop Bruskewitz’s warning. "The intemperate action of threatening Lincoln Diocese Call To Action members with excommunication unless they resign from Call To Action violates the most basic principles of justice," complained co-director Sheila Daley.

As some of these dissenting Catholics in Nebraska consider heeding the bishop’s warning, several have already publicly vowed to maintain their status. Randy Moody, a Catholic who serves on the boards of Planned Parenthood of Lincoln and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America has publicly stated his intention to continue as a practicing Catholic. "I challenge them to excommunicate me," he said.""This may end up in some court if they would proceed to that."

Bishop Bruskewitz has made it clear, however, that scandalous public confrontations are to be avoided. "If he presents himself for communion… I assume he’s receiving worthily," the bishop told National Catholic Reporter. "And if he isn’t, he must answer to God for what he’s doing."

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Domenico Bettinelli, Jr., a graduate student at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, writes regularly for Catholic World News.

• Call To Action is a Chicago-based organization that seeks to engage the Catholic Church in discussions on allowing female priests, contraception, and other issues that Pope John Paul II has said are closed. The group has opened a new chapter in Nebraska. Among its members the national organization includes hundreds of priests and religious, and at least three bishops.

• Catholics for a Free Choice is an abortion lobbying group., in opposition to the Church’s teaching that abortion is a grave offense, as it is the murder of an innocent, unborn child.

• Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion provider, performing over 130,000 abortions each year, 10 percent of the national total. The group is also heavily involved in promoting abortion and contraception around the world.

• Masonic organizations include Freemasons (including the Shriners), DeMolay, Eastern Star, Job’s Daughters, and Rainbow Girls. The Masons were condemned by Pope Leo XIII in the 19th century for anti-Catholic teachings.

• The Hemlock Society supports euthanasia and assisted-suicide which are both murder in the eyes of the Church. The group is currently sponsoring legislation in the Nebraska legislature.

• Saint Michael the Archangel Chapel is a local chapter of the international Society of Saint Pius X, started in Switzerland by excommunicated Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre who violated canon law by consecrating bishops without permission. The group believes the Second Vatican Council to be invalid, including its dey consecrating bishops without permission. The group believes the Second Vatican Council to be invalid, including its decrees on religious liberty, ecumenism, and liturgical reforms.

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