Nebraska has the hapless distinction of being home to Americas least progressive Catholic diocese. Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz cuts no slack for Catholics in the Diocese of Lincoln to think independently or to speak out for reforms in the Roman Catholic Church. Now, the Vatican has affirmed his actions.Progressive Catholics are fuming over a Nov. 24 letter from the Vatican (made public Dec. 
to the bishop that supports his 1996 decision to excommunicate Catholics who belong to the reform movement Call to Action, a group of Catholics who have pushed for such things as married priests and an end to mandated celibacy, for women in the priesthood and for greater roles of the laity in church governance. The letter addressed only those who were Call to Action Catholics, but Bruskewitz has also named other enemies of orthodox Catholicism in his realm of the Cornhusker State: Planned Parenthood, Society of S. Pius X, Hemlock Society, St. Michael the Archangel Chapel, Freemasons, Jobs Daughters, DeMolay, Eastern Star, Rainbow Girls and Catholics for a Free Choice.So being a Call to Action member in his diocese and presumably to any of those other groups — means automatic excommunication. But theres a way off the road to moral ruin. Disavowing Call to Action, having ones name removed from its rolls, seeking out the sacrament of reconciliation and being guided by a priest in confession and penance make everything OK. 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, said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Bishops in Rome.Thus to be a member of this association or to support it is irreconcilable with a coherent living of the Catholic faith, Re said. That prompted Bruskewitz, bishop since 1992, to say, My prayer will always be that when people understand they have taken a wrong turn, they will stop and take the right turn. He told the Catholic News Service that he feels an obligation to lead people under his pastoral care away from organizations perilous to the faith.If church leaders combed through the lives of records of other diocesan Catholics, theyd probably find some other affiliations worthy of drumming folks out of the Church of Peter. The idea of freedom of association and even the First Amendment’s right of freedom of assembly seemingly have no place in Bishop Bruskewitz’s world.Call to Action had appealed the bishops 1996 action, and through the years, its leaders say they could get nowhere in finding out where that appeal was in the Vaticans bureaucracy. It now has the option to appeal Res ruling to the Apostolic Signatura, or the Vaticans supreme court equivalent.The 71-year-old bishop likened his responsibility to that of good parents. Parents have to tell children that they cant test everything in the medicine cabinet or everything under the sink, he explained. The church is our mother and gives us these instructions as protection against dangers we might not perceive . It is liberating, not enslaving.Those are patronizing words to the 25,000 members of Call to Action in some 53 local chapters around the nation. Quite a reach to liken adult Catholics to children — adult Catholics seeking changes that other people of religious faiths have successfully adopted, like clergy with normal home lives. Catholics who bemoan parish closings for lack of priests and to come up with the funds to pay sexual misconduct lawsuits. Catholics who know how much having spouses and children make life so much richer for them. Catholics who know countless highly intelligence, deep-thinking, gifted women who would make better priests than some of the ones they know. Catholics who know that mere gender of a person is a pretty shallow characteristic to determine ones life vocation. Catholics who see duplicity in the treatment and acceptance of gays in their parishes. Catholics who see the layer after layer after layer of authority that keeps their calls for progressive change stifled and not even heard. Catholics who want their church to have a new renaissance that will make the church more consistent with Christs life and teachings.So it is not odd that it took 10 years for the Vatican to just come back with an answer to their ultra-observant priest on the American prairie.
 Nebraska’s Call to Action Catholics in perilDecember 20th, 2006, 1:20 pm · 20 Comments · posted by lawngriffiths20 CommentsLeave a Reply |
he’s one of those pushing for a smaller “purer” church contrary to the Call of Jesus.
May God forgive him–after he resigns.
Thank God for the good Bishop! More, please!!
Actually, Cardinal Re responded in less than a year. He received a letter from CTA-NE’s John McShane sometime in February, I think, protesting Bishop Bruskewitz’s authority to excommunicate people. (CTA’s original appeal was rejected by the Vatican in 2005, if I remember right). Cardinal Re responded that according to Canon Law, Bishop Bruskewitz acted well within his position as Bishop, which is indeed to be a spiritual father. It’s not a condescending thing at all. One’s parents, after all, remain one’s parents even when a person reaches adulthood. Bishop Bruskewitz has warned CTA members that their actions are in conflict with the Catholic faith, but he’s not treating them like children. He’s expecting them to behave like adults and either do the right thing or go be Episcopalian (since everything they believe matches ECUSA’s dogma anyway).
The CTA people do not WANT to be Catholic. They want to be non-Catholic. Bishop Bruskewitz is telling them they are free to go, that’s all.
Dear Bishop Bruskewitz:
Vatican II enjoined the People of God to speak out boldly and fearlessly in accordance with the charisms given by the Holy Spirit on matters impacting upon the Church.
The greatest legacy of Vatican II is the empowerment of the People of God. That Council which involved the participation of almost 3000 cardinals, bishops and others voted almost unanimously to approve a document on Religious Liberty. In effect, this Council stated that no State, no religion, no church hierarch may intrude in the individuals free exercise of conscience. The Councils document on religious freedom was formally promulgated by Pope Paul VI as a tenet of the Church in a document entitled: Dignitas Humanae.
That Council stated regarding the primacy of conscience, in part, as follows: The human person sees and recognizes the demands of the divine law through conscience. All are bound to follow their conscience faithfully in every sphere of activity therefore the individual must not be forced to act against conscience nor be prevented from acting according to conscience especially in religious matters. This Freedom of Conscience is UNALIENABLE. This right can neither be waived nor transferred to another.
Notwithstanding this tenet of the Church, you, alone, among bishops in the United States have taken action to cause the excommunication of persons belonging to the group called: Call to Action which was founded by John Cardinal Dearden of Detroit.
Your action runs afoul of Church Law and has done violence to the Mystical Body of Christ. What you have done is identified these persons as public sinners who ought to be scorned. The Church has consistently taught that only God can judge the heart of a person. You have clearly exceeded your authority. Such arrogance as you have displayed by your action must be denounced as it has caused great scandal among the faithful. You have unilaterally set aside accepted Church Law. It is a singular astonishment to me that your brother bishops have not responsibly undertaken to vote sanctions against you.
It should also be noted that Canon Law 912 unambiguously states:
Any baptized person not prohibited by law must be admitted to Holy Communion.
Your actions are so egregious that justice demands that you issue a public apology to all you have harmed and this should be followed up by your resignation for the good of the Church.
In spite of all that you have done I pray for your deliverance and that you together with your brother bishops can strive to the kind of humility that Jesus the Christ practiced.
Sincerely yours,
Vatican II enjoined the People of God to speak out boldly and fearlessly in accordance with the charisms given by the Holy Spirit on matters impacting upon the Church.
Yes, but it did NOT give people permission to change the Church, reject Church authority, and promote ideology that is in conflict with Catholicism. Which is what CTA is all about.
…In effect, this Council stated that no State, no religion, no church hierarch may intrude in the individuals free exercise of conscience.
That is not license to sin, however, nor is it license to reject the authority of the Church.
… This Freedom of Conscience is UNALIENABLE…
…and it suggests that conscience well-formed can govern an individual. A conscious ill-formed, however, will still lead a person into sin, and it is up to that person’s priest and bishop to guide them in the correct path if that’s what’s happening. Which is what Bishop Bruskewitz is trying to do for you.
…Your action runs afoul of Church Law…
The Vatican says otherwise. Who should we believe — a man from Nebraska who apparently wishes to reject the authority of his bishop or the scholars and Canon lawyers who have studied these issues thoroughly?
… What you have done is identified these persons as public sinners who ought to be scorned.
No, what he has done is try to guide these unfortunate, misguided souls back into the Truth. Which is his responsibility as Bishop. It is the people of CTA who have made this public, because they want to whine and complain about being corrected.
The Church has consistently taught that only God can judge the heart of a person.
The Church also consistently teaches that it’s up to Bishops to lead the people of their dioceses and to warn them if there is a spiritual danger. Which is what BIshop Bruskewitz is consistently doing, with the full support of the Holy See.
You have clearly exceeded your authority.
No, he hasn’t, and Cardinal Re’s letter clearly states that Bishop Bruskewitz is acting within his authority as Bishop.
Such arrogance as you have displayed by your action must be denounced as it has caused great scandal among the faithful.
No, any scandal is among the NON-faithful, those who reject that authority of the Church.
You have unilaterally set aside accepted Church Law.
No, he hasn’t. His actions have been proven to be within Canon Law.
It is a singular astonishment to me that your brother bishops have not responsibly undertaken to vote sanctions against you.
It’s a singular astonishment to me that you think this is even possible. Bishops have no authority over each other. The USCCB exists as a dialogue group; not as a governing body. It’s too bad that you have so little understanding of the Catholic Church — no wonder you rebel.
Any baptized person not prohibited by law must be admitted to Holy Communion.
And CTA members in Nebraska *ARE* prohibited by law, because by their membership in CTA, they excommunicate themselves.
Your actions are so egregious that justice demands that you issue a public apology to all you have harmed and this should be followed up by your resignation for the good of the Church.
Don’t hold your breath. Bishop Bruskewitz didn’t violate any canon law and he’s not going to apologize for trying to lead people to truth.
>>>>>Vatican II enjoined the People of God to speak out boldly and fearlessly in accordance with the charisms given by the Holy Spirit on matters impacting upon the Church….In effect, this Council stated that no State, no religion, no church hierarch may intrude in the individuals free exercise of conscience. >… This Freedom of Conscience is UNALIENABLE……Your action runs afoul of Church Law…>… What you have done is identified these persons as public sinners who ought to be scorned. >The Church has consistently taught that only God can judge the heart of a person. >>You have clearly exceeded your authority. >Such arrogance as you have displayed by your action must be denounced as it has caused great scandal among the faithful.>You have unilaterally set aside accepted Church Law. >It is a singular astonishment to me that your brother bishops have not responsibly undertaken to vote sanctions against you.Any baptized person not prohibited by law must be admitted to Holy Communion.>Your actions are so egregious that justice demands that you issue a public apology to all you have harmed and this should be followed up by your resignation for the good of the Church.
A True Catholicism
ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, APOSTOLIC
ONE
Not in structure, organization, culture, or practice,
But as Jesus, in Love and Forgiveness.
HOLY
Not in common external signs of piety,
But in the pursuit of internal Spiritual Growth.
CATHOLIC
Not as members of one universal organization,
But reaching out to serve ALL peoples of the world,
especially the marginalized.
APOSTOLIC
Not in physical lineage to the Apostles,
But living in the Holy Spirit as bestowed on them.
ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, APOSTOLIC
Not in a limiting or exclusive sense,
But in an Expanding and Inclusive sense.
Love, John Chuchman
Jesus’ call was to move beyond the Law In LOVE.
Give it a try.
John Churchman, if you really are all about ONE Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, why do you support fracturing it via Call to Action? They don’t support One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church — their stated mission is to CHANGE the Church.
Bishop Bruskewitz is extending love, forgiveness and compassion to the memebers of Call to Action in his Diocese by encouraging them to be reconciled to the Church, by letting them know that he will welcome all of them back with open arms. Just as Christ asks them to do. They only need leave their membership in a group that promotes error and discord.
Bishop Bruskewitz is also encouraging them to pursue true, internal spiritual growth, not that which is based on personal whim or American ideology.
Bishop Bruskewitz and the entire Catholic Church also reaches out to the “marginalized” people of every society. If you looked carefully at the Diocese of Lincoln, you would see the many successful ways Catholics are accomplishing this (and not just through Catholic Social Services and Saint Vincent de Paul Society). And don’t forget, the bishop is a guy who learned Spanish specifically so he could minister to the growing number of Spanish-speaking Catholics in his diocese, concelebrates Mass at the Vietnamese parish in town, etc.
Bishop Bruskewitz neither limits nor excludes anyone from Catholicism. All are welcome to become Catholic in the Diocese of Lincoln. But those who choose not to become Catholic or choose not to live as Catholics reject his authority. He has issued a call to those people to return…it’s up to them to do so.
So in short, John Churchman, your complaints against this fine bishop are completely unfounded…the words of somebody who just isn’t getting his own way and wants to complain about it.
Ode to One Seeking a smaller purer church
Blessed am I
that your vision of church
is so exclusive
as to accept ONLY
those of your extreme viewpoint.
Blessed are Thee
that My Vision of True Church
is Inclusive enough
to accept even those of
your extreme viewpoint.
Thanks, God.
John Churchman, there are more than 1,086,000,000 Catholics in the world who believe what Bishop Bruskewitz believes, and you call that extreme?
There are between 18,000 and 25,000 members of Call to Action in the whole world. They’re the extremists, not Bishop Bruskewitz.
Then why don’t you read all the independent surveys of those catholics and what they truly believe; you likely will be very surprised at how different they are than this Bishop.
5-6,000 celibate males in seminary now vs 25,000-30,000 catholic men and women get advanced degrees in their religion from Catholic Universities; That is Future Church despite the attempt by the hierarchy to try and return to a feudal clericalism. As John XXIII said, don’t spend your life trying to be a museum keeper; Instead be God’s gardener, tending God’s EVER-CHANGING creation and church.
John Churchman, you fail to understand that the Church isn’t an American institution. It’s world-wide, dude. Your American sensibilities do not apply to the rest of the world. Most Catholics around the world don’t consider the Church to be “feudal clericalism” but a wonderous gift from God. And even if everything around us is “ever-changing,” God is eternal and DOES NOT change, and there are certain truths that never will change. Like Christ dying for our sins…like Christ being male and His maleness being an important part of who He is, which is why women cannot adequately represent Him in the Mass, any more than Meryl Streep could adequately play Abraham Lincoln in a movie. As fine of an actress as she is, she would come off as mocking Lincoln if she tried to play him…and the same goes for women who think they are priests. It’s a mockery of Christ’s manhood, and not to be borne.
Why cant I be a good Catholic and dissent?
Apparently, being a dissenter and a good Catholic are mutually exclusive.
Why cant I be both?
There is no Thou shall not dissent commandment.
Yet today it appears that anyone who does not strictly follow or agree with the rules promulgated by Rome is considered to be a bad Catholic.
And this to the point that Pope Benedict XVI is apparently saying
good riddancewho needs them anywaylet them fall by the wayside:
they are just weeds in the field.
Why is questioning and asking about change deemed equal to heresy?
It is akin to being against the war in Iraq and being labeled anti-American.
This country was formed by a group of dissenters
who believed strongly in freedom of speech and religion.
Unquestioned, blind followership has had many a bad result historically
the Crusades and Hitler to name a few examples.
Jesus Christ Himself was a dissenter.
He objected to the behavior of those who observed the minutiae of the law,
while ignoring its spirit.
Saint Paul too was a dissenter amongst the apostles.
Saint Paul made a strong distinction between the letter and the spirit of the law.
Were Christ and Paul labeled as insurgents? Absolutelyand ultimately they were put to death for their beliefs.
Much has been written about the various crises
within the Roman Catholic Church,
including declining church attendance in Europe and North America,
declining numbers of religious clergy and
practices of the so-called Cafeteria Catholics.
The archbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput, closed one seminary
and reopened a more conservative one where no dissension is tolerated.
There appears to be no solution offered for the clergy crisis, except to
pray for vocations and institute a national prayer day for vocations.
Forced by the paucity of priests,
the church has opened its doors to allow and encourage deacons (who may be married),
yet they too can only do so much.
Much sacramental activity is still the sole purview of the priests.
Requests to allow priests to marry or allow women to become priests
have fallen on deaf ears in Rome.
There are no valid reasons for preventing either marriage in the priesthood or
women in the priesthood.
An objection to married priesthood is that having a family or spouse
would dilute the priests devotion to serving God and the people,
while celibacy allows undivided devotion.
How insulting to the apostles and ministers of other religious traditions
to make such pious statements.
As for women in the priesthood, an objection is that all the apostles were men.
Who was more inclusive than Christ?
He spoke with women from other religions, ate with women, and
had women in His entourage.
After He rose from the dead, He first appeared to Mary of Magdala.
Coincidence?
I think not.
This issue is about power.
As for dissenters, they are not welcome because they threaten the order.
They make those in power pause and reconsider, which is always uncomfortable,
as was shown by the firing of the editor of America magazine.
The church has always had its pendulum swings, like everything else in life.
The pendulum now is so far to the right
that the church will apparently brook no dissent by anyone
and is trying to exclude anyone who does not keep in lockstep with its teachings.
History has taught us what happens when decrees are issued and people blindly follow them.
Despite Romes expressed support for the separation of church and state,
it was a huge contributor to the reelection of President Bush by its decree,
issued through bishops such as Chaput and Sheridan of Colorado,
whereby they proclaimed those who voted for Senator John Kerry
could be denied Communion.
Instead of being proud that a Catholic could be elected to the presidency of the United States, whose humanistic values could influence how it treats and perceives humankind,
the Catholic Church chose to throw its implicit support
to a man whose religion was formed by a dissenter from Rome and
who doesnt know the way.
This is the same man John Paul II tried to talk out of going to war with Iraq.
Killing is killing whether it is by abortion, war, or the death penalty.
Ironic is one word that comes to mind; expediency is another.
The Catholic Church today may not want dissenters,
but it has them.
Being a dissenter should not, ipso facto, equal being a bad Catholic.
Asking for change when it is necessary, valuable, and appropriate is different,
yet Rome does not appear to see the difference.
A closed mind is about as useful as a closed parachute. Try opening yours.
Incidentally, the CTA type movement is far stronger in other parts of the world, far fewer pay, pray and obey types
You want to dissent on the Church’s statements about the war in Iraq, go ahead. You want to dissent on the Church’s position on the hanging of Saddam Hussein or capital punishment in general, feel free. You want to dissent on priestly celibacy, fine — It’s a discipline, not a dogma.
But when you start dissenting on the actual dogmas of Catholcism, the Truths that the Church stands for, then you aren’t being Catholic any more. You’re being a protestant. And that’s fine, you’re free to protest. Protest all you want. But don’t expect to reject the core teachings of the Catholic Church and have the Church just nod and say “goody for you.”
Some things are just TRUE whether you like it or not. Christ is MALE. He was born male, He lived as a male human, He died as a male human, He was raised again, still male and ascended into heaven, male. His priests are here to represent Him, and if that representation is done by a woman, that woman is MOCKING Christ’s maleness. This isn’t that hard to understand, John Churchman. I, like the Catholic Church, celebrate both genders. I think both genders are good. But Christ is not and never has been two genders — He is only male and His maleness is good. I’m not a fan of mocking it. And it’s not “closed mindedness” for me to say that a woman attempting to portray Christ is making a mockery out of His maleness. Anybody can see that’s what’s going on — like Meryl Streep trying to play Abe Lincoln would mock HIS maleness, or like Anthony Hopkins portraying Mother Teresa would mock HER femaleness.
And your claim that “the CTA type movement is far stronger in other parts of the world” is completely unfounded. There’s no evidence for it.
Women had NO legal status in Christ’s time on earth, yet He chose a Woman to spread the Good News on his resurrection! think there was a reason?
Do you really think God is male? one gender? any gender?
History is made by those who wrote it–males!
JC, why don’t you try focussing on the people who are actually DOING what Christ asked us to do — feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, ministering to the sick, visiting the imprisoned, etc. You’ll find men and women, already working together side by side without any need to artificially “elevate” women (who aren’t oppressed any way).
Your American sensibilities are getting in the way of sense.
God has revealed Himself as Father, and that’s male, though I don’t think He has a male body. Christ most certainly DOES have a gender in terms of a male body. and He is also God and His gender is very, very good. It would have been equally good if that gender was female, but it wasn’t — it’s male. Male is good. Female is good. Both good, both equal before the Lord. But there are differences between the genders that are also good.
God to ALL for all
Jesus came as a Jew. He lived as a Jew. He died as a Jew — never having set up a Church
only calling together a community of disciples to carry on his Word.
But then there too it began to happen again what happened with the Chosen People.
There were those who began to say, “No, it’s exclusive — only Christians.
Only those who explicitly acknowledge Jesus as the Savior will be saved.”
But Paul is saying, “No, the Good News is different.”
And in fact, that’s what we learn in the Gospel.
The people who came to adore Jesus, as Matthew described it, were from the East
which would have meant, perhaps, the country of Iraq or the country of Iran,
which at that point was Persia.
They were probably seers of some sort or priests. Many people think of the Zoroastrian religion.
They came and they went back praising God.
This is all to show us that Jesus came not just for the Chosen People,
not just for those who call themselves Christian
but for all people.
They didn’t change their religion when they left.
They were still Zoroastrian priests, but Jesus had come.
God had entered into human history for everyone.
That’s the same thing that you discover if you listen carefully to what Isaiah was saying.
God promising, “Nations will come to your light, kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes roundabout and see they are all gathered and come to you.
This sight will make your face radiant, your heart throbbing and full.
The riches of the sea will return to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you.”
Then he goes on to describe how people will come “from Midian and Ephah.
Those from Sheba will come bringing with them gold and incense.”
People coming from everywhere, returning to the Promised Land
to rebuild for the Jewish people their Temple, their Kingdom.
But again the message is so clear — God came, in Jesus, for everyone and
all share in this great Good News. Not just a few of us but everyone.
It seems that somehow — every religion probably does this to some extent — people begin to think,
“I have the truth. We have the truth. No one else has the truth. We have the whole truth.
You must believe like we believe or you’re not faithful to God.”
God speaks to all in various ways.
Those Zoroastrian priests somehow through lights in the heavens began to discover God.
People of other religious traditions today discover God in their own way
God working in and through them and their religious traditions.
We cannot narrow it down so that only a few will know the truth, have the truth.
We find truth in all religions.
And, of course, if we really accepted that, we would not have religious wars
that we have had in the past — Christians going into the Middle East to destroy the Muslims
who had taken over part of that area.
We would not be threatened with religious wars today,
if only we would understand that God’s ways are not our ways, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.
God’s ways and God’s thoughts are as far above our ways and our thoughts
as the heavens are above the earth. We always try to narrow it down.
Make God’s ways our ways, but they’re not.
God acts outside and beyond any religious tradition.
The spirit of God moves where it will.
So we can find truth in other religions.
And we need to understand that and accept that and respect that
that we do not have this so-called clash of civilizations
which would be a clash of religious traditions that somehow we seem to be building up to.
We are all brothers and sisters in the human family; all sons and daughters of God.
We need to understand that and accept it so that we begin, each of us, all of us,
to have a greater respect, for example, for the Jews.
Repent we Christians, how we have hated the Jews
even sometimes expressed in our Scripture — down through history,
culminating in the horror of the Holocaust.
Christian nations destroying, trying to destroy the whole Jewish race.
That’s so wrong.
If we begin to understand that God is alive and present in all people, in all religious traditions,
then we must respect each other.
So there is a very real challenge for us.
Yes, we must respect and revere and have high regard for the truth
that we discover in other religious traditions and
respect the people who are Muslims, who are Jews, who are Hindus, whatever,
but we also have to try to be faithful to what we say we are — followers of Jesus Christ.
When we are fully faithful to that,
then the Good News that Paul is talking about will break forth in ever greater clarity.
God’s love will break forth into our world because we act as the Light of the Nations.
We bring the goodness, the love, the care of Jesus into our whole human family as Jesus intended it.
All of us are brothers and sisters.
Every person on the earth is a son or daughter of God.
Among them we try to be a light as Jesus leads us and guides us
to bring the fullness of God’s love into our world.
Ummmm…okay. Much of this you hear routinely in Protestant circles — such as the ridiculous claim that Christ died without setting up the Church. Hogwash! Christ left Peter in charge and gave all His disciples a clearly worded mission plus the Holy Spirit to lead them. If you want to part with the Apsotolic Succession and sacred tradition, you’re free to go. But let’s not pretend you’d be Catholic in doing so — you’d be Prostestant all the way. Why not just admit you’re already Protestant and heigh thee to the nearest ECUSA church?
From Cardinal George:
“The Second Vatican Council wasnt called to turn Catholics into Protestants. It was called to ask God to bring all Christs followers into unity of faith so that the world would believe who Christ is and live with him in his Body, the Church.”