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Catholic Caucus: Barcelona archbishop begins excommunication [of] priest
LifeSiteNews.com ^ | March 15, 2011 | by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

Posted on 03/17/2011 2:17:37 PM PDT by topher

LifeSiteNews.com Life, Family and Culture News


Barcelona archbishop begins excommunication proceedings for priest who paid for abortion

by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

Tue Mar 15 5:56 PM EST

BARCELONA, March 15, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Barcelona archbishop Lluís Martínez Sistach has begun excommunication proceedings against a priest in his diocese who has boasted of paying for abortions and blessing homosexual unions, according a statement posted on the archdiocesan website.

The communiqué states that the archbishop and two other diocesan officials met with Fr. Manuel Pousa i Engroñat yesterday, “regarding several declarations of said priest regarding an abortion published in a book about himself.”

The statement points out that the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law levies a penalty of automatic excommunication for cooperating in abortions, but adds that “the same Code establishes that it is necessary to give due diligence with the purpose of verifying the reality of the facts, and then proceed to carry out this administrative procedure.”

Fr. Manuel Pousa first acknowledged he had paid for abortions in 2008. While his statements were reported widely in the Catholic press, Cardinal Sistach did not act against the priest at the time, instead calling him into his office for a private conversation.

However, the cardinal has decided to act in the face of new statements made by Pousa in a book recently published about the priest, “Manel Pousa: Closer to earth than to heaven.”

In the book Pousa admits to having paid for an abortion, as well as having blessed homosexual unions, including a union between a female prison guard and an inmate.  He also rejects the obligation of clerical celibacy, supports the ordination of priestesses, and admits to having a girlfriend - with whom he claims to maintain a celibate relationship.

The archdiocese adds in its communiqué that “these procedures required by canonical norms do not impede the recognition of the social work that this priest has been carrying out for many years at the service of the most needy groups of our society.”


TOPICS: Catholic
KEYWORDS: archbishopsistach; barcelona; excommunication; manuelpousa; spain
The priest is not being defrocked -- he is being tossed from the Catholic Church.
1 posted on 03/17/2011 2:17:45 PM PDT by topher
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To: Salvation; Mrs. Don-o

ping


2 posted on 03/17/2011 2:19:21 PM PDT by topher (Traditional values -- especially family values -- are the values that time has proven them to work)
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To: topher

Good to see. And no, I am not Catholic.


3 posted on 03/17/2011 2:25:23 PM PDT by Grunthor (hcg diet, down 30 lbs in 4 weeks)
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To: topher

We need more such blood-letting.

Weakness is understandable. Defiance is not tolerated.

We can love even these very lost priests - they are human sinners just like everyone else,

but we cannot ignore the special duty they sought out and vowed to uphold as priests,

and we cannot allow them to teach sinful behaviors are good.


4 posted on 03/17/2011 2:26:41 PM PDT by Notwithstanding
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To: topher

I wonder how many people become Christian ministers and priests with wacky views and are deliberately silently about it until they get in to positions of power? Such huge parts of The Episcopal and Lutheran church have gone loony, I hope other denominations including The Catholic Church have noticed.


5 posted on 03/17/2011 2:34:55 PM PDT by nerdwithagun (I'd rather go gun to gun then knife to knife.)
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To: topher

What about excommunicating politicians who pay for abortions with money that they first steal form taxpayers? Sin squared.


6 posted on 03/17/2011 2:43:11 PM PDT by all the best
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To: nerdwithagun

They have noticed. It is just with such a large bureaucracy made up of individuals, there will always be problems. They have the totalitarian control though which should be an efficient tool to cleanse itself. Devious people can do a lot of harm before being exposed to the right people. The Catholic Pope understands that the Protestant churches cut their throats in 1930 with their revisionism of contraception, etc. Fundamental life issues.....slippery slope....always.


7 posted on 03/17/2011 2:53:15 PM PDT by savagesusie
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To: savagesusie
The rumor that the Vatican has "totalitarian control" is without foundation.

The basic authority in the Church is the bishop, who is pretty much autonomous in his own diocese. Unless he does something spectacularly awful, it's impossible to remove or even discipline him.

There were some dreadful bishops appointed in the 60s and 70s. Some don't even believe - some support homosexuality (and are even homosexual themselves) - others are simply political liberals who found the Church a convenient vehicle to empower themselves. They're no more Catholic than my cat.

Those bishops are slowly but surely being replaced by straight-up orthodox men who actually subscribe to Catholic beliefs. But they have done a lot of damage and it will take awhile to fix.

8 posted on 03/17/2011 3:09:46 PM PDT by AnAmericanMother (Ministrix of ye Chasse, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment))
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To: AnAmericanMother

The Archbishop of Barcelona basically ignored it when this priest’s paying for abortions was revealed by the press a few years ago. Of course, this made all of these “wimmin’s” and homosexual organizations feel even more powerful, and when the Pope went to Barcelona to consecrate the Sagrada Familia, there were some truly shocking and shameful demonstrations by these groups, who had surrounded the building. The fallout over this was supposedly so severe that Sistach (often referred to as Nostach by Spanish writers who justifiably don’t like him and his failure to perform his duties) obviously had to take action when this book came out.

Better late than never, I suppose, and maybe he’ll try to do better in the future. But it’s very sad, because Catalonia has the lowest rate of church attendance in Spain, few to no vocations (depending on the diocese), and is sunk in the rankest Catalan separatist nationalism. Sistach has been fully behind the latter, even though the left-wing politicization of the Church in Catalonia is probably the source of all its other problems. He’s got a lot of work ahead of him if he wants to make it into the “good bishops” column.


9 posted on 03/17/2011 3:25:24 PM PDT by livius
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To: livius
Well hopefully his conversion will "stick".

I really think that BXVI looks like everybody's favorite Opa . . . but I would not want to get chewed out by him. I think he could be pretty severe. "Beware the wrath of a patient man."

10 posted on 03/17/2011 4:26:42 PM PDT by AnAmericanMother (Ministrix of ye Chasse, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment))
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To: Running On Empty
Ping. It is my belief this action was forced on the Archbishop after LifeSiteNews.com ran its recent article:

Catholic priest who finances abortions remains unpunished by bishop

It is my personal belief that the Archbishop did force this action but the Vatican.

I imagine there were those in the Vatican that told the Archbishop that he had to excommunicate this priest or else.

I am certain that there was pressure and people who emailed or tried to contact the Vatican over that Article.

Sometimes the Pope or the Vatican gets very busy, but when they get deluged with emails, it sometimes help someone focus on a problem.

For some, they realize they must take action because they are failing God.

For others, they take action to stop the deluge of correspondence.

I feel that the Archbishop falls into the category of: I need to do something to prevent all this correspondence from preventing me from getting to other work.

For others, which I feel are in the Vatican, it is: I cannot believe I have allowed this to go on this long. I must do something now for the good of the church.

Action has now been taken, and it is not the defrocking of a priest but an excommunication of a priest.

11 posted on 03/17/2011 7:30:24 PM PDT by topher (Traditional values -- especially family values -- are the values that time has proven them to work)
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To: Grunthor; Notwithstanding; nerdwithagun; all the best; savagesusie; AnAmericanMother; livius
This is a follow up to the following LifeSiteNews.com Article and Freerepublic.com thread:

Catholic priest who finances abortions remains unpunished by bishop

One interesting thing about this article is they refer to the Archbishop as Archbishop, not Cardinal. In the earlier article, he was referred to Cardinal.

I personally believe that the Vatican has stepped in at this point, and this is not the doing of the Archbishop but the hand of the Vatican.

There is another article recently on the Archdiocese of Barcelona. It is about a priest who resigned from the board of a hospital (that dispensed RU486), and he resigned as pastor of his parish (which was named after the hospital).

There are two other hospitals in the Archdiocese of Barcelona performing abortions.

12 posted on 03/17/2011 7:42:38 PM PDT by topher (Traditional values -- especially family values -- are the values that time has proven them to work)
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To: all the best
This was done by some Dioceses in the United States in 2004 when John Kerry was running for president. The Archdiocese of Atlanta, Charlotte, and Charleston all made such a declaration jointly (which Atlanta subsequently rescinded when a new Archbishop took over -- an African American Archbishop -- Gregory).

There is the case where Bishop Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island was having private conversations with then Congressman Patrick Kennedy.

Then Congressman Patrick Kennedy made the mistake of taking this public, and he then became ex-congressman Kennedy, as he then decided not to run for another term.

The going public was a bonehead move by Kennedy, and he realized he would be in serious trouble with voters in the next election because of his stupidity. It is my opinion that this is why he did not seek re-election.

13 posted on 03/17/2011 7:53:09 PM PDT by topher (Traditional values -- especially family values -- are the values that time has proven them to work)
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To: topher
We seem to have somehow gotten a modicum of sense into Abp Gregory.

I think he has realized that this is not Chicago. We have some loons (mostly in Atlanta downtown) but overall this is a very conservative diocese.

He seems to have trimmed his sails accordingly.

14 posted on 03/18/2011 7:02:44 AM PDT by AnAmericanMother (Ministrix of ye Chasse, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment))
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To: AnAmericanMother
But I understand he rescinded Archbishop Donoghue's Worthy to Receive -- which prevents pro-abortion politicians from receiving communion...
15 posted on 03/18/2011 7:58:11 AM PDT by topher (Traditional values -- especially family values -- are the values that time has proven them to work)
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To: topher
You know what?

Worthy to Receive is still on the archdiocesan website.

I see nothing there that Abp. Gregory rescinded it. In fact, he declined to attend the Red Mass because the Thomas More Society honored former Gov. Roy Barnes, who is pro abortion:

Statement By Archbishop Gregory

I have decided not to be present at the St. Thomas More Society’s Awards Luncheon following the Red Mass because the organization has independently selected three attorneys to honor, one of whom is former Governor Roy Barnes. While I recognize and applaud Governor Barnes’ efforts surrounding the controversy of the Georgia State flag, his support of abortion is contrary to the Church’s teaching. The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the very foundation of a moral vision for society.

Abp. Donoghue is still an active "Archbishop Emeritus", celebrating Mass and appearing at various functions, although his health has been failing lately. It would be a very "in your face" thing for Abp. Gregory to countermand his immediate predecessor who is still in active ministry here.

Can you give me a cite?

16 posted on 03/18/2011 1:36:56 PM PDT by AnAmericanMother (Ministrix of ye Chasse, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment))
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To: AnAmericanMother
When I asked about this, a pro-lifer contact I have in Atlanta gave me the information.

I lived in that area until 2004.

17 posted on 03/18/2011 1:53:06 PM PDT by topher (Traditional values -- especially family values -- are the values that time has proven them to work)
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To: topher
Well, given that it's still on the website, that may have been a prediction. People were expecting the worst when he came on board in 2005.

He has been very strong on pro-life issues. His speaking out against the Red Mass award is only one example.

18 posted on 03/18/2011 6:38:19 PM PDT by AnAmericanMother (Ministrix of ye Chasse, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment))
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