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The commotion over the lifting of the excommunications of the four SSPX bishops goes on and on. It seems that no one is able to make distinctions anymore or make any investigation more than reading a headline or the top lines of a story. Once again any stick will do when it comes to beating the Catholic Church and of course some within the Church are also willing to also pick up that stick and join in. The lifting of the excommunications does not regularize the SSPX and there are quite a few hurdles to overcome before they can be...

... is the topic of a new post by Dr. Ed Peters at "In the Light of the Law":While we await the L'Osservatore Romano article that is to offer an account of how Pope Benedict XVI arrived at the decision to lift the excommunication imposed on the four priests who received episcopal orders illicitly (c. 1382) from Abp. Marcel Lefebvre in 1988, the materials now coming from the Society of St. Pius X continue, in my opinion, to add to the burden such an article must carry if the remission is to make sense to otherwise well-disposed outside observers. In...

Fr. Dale Fushek, best known for being one of the founders of "Life Teen", has finally been excommunicated. From the Diocese of Phoenix website: December 15, 2008-The Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix, has issued a Decree of Excommunication to Reverend Monsignor Dale Fushek and Reverend Mark Dippre. Fushek and Dippre have incurred the censure of excommunication because they have chosen to be in schism with the Catholic Church by establishing and leading an opposing ecclesial community known to the public as the Praise and Worship Center. Both priests have consistently refused to comply with explicit directions...

News Briefs American Maryknoll priest excommunicated for involvement in women's 'ordination' December 11, 2008 An American priest has evidently been excommunicated because of his active support for the ordination of women, and his participation in ceremonies simulating ordination. Father Ray Bourgeois received a warning from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in December, informing him that if he did not recant his position supporting women's ordination within 30 days he would face excommunication; the Maryknoll priest replied that he would not change his stand. The Maryknoll Society has now confirmed that the Congregation has contacted that its leaders...

Two Valley Catholic priests, Monsignor Dale Fushek and the Rev. Mark Dippre, have been excommunicated by Bishop Thomas Olmsted for defying his order to not engage in public ministry, an activity that was deemed out of accord with the Roman Catholic Church. Just over a year ago, the priests, who had once served together at St. Timothy’s Catholic Community church in Mesa, founded the nondenominational Praise and Worship Center, which meets Sundays at the Fiesta Fountains Reception Center, 1316 S. Longmore, Mesa. Fushek was put on paid leave of absence in late 2005 after he was indicted on 10 misdemeanors...

The place: Heaven’s gate. The time: Around 2028, give or take a few mortal years. The scene: A large crowd of newly dead, not yet liberated from their earthly forms, is trying to maintain order despite a cluster of men who shout, wag their fingers and, occasionally, shove. “Gentlemen, gentlemen! For pity’s sake, please!” one of the non-combative people in the crowd cries out. “What in God’s name has you behaving in such an unholy way?” A man whose body is of average size, but whose essence emanates a royal purple aura, whirls around with a contemptuous look. Pointing to...

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Despite being threatened with excommunication by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois said he would not recant his belief that women should be ordained as Catholic priests. "There's nothing that Rome can do to me to take away the peace, the clarity I have on this issue," Father Bourgeois told Catholic News Service Nov. 12. "No matter what the consequences, I feel I am doing the right thing." Father Bourgeois sent a letter to congregation officials Nov. 7 outlining his stance on women's ordination and how he believes church...

At Dodger Stadium, Madonna took time out from her concert to praise the election of Barack Obama and also express her disappointment that Prop. 8, which bans same-sex marriage, was approved by California voter. So says our spy, The Times' Molly Hennessy-Fiske. Listen to Madonna's take here. here. More from Popsquire: During a celebratory moment for President-elect Barack Obama, M also commented on Calfornia’s Prop 8. She expressed disappointment that “we didn’t win” and offered hope to the audience when she said, “If we can have an African American president, we can have gay marriage!” Of course, some people were...

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, JULY 28, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Three leaders of a former St. Louis parish who incurred excommunication for hiring a suspended priest have been reconciled with the Church. According to a statement last week from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Bernice Krauze, Stanley Rozanski and Robert Zabielski, members of the Board of Directors of St. Stanislaus Parish Corporation, met in June with Archbishop Raymond Burke to be reconciled fully with the Church. "They are once again in full communion with the Catholic Church and are no longer under any censure," the archdiocese reported. The St. Stanislaus Parish Corporation is...

The Vatican declared today that any women who attempt “ordination” or any bishops who attempt to “ordain” women are automatically excommunicated from the Church by their actions. The decree from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is said to be absolute, universal and immediately effective. The decree which was published in the Vatican daily, L’Osservatore Romano, comes in the wake of several women attempting to be “ordained” as Catholic priests. The most recent attempt to ordain a woman occurred on May 4 in Winona, Minnesota when Kathy Redig, participated in a ceremony of ordination.

Vatican City, May 29, 2008 / 02:29 pm (CNA).- The Vatican declared today that any women who attempt “ordination” or any bishops who attempt to “ordain” women are automatically excommunicated from the Church by their actions. The decree from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is said to be absolute, universal and immediately effective.The decree which was published in the Vatican daily, L’Osservatore Romano, comes in the wake of several women attempting to be “ordained” as Catholic priests.The most recent attempt to ordain a woman occurred on May 4 in Winona, Minnesota when Kathy Redig, participated in...

(AGI) - Vatican City, May 29 - A woman being consecrated as priest besides being invalid, automatically leads to the excommunication of the consecrating bishop and the consecrated woman. A decree issued by the Congregation for Religious Doctrine published today by the 'Osservatore Romano' establishes this. "The Congregation for Religious Doctrine, to protect the nature and validity of the sacrament of the holy order, in virtue of the special faculty to be consecrated by the supreme authority decrees that both the one trying to consecrate a woman in the holy order, and the woman who has tried to receive the...

Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis St. Louis, May 29, 2008 / 01:03 am (CNA).- The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has confirmed Archbishop of St. Louis Raymond Burke’s decree excommunicating the board of directors of a schismatic parish.  Archbishop Burke had excommunicated the leaders of the breakaway ethnically Polish parish for hiring a suspended priest to celebrate the Sacraments and sacramentals.  The priest could be defrocked for remaining in schism, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has warned.St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish had operated under a structure in which the pastor is subject to the...

What makes the governor’s actions and advocacy for legalized abortion, throughout her public career, even more painful for me is that she is Catholic. Sadly, Governor Sebelius is not unique in being a Catholic politician supporting legalized abortion. Since becoming archbishop, I have met with Governor Sebelius several times over many months to discuss with her the grave spiritual and moral consequences of her public actions by which she has cooperated in the procurement of abortions performed in Kansas. My concern has been, as a pastor, both for the spiritual well-being of the governor but also for those who have...

Yes, it's true. Yet another decree of excommunication was published in the St. Louis Review today. This time it is a decree against Stanley Rozanski and Bronsalaa (Bernice) Krauze, members of the Board of the Polish St. Stanislaus Kostka Corporation. For some reason that I cannot fathom, it does not yet appear on the Review's website. Therefore, I will try to summarize and publish excerpts from the decree for the benefit of readers. In censure and content, it is similar to the decree issued concerning the "womenpriests" as it relates to the schism finding. The Archbishop begins by recalling...

Archbishop Burke has declared the excommunications of would-be priestesses Rose Hudson and Elsie McGrath, and also of pretend-bishop Patricia Fresen. This decree, linked here, declares as follows: 1) that McGrath, Hudson and Fresen have incurred the censure of excommunication latae sententiae for the crime of schism (cann. 1331, 1364 s. 1); 2) that upon McGrath, Hudson and Fresen is imposed the ferendae sententiae censure of interdict for the crime of pertinacious rejection of a truth of the faith after admonition by the Ordinary (can. 1371, para. 1); and, 3) that upon Fresen is imposed the ferendae sententiae censure of...

Last Thursday, 16 of the 25 Catholics in the U. S. Senate voted to overturn the "Mexico City Policy" to allow funding to overseas health clinics providing abortions. One of the 16 was freshman Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA) who ran against, and defeated, Sen. Rick Santorum as a "pro-life" candidate. It's doubtful whether Casey, son of the legendary pro-life Pennsylvania governor Bob Casey, will ever be able to convince voters of his pro-life label again.

Tara Little Msgr. J. Gaston Hebert, administrator of the Diocese of Little Rock, speaks in a press conference Sept. 26 about the excommunication of six religious sisters in Hot Springs for membership in the schismatic Army of Mary. By Malea HargettEditor Six sisters from the Monastery of Our Lady of Charity and Refuge in Hot Springs were excommunicated by the Catholic Church for their involvement in a schismatic association based in Quebec, Canada. It is believed to be the first time anyone in the Diocese of Little Rock has been formally excommunicated. The excommunicated sisters are Mary Gerard Lalancette,...

 The Rev. J. Gaston Hebert, Little Rock diocese administrator, speaks during a news conference Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007, in Little Rock, Ark. Hebert announced Wednesday that six Arkansas nuns have been excommunicated from the Catholic Church for heresy. (AP Photo/Mike Wintroath) 6 Ark. nuns excommunicated for heresy   By ANDREW DeMILLO, Associated Press Writer 11 minutes ago   LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Six Catholic nuns have been excommunicated for heresy after refusing to give up membership in a Canadian sect whose founder claims to be the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary, the Diocese of Little Rock announced Wednesday. The Rev....

Calling it a "very grave situation," the Vatican has excommunicated members of a controversial Quebec Catholic movement, the Army of Mary, for their heretical beliefs that derive from the writings of Marie-Paule Giguère, an 86-year-old mystic who claims to be a reincarnation of the Virgin Mary.In a judgment delivered to the group on Monday, and announced yesterday, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ruled that the ordinations of six priests in the Army of Mary this past June were illegitimate, because they were performed by a priest rather than a bishop. As a result, at least one recent...