Posted on 09/26/2007 4:03:14 PM PDT by Stoat
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)
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. J. Gaston Hebert, the diocese administrator, said he notified the nuns of the decision Tuesday night after they refused to recant the teachings of the Community of the Lady of All Nations, also known as the Army of Mary.
The Vatican has declared all members of the Army of Mary excommunicated. Hebert said the excommunication was the first in the diocese's 165-year history.
"It is a painfully historic moment for this church," Hebert said.
The six nuns are associated with the Good Shepherd Monastery of Our Lady of Charity and Refuge in Hot Springs. Sister Mary Theresa Dionne, one of the nuns excommunicated, said the nuns will still live at the convent property, which they own.
"We are at peace and we know that for us we are doing the right thing," the 82-year-old nun said. "We pray that the church will open their eyes before it is too late. This is God's work through Mary, the blessed mother, and we're doing what we're asked to do."
At a news conference, Hebert said the nuns "became entranced and deluded with a doctrine that is heretical." He said church officials removed the sacraments from the monastery on Tuesday night.
Hebert said the sect's members believe that its founder, Marie Paule Giguere, is the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary and that God speaks directly through her.
Excommunication bars the nuns from participating in the church liturgy and receiving communion or other sacraments.
The diocese said the action was taken after the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a declaration that the Army of Mary's teachings were heretical and automatically excommunicated any who embraced the doctrine.
Hebert said the diocese had known for years that the nuns were following the sect and said church officials in the past had encouraged them to come back into the fold.
According to the Catholic News Service, the Army of Mary was founded in Quebec in 1971 by Giguere, who said she was receiving visions from God.
Dionne said she does not know if Giguere is the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary, but said she believes God communicates through the sect's founder.
"She is doing only what God and Mary tells her to do," Dionne said.
Calls made to a spokesman for the Army of Mary in Quebec were answered by a fax machine tone.
Automatic excommunication ("latae sententiae excommunication")
There are a few offenses for which Latin Rite Roman Catholics are automatically excommunicated:
1. Apostasy (canon 1364),
2. Heresy (canon 1364),
3. Schism (canon 1364),
4. Desecration of the Eucharist (canon 1367),
5. Physical violence against the Pope (canon 1370),
6. Attempted sacramental absolution of a partner in a sin against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue ("Thou shalt not commit adultery.") (canon 1378 §1),
7. Ordination of a bishop without papal mandate (canon 1382),
8. Direct violation of the sacramental seal of confession by a confessor (canon 1388),
9. Procurement of a completed abortion (canon 1398), or
10. Being a conspiring or necessary accomplice in any of the above (canon 1329).
You’re so right.....why don’t they??
Your conclusion wouldn't be correct if they only had one line, and used it for both voice and fax service. So perhaps you ought to dig a little deeper before you start attacking the reporter.
By the way, how many Catholic denominations are there now? Catholics seem to be splintering faster than the Baptists these days.
The Lutherans on FR are munchin’ popcorn and wondering...”Dude! you called a press conference for THIS!?!”
Good thing the press didn’t cover Martin’s “skid marks” in his underwear!
I admit that I was wrong. I thought it had to do with Slick and the cigars.
Normally I don't use "sarcasm" tags because I think that it's condescending and insulting to readers, who if they considered a post in the context of the article would realize that sarcasm or a tongue-in-cheek response had been intended. In this case, to submit a post chiding a reporter about such a comparatively insignificant thing as finding a correct phone number when we are talking about the first excommunication of this particular diocese in 165 years seemed a rather obvious juxtaposition of a very serious matter with a trivial one, which I considered to be a humorous and rather obvious 'comic relief' that I felt needed no explanation. It seems that in the case of yourself, I was mistaken..
As to your surprisingly harshly-worded criticisms, I didn't need to "dig deeper" because a single-line phone / fax line is typically answered by a voice greeting that allows the caller to either begin sending a fax or select options from a menu. If the line was answered only by a fax tone then this indicates that it is a dedicated fax line.
More importantly, what probably occurred in reality was that it was indeed the correct number and it was simply a matter of them not wanting to receive calls, so they plugged their fax machine into their voice line.
bookmark
Oh really? How so?
Her veneration of Mary is extra biblical ...
So is going to church on Sunday instead of Saturday. Does that make it wrong?
... and thus heretical in its own right.
Guess so, according to your logic. I respectfully disagree.
They started it; it’s their job to correct it.
As far as the Vatican is concerned, there's nothing to correct. The case you make is less than convincing.
Sure you can. You can't be forgiven for any sin until you repent. If you repent of your heresy, you will be forgiven, same as for any other sin.
The good nuns refused to repent, so out they go.
The Arkansas 6
Depends on how you define excommunicate. I recall the Apostle Paul ordered the congregation at Corinth to boot out a congregent for sleeping with his father's wife. (Granted, he was readmitted but only after he repented of this sin)
Quite a few religions excommunicate unrepentant sinners. The Bible is pretty clear that this is the right thing to do, but it doesn't happen often.
LMAO!
Somehow, I have the sneaking suspicion that the "Reverend" Jesse Jackson and the "Reverend" Al Sharpton will not be troubling themselves to go to Arkansas to organize a protest march in support of these nuns.
I’m quite certain the Church does not care what you think. Nor should they.
There’s only one real question here. How many divisions does the Army of Mary have?
Agreed, and a reminder that regardless of who you are, you'll generally reap what you sow.
I think there are fourtenn nuns there, half of them Canadians, the remainder Vietnamese, and Americans. I wonder which ones got excommunicated, and which ones didn’t?
Here are the nuns at worship:
http://www.adorationchapel.org/Sisters_of_Charity/more_tour.htm
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