Denver Catholics to Meet to Discuss Role of Laypersons in Church

DENVER (RNS) — Roman Catholics here, upset with what they see as limited participation by lay people in the Denver Archdiocese, have called for an open meeting May 20 at Regis College.

The first such meeting ever held in the archdiocese is spearheaded by Catholics for the Spirit of Vatican II, which in January sent Archbishop J. Francis Stafford a list of complaints about what they view as his "oppressive tactics" that close people out of the church.

They have accused Archbishop Stafford of being authoritarian and said people, especially priests and others employed by the church, are afraid to criticize for fear of losing their jobs or being given undesirable assignments.

The May 20 meeting is being co-sponsored by two departments at Regis College and the Colorado Catholic Women's Conference.

In a statement they plan to circulate throughout the archdiocese, the group says members are concerned "with the seeming loss of momentum in the renewal and reform mandated by the gospel and called forth by the second Vatican Council." The statement also complains of an "absence of open discussion" and a "pattern of control which has led to such pervasive silence."

The Council, which met during the mid-1960s, greatly modernized the church and called for more participation by the laity.

Spirit of Vatican II members are particularly interested in greater participation by women and men in decision-making roles in the church and many hope for women's ordination and use of married priests in the church.

Comment: In February we reported Archbishop Stafford was already being attacked by these laypeople. Even the little things he's doing to try to keep control of his diocese have these "Catholics" up in arms. And these same liberals will turn around and point at traditional Catholics and scream, "Disobedient! Dissidents!"

Catholic Bishop Warns Against Shirley MacLaine Message

ST. PAUL, MINN. (RNS) — A Roman Catholic bishop says "a metaphysical inward self godhood" promoted by actress Shirley Maclaine is "far from the message of Jesus Christ."

Auxiliary Bishop Robert J. Carlson of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis noted that the actress recently visited the Twin Cities to promote her new book, "Going Within: A Guide for Inner Transformation."

He said that Ms. MacLaine's work is a part of the New Age Movement, which, he said, "teaches a religion that godhood is within, and through reincarnation (coming back again and again) until perfection is accomplished."

Bishop Carlson said that the actress' contention that we are "basically and fundamentally spiritual beings" contradicts God's word which says that "we are body, mind, and spirit."

Referring to the spiritism of the New Age Movement, especially the practice of channeling, the bishop said "the word of God warns us against consulting with such spirits or seeking oracles from the dead, citing Deuteronomy 18:11.

"I take issue with this attitude that humans are God, and that through reincarnation we find ourselves immortal," Bishop Carlson wrote in the Catholic Bulletin, organ of the local archdiocese.

"This is not new to the Catholic Church and long ago it was declared as pantheism. In this (MacLaine's) teaching, there is no need for the Savior, Jesus, because as MacLaine states, 'We purge the universe of evil, soul by soul, by getting in touch with our higher consciousness.'

"It is my opinion that philosophies such as the New Age Movement can veil the truth; the truth of Jesus Christ, who offers the gift of everlasting life."

Comment: I like Bishop Carlson's point—The New Age Religion is actually not new, but the age-old paganism of pantheism—who needs God when we're all gods? MacLaine has bit the apple offered her by Satan and she goes about offering her poison to all, telling them they can be gods.

Sanctuary Movement Activist Leaves Catholic Religious Order

MILWAUKEE (RNS)  — A former Roman Catholic nun who was one of eight church workers convicted of illegally helping Central American refugees to enter the United States says she has left her religious order to protest the Catholic Church's treatment of women.

"I know that right now I can't continue to have my energy directly or indirectly supporting the institution because I see it as unjust," Darlene Nicgorski, 45, said in a telephone interview from Somerville, Mass., where she now lives and works with Central American refugees.

The former nun said she had considered leaving the Milwaukee-based school Sisters of St. Francis for some time despite the fact that the religious order has been supportive of her work.

"I found it difficult to leave a community of women who are concerned about justice issues," Ms. Nicgorski said. "But at the time I wanted to make my point that I didn't feel that I could continue to support the official church's position" on the role of women.

The former nun said the Catholic Church is patriarchal and treats women in a "demeaning" manner which she finds unacceptable. But she said she remains in the church despite the fact that she is no longer a nun.

"There's a lot about the tradition, particularly the justice issues, that I still claim," she said.

Ms. Nicgorski said her work in the sanctuary movement led her to examine the justice aspects of the church's position on women. She said her troubled feeling about the matter "only deepened during the sanctuary trial because as I went around speaking about justice, I felt that by my presence and by what I was assumed to support (as a member of a religious order), I was perpetuating injustice."

Ms. Nicgorski and her colleagues in the sanctuary movement were convicted of violating federal immigration law in May, 1986. She was sentenced to five years of probation. A federal court recently denied an appeal of the convictions.

Briefly Noted: Reports that Statue Closed Eyes Being Probed

Reports that the eyes of a statue of the crucified Christ in a Roman Catholic church closed during a prayer meeting on the evening of Good Friday are being investigated by a committee of clergy appointed by Bishop Donald W. Wuerl of Pittsburgh.

The Rev. Vincent Cvitkovic, pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Ambridge, Pa., said he believes his church was chosen for "a sign" from God, but he doesn't know why.

The diocesan commission is studying a videotape that shows the rehanging of the crucifix statue after it was refurbished in January and more videotape taken on Good Friday to demonstrate that the eyes were originally open and later closed.

"We are trying to remain very objective, not denying it," said the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh diocese. "It has taken on a life of its own."

Comment: One man sent me a letter attached to this story, and said he thinks Our Lord closed His eyes because He doesn't want to look upon the "refurbished" church, no doubt now void of most of its Catholicity and more like a Protestant temple.

Catholic University Professors Teach 'under protest'

WASHINGTON (RNS)  — Fourteen full professors of Catholic University's largest school have declared that they are teaching under protest until the university reaffirms its commitment to academic freedom.

The action came as a special committee of the American Association of University Professors was on campus to investigate whether the Vatican-chartered university has violated the academic freedom rights of the Rev. Charles Curran, an internationally known moral theologian.

Father Curran was dismissed from the university's theology department last year after the Vatican declared that he is ineligible to teach Catholic theology because of his dissent from church teachings on sexual ethics.

"We deplore the denial of academic freedom to Father Curran" and the failure of the university "to arrange for him an alternative faculty position consistent with his field of competence and his scholarly accomplishments," the professors said in a resolution passed by a 16-4 vote, with one abstention.

Comment: What these professors want is not academic freedom (which is merely freedom to teach from truths handed down to us) but license to teach error and to preach sin!

Ecumenical Communion Hailed as Historic Event in Canada

MONTREAL (RNS) — More than 500 English-speaking worshippers from Roman Catholic, Anglican, and United churches took part in a joint communion service on Good Friday in a town 20 miles north of here, an event that is being heralded as historic in Canadian ecumenical circles.

The Good Friday services, held in a high school in the town of Rosemere, this year added a communion service—the result of two years of delicate negotiations among representatives of the three traditions.

Communicants received communion separately, and the bread and wine was consecrated independently in each of the three participating local churches.

Still, the taking of communion in a joint worship service was hailed as a "first" in Canada by the Rev. Emmanuel Lapierre of the Canadian Center for Ecumenism here.

Brother Jeffrey Gros, an ecumenical relations authority with the National Council of Churches in New York, said such services are common in England but relatively untested in the United States. However, he said shared communion has become part of the ecumenical movement.