Demonstration calls for more openness in Catholic Church
About 50 people demonstrated outside St. Mary’s Catholic Church and School Saturday afternoon, calling for greater openness and inclusiveness in the Roman Catholic Church.
The event concluded the 10th anniversary conference of Call to Action Nebraska, part of a nationwide organization seeking reforms in the church.
In 1996, Lincoln Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz announced that local Catholics who joined Call to Action would be excommunicated. Lincoln is the only diocese in the country to impose such sanctions, said Rachel Pokora, president of Nebraska CTA.
About half of those participating in Saturday’s “non-violent action” were CTA members from other parts of the country, while the rest were from Nebraska. Many carried placards naming important issues facing the church or reforms the group supports, such as allowing priests to marry, permitting women to be priests and perform other leadership roles in the church, combatting poverty, supporting peace and inclusion of gays and lesbians.
Bruskewitz issued a statement reiterating his opposition to Call to Action, calling it “an anti-Catholic sect composed mainly of aging fallen-away Catholics, including ex-priests and ex-nuns.” Call to Action opposes church teachings “on a variety of issues, such as abortion, homosexuality, abandonment of marital and religious vows, and so on.”
Pokora and other CTA members say they are Catholics who love the church and want to improve it. But Bruskewitz commented, “Although some of them might claim to still be Catholics, nobody except a few media types see them as such.”
Pokora said she wants to show people that “you can be a faithful Catholic and disagree with things that are happening in the church.”
At Saturday’s event Pokora and Jim McShane of Lincoln opened a symbolic window through with participants passed their placards calling for more openness in the church. Said Jean Rempfer of Lincoln, holding a sign saying “Women in Ministry”: “I have many personal reasons” for supporting CTA. She is divorced and a single parent, she said.
Megan Keck, also from Lincoln, said she attended “to give support to people who want to express another view (and) who have a more progressive vision. I think there’s room for both progressives and conservatives in the church.”
In his statement, Bruskewitz claimed that CTA members reject the Second Vatican Council and previous church councils as well as the authority of the pope and bishops. But CTA leaders say their call for dialogue about reforms is in the true spirit of Vatican II, which brought about many changes in the 1960s and since.
A number of current priests and nuns are members of CTA in other states. Helen Marie Burns, a Sister of Mercy from Michigan and a member of the national CTA board, said Call to Action members are faithful Catholics who honor the church’s traditions but want to treat all people with justice and respect.
Ellen McNally, president of CTA Florida, noted that the group is treated quite differently there than in Nebraska. “We are welcomed in the Catholic Church, we meet in a Catholic Church and don’t have opposition,” she said. One of CTA’s big issues in Florida is rights for immigrants, an issue that Catholic clergy support as well. She noted a Florida survey that showed a majority of Catholic clergy believe priests should be allowed to marry.
Patty Hawk of Crete, co-chairperson of National Call to Action, said the 10-year excommunication threat has kept some local Catholics from joining CTA, but brought support from Catholics in the rest of the country. Nationally CTA has about 30,000 members, but only 240 in Nebraska, and many of those do not live in the Lincoln Diocese.
Reach Bob Reeves at 473-7212 or breeves@journalstar.com.
The event concluded the 10th anniversary conference of Call to Action Nebraska, part of a nationwide organization seeking reforms in the church.
In 1996, Lincoln Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz announced that local Catholics who joined Call to Action would be excommunicated. Lincoln is the only diocese in the country to impose such sanctions, said Rachel Pokora, president of Nebraska CTA.
About half of those participating in Saturday’s “non-violent action” were CTA members from other parts of the country, while the rest were from Nebraska. Many carried placards naming important issues facing the church or reforms the group supports, such as allowing priests to marry, permitting women to be priests and perform other leadership roles in the church, combatting poverty, supporting peace and inclusion of gays and lesbians.
Bruskewitz issued a statement reiterating his opposition to Call to Action, calling it “an anti-Catholic sect composed mainly of aging fallen-away Catholics, including ex-priests and ex-nuns.” Call to Action opposes church teachings “on a variety of issues, such as abortion, homosexuality, abandonment of marital and religious vows, and so on.”
Pokora and other CTA members say they are Catholics who love the church and want to improve it. But Bruskewitz commented, “Although some of them might claim to still be Catholics, nobody except a few media types see them as such.”
Pokora said she wants to show people that “you can be a faithful Catholic and disagree with things that are happening in the church.”
At Saturday’s event Pokora and Jim McShane of Lincoln opened a symbolic window through with participants passed their placards calling for more openness in the church. Said Jean Rempfer of Lincoln, holding a sign saying “Women in Ministry”: “I have many personal reasons” for supporting CTA. She is divorced and a single parent, she said.
Megan Keck, also from Lincoln, said she attended “to give support to people who want to express another view (and) who have a more progressive vision. I think there’s room for both progressives and conservatives in the church.”
In his statement, Bruskewitz claimed that CTA members reject the Second Vatican Council and previous church councils as well as the authority of the pope and bishops. But CTA leaders say their call for dialogue about reforms is in the true spirit of Vatican II, which brought about many changes in the 1960s and since.
A number of current priests and nuns are members of CTA in other states. Helen Marie Burns, a Sister of Mercy from Michigan and a member of the national CTA board, said Call to Action members are faithful Catholics who honor the church’s traditions but want to treat all people with justice and respect.
Ellen McNally, president of CTA Florida, noted that the group is treated quite differently there than in Nebraska. “We are welcomed in the Catholic Church, we meet in a Catholic Church and don’t have opposition,” she said. One of CTA’s big issues in Florida is rights for immigrants, an issue that Catholic clergy support as well. She noted a Florida survey that showed a majority of Catholic clergy believe priests should be allowed to marry.
Patty Hawk of Crete, co-chairperson of National Call to Action, said the 10-year excommunication threat has kept some local Catholics from joining CTA, but brought support from Catholics in the rest of the country. Nationally CTA has about 30,000 members, but only 240 in Nebraska, and many of those do not live in the Lincoln Diocese.
Reach Bob Reeves at 473-7212 or breeves@journalstar.com.
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