by Rebecca Millette
DETROIT, Michigan, June 7, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit has sent out a second warning to clergy and Catholics in his flock against participating in an upcoming conference in his diocese, organized by a group of dissident Catholics, including groups that promote the normalization of homosexuality, abortion, and other liberal issues.
The American Catholic Council (ACC) has planned a national gathering in Detroit on June 11-12, 2011, the weekend of Pentecost. Entitled, “Motifs of the Spirit,” the conference will celebrate “the spirit of Vatican II.”
Amongst the “motifs” espoused by the conference is a “respect for theological diversity.”
However, in a letter to priests and deacons of the diocese on June 3, Archbishop Vigneron emphasized that he has not given permission for the conference’s “Eucharistic Liturgy,” as required by Church law. He said that concelebrating in the liturgy may result in “dismissal from the clerical state.”
“To confirm the legitimacy of what they had planned, the ACC had been asked to provide details regarding this liturgy,” wrote the archbishop. “The response received was ambiguous, and there are good reasons for believing forbidden concelebration will take place by the laity and with those not in full communion with the Church.”
Despite attempts by Archbishop Vigneron to “engage in a dialogue” with organizers of the conference, his letter stated they “have not replied to me directly.”
ACC has been joined by several dissident Catholic groups, including the homosexualist groups New Ways Ministry and DignityUSA, as well as Call to Action, Voice of the Faithful, and the Women’s Ordination Conference.
Although ACC’s stated purpose is to “respond to the Spirit of Vatican II,” the archdiocese said in an October 2010 statement that, “in fact, the goals proposed are largely in opposition to the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and the Holy Spirit, which inspired the Council.”
Vigneron’s office noted at the time that the “archdiocese wishes to commend and embrace all true efforts at Church renewal” of which ACC claims to be a part, however, “American Church Council’s agenda is not such an effort.”
“All of the invited keynote speakers have manifested dissent from Catholic teachings or support for dissenters,” says a question/answer statement from the diocese posted on its website.
Keynote speakers include: Hans Kung, a dissenting theologian priest who had his authority to teach rescinded by the Church; Dr. Jeanette Rodriguez, a board member of the group Catholics for Choice which rejects Church teaching on the immorality of abortion; Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who as Former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland publically opposed Church teaching on abortion and chastised American bishops for pushing to make abortion illegal; and Sr. Joan Chittister, an open advocate of women’s ordination.
For more information, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment