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Category Archives: Excommunication

Excommunication

A Bishop Doing What He is Called to Do

23 Friday May 2014

Posted by Fr. Moore in Excommunication, Sacraments

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Tags

Heresy, Scandal

This post is from CatholicVote.org and can be found here.

DEAR WOMAN PRIEST, YOU’RE EXCOMMUNICATED…LOVE, BISHOP PAPROCKI

And P.S. – You’re not a priest.

That pretty much sums up Bishop Paprocki’s response to a local Catholic woman’s recent attempt to get ordained.

The woman in question is Mary F. Keldermans of Springfield. Bishop Paprocki wrote to her last month asking her to reconsider her plan, but evidently she ignored him and tried to be ordained a priest at a Unitarian church on May 5.

Bishop Paprocki promptly issued a decree of excommunication (and if you’ve never seen one of those before, they look like this).

The bishop also issued this statement to his diocese:

Please be advised that Ms. Mary F. Keldermans of Springfield, Illinois, has attempted to be ordained a priest for “Roman Catholic Womenpriests, Inc.” in a ceremony at the Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Springfield on May 5, 2014. As a result, she has incurred an automatic excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See.

That is what you call a bishop who’s not afraid to bishop.

At the same time, we should be careful not to tout this as some sort of righteous smack-down or triumphant display of authority. Bishop Paprocki is much too holy and charitable a bishop for that, and I have no doubt that his declaration of excommunication was issued with sorrow, not pleasure.

But he didn’t hold back from issuing the decree of excommunication either, or from publishing it prominently on the diocesan website.

This is one of the things I love about Bishop Paprocki. Whether it’s standing up forthe unborn, for marriage, or for Holy Orders, he doesn’t shy away from confronting those who threaten his flock, nor from explaining his position to themwith charity.

He prays intensely, he acts decisively, and he teaches clearly.

Lord, send us more bishops like this one!

Amen!

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Today, normal is newsworthy. Really.

04 Friday Apr 2014

Posted by Fr. Moore in Canon Law, Catholic Obligations, Excommunication, Salvation, Thought for the Day, Truth

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Canon 915, Canon 916, Mortal Sin

I have no time to write anything of my own today because I am trying to finish my sermon for Sunday. Therefore, I will let someone esle do it. The following link will take you to a great post from canon lawyer Ed Peters: Today, normal is newsworthy. Really..

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Excommunication Part 3 – Biblical Basis?

08 Saturday Feb 2014

Posted by Fr. Moore in Excommunication, Thought for the Day

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The title for this post contains a question mark because I couldn't find anything (although it was a very hasty search and with more time I could find the answer) that explicitly stated that these passages are the biblical foundation of excommunication in the Catholic Church, but it does seem possible.

This is from St. Paul. (2 Thess 3:13-15)

My brothers, never grow tired of doing what is right. If anyone refuses to obey what I have written in this letter, take note of him and have nothing to do with him, so that he will feel that he is in the wrong; though you are not to regard him as an enemy but as a brother in need of correction.

And this is from the mouth of our Lord. (Matthew 18:15-20)

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Definitely something to think about!

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Excommunication Part 2 – Mother, May I Play with Fire?

03 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by Fr. Moore in Excommunication, Politically Incorrect, Pro-Life, Thought for the Day

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As I continue reading Excommunication and the Catholic Church I keep coming across things that I very much agree with but that leads to very serious questions. The following paragraph is one such example.

Remember – the Church is like a loving mother who does not want to discipline her children too harshly. Rather, she only wants to use the amount of punishment necessary to correct and train her children in the right path – that is, according to the truth.

I think any sane and loving parent would completely agree with the author's point in this paragraph. (Although I would go further than the author because the Church isn't 'like' a mother but instead She is our Mother, at least spiritually, who gave birth to us through the waters of Baptism.) But here is my question that necessarily comes from the author's point – what about those mothers who do not do as they ought, either by not disciplining their children at all or by giving threats they never follow through with, or by not being severe enough in making the punishment fit the crime? When a mother doesn't correct her children as she ought to what are the implications for the children?

I think we all know the answer because we see the result in many families, maybe even our own. When a mother (not to ignore the father – I'm just sticking the analogy of the Church as Mother) isn't harsh enough, her children become spoiled brats who ignore her pleading to behave and just continue to do as they please! Like the child in the mall who throws a fit for a toy until the mother acquiesces, if the Church doesn't properly discipline her children they will go on misbehaving and doing as they please. So far the author has not addressed this very serious issue.

Of course one blatantly obvious example of the Church not correctly disciplining Her children is the fact that most pro-death, pro-abortion 'Catholic' politicians go uncorrected or, in the least, are allowed to continue in their sin. This is a very serious concern because it not only involves the soul of the politician but the souls of countless Catholics and non-Catholics who buy into the whole “I can't impose my morality on others” nonsense that is espoused by these politicians.

At this point someone may point out that the various ecclesiastical authorities do publically call to repentance these politicians. But, as we can all see, these pleas for repentance fall on the deaf ears of the politicians. And if the call to repentance is not effecting the change of heart necessary for them to repent then obviously, and according to the paragraph cited above, something more serious should and must be done. So why isn't something more done? To do nothing to 'get their attention' and bring them to repentance implies that we don't care about their souls or the souls of the people they mislead in their wrong way of thinking. Therefore, like a good mother who applies the appropriate correction to a child playing with matches the Church our Mother needs to correct and bring to repentance Her wayward children. Because if She doesn't those unrepentant children (and here again, I am not just referring to the politicians themselves but to the countless number of people that are influenced or affected by them and their decisions) could very well wind up getting burned in the end.

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Fr. Moore

Fr. Moore

Parochial Vicar Our Lady of the Atonement San Antonio, Texas FrMoore@truthwithboldness.com

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