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Contents © 1997
by Jim Holman.
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Dissent in the Archdiocese

CALL TO ACTION COMES TO POMONA

By Judith Martel

Though Call to Action advocates issues that are not only contrary, but hostile to the Magisterium, "the Cardinal holds no position on Call to Action"--so said Father Gregory Coiro, O.F.M. Cap., spokesman for the Los Angeles Archdiocese. Father Coiro also said that it was "probably not a good idea to attend the conference".

Call to Action held its first West Coast Conference on the weekend of August 8-10 at Claremont McKenna College in Pomona. The conference featured Michael Crosby, O.F.M. Cap. as the keynote speaker. Crosby's works include Celibacy: Means of Control or Mandate of the Heart?, as well as The Dysfunctional Church, the controversial book that caused the Los Angeles Archdiocese to bar Crosby from its yearly Religious Education Conference. Though Crosby's talk, "Renewal and Becoming the Community of the Beloved Disciple" was listed as being available for sale after the event, Crosby refused to allow his talk to be taped. Citing that the talk was not "finished", he managed to launch into a diatribe against the papacy during his talk on Saturday morning.

School Sister of Notre Dame Jeannine Gramick, who co-founded the New Ways Ministry, held a seminar on Welcoming Ministry for Gay and Lesbian Communities and their Families. New Ways Ministry is a radical group that promotes the acceptance of homosexual activity as just another lifestyle choice. The group has been expelled from the Washington, D.C. diocese and has been prohibited from operating in other U.S. dioceses. Sister Gramick's talk blasted the Vatican for not being up with the psychological sciences in its understanding of gays and lesbians. Citing a letter that the U.S. Bishops wrote in 1990 wherein they note the orientation towards homosexuality as "seemingly irreversible", Sister Gramick took a swipe at Courage as promoting outmoded ideas (in promoting celibacy for homosexuals). Dignity "was more in line with the U.S. Bishop's line on homosexuality". She did not spare the mainstream press: its coverage of "the New York Cardinal's" opposition to gay rights took away from coverage of how "good" bishops, like Bishop Gumbleton of Detroit, and the Bishop of Hawaii supported gay rights. In the past, the Vatican has censored Sister Gramick for her views.

On Sunday morning, August 10 was the Eucharistic liturgy. The celebration was dominated by a procession of aging liturgical dancers who periodically flitted throughout the congregation with bowls of incense. Dressed in long flowing gowns with scarves draped around their necks, the dancers disbursed incense to the congregation who in turn eagerly pawed at the smoke to get a whiff of the fragrance. The Mass was hardly recognizable, with changes throughout the liturgy. God was referred to as "Mother and Father", it was questionable if the Mass was even valid, as there was no visible sign of a priest during the celebration. Instead there were four presiders, two men and two women. The Eucharistic prayer was recited by the four presiders and the congregation, which had been separated into four groups. The words of consecration were said by the entire congregation. The gospel was read by Dr. Carmel E. McEnroy, and who in her homily berated the Vatican for "withholding" bread from gays and lesbians.

A number of parishes in the archdiocese had publicized the conference. Sacred Heart Church in Lancaster ran a blurb on the conference in its Sunday Bulletin. When later questioned for more information, the bulletin editor said: "the information had been put in by mistake; we get so much material". The editor then said the pastor was not encouraging parishioners to participate in the conference.

When asked about the Call to Action Conference, Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Claremont readily gave out information. Along with the parishes' publicity, the August 8 edition of the archdiocesan newspaper, The Tidings ran an article on the conference listing the seminars that were to be held, along with the speakers. The Tidings did not report on the public positions that the seminar speakers have taken--material that is readily available on the Internet or in bookstores. The author did note that Call to Action's goals include: "opening the priesthood to women and married men...open dialogue, academic freedom and due process in the church". The article ended with information on where the conference would be held, the costs involved and phone numbers to contact for more information.

Call to Action sees Cardinal Mahony's stance towards them as "prudent." When asked about the cardinal's stance, a conference organizer said: "The Cardinal tends to not react but rather wait and see." This person added that the Cardinal was "pretty good, not as bad as some," referring to Lincoln, Nebraska's Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz who threatened to excommunicate any Catholic in his diocese who participated in the Call to Action Conference in his diocese last year. Bishop Bruskewitz cancelled the priestly faculties of any priest celebrating Mass at the Conference, rendering the Mass invalid.

After Pope John Paul II infallibly proclaimed the ban on women priests, Call to Action launched A Call for National Dialogue on the Future of Priestly Ministry, hoping that through "dialogue" the Church's infallible teaching will be changed. In October 1995, Call to Action ran an open letter to Pope John Paul II in the Baltimore Sun asking for married priests and women's ordination.

Throughout its short history, Call to Action has repeatedly shown the desire to circumvent the Church's teachings on central doctrines whether it be priestly celibacy or the ordination of women to the priesthood.

Given this, it would seem that Cardinal Mahony would, as shepherd of his flock, speak out against Call to Action instead of "not react but wait and see".

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