Bishop's Ariz. talks blocked

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0206bishop0206.html

 

 

Michael Clancy
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 6, 2007 12:00 AM

The Vatican has silenced an outspoken Catholic bishop, forcing him to cancel two planned talks in Arizona.

Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit must seek permission from local bishops anywhere he wishes to speak, by order of the papal nuncio, the Vatican's ambassador to the United States, according to local leaders of Call to Action. The group has taken a variety of positions at odds with church policy.

Normally, Catholic clergy need permission only to conduct religious services. The Vatican has penalized dissident theologians in the past, but Robert Blair Kaiser, a Phoenix author who has covered the Vatican since 1962, said he had never heard of a nuncio restricting a bishop.
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A source close to Gumbleton in Detroit confirmed the nuncio's action. A man who declined to identify himself at the nuncio's office in Washington, D.C., said the office would not talk about any such order.

Call to Action leaders said Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the papal nuncio, laid down the requirement to Gumbleton several months ago, reportedly as a result of testimony Gumbleton gave a year ago to the Ohio Legislature in favor of expanded time frames for abuse victims to file lawsuits.

Bishops Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix and Gerald Kicanas of Tucson refused to grant the permission.

Phoenix Diocese spokesman James Dwyer said the problem was not with Gumbleton, who has taken positions at odds with a majority of his fellow bishops, but with Call to Action.

The group, which has about 325 members locally, describes itself as "a Catholic movement working for equality and justice in the church and society." It has called for an end to the celibacy requirement for priests, approval for female priests and lay participation in the choice of church leaders, among other things.

Such positions conflict with official church teaching.

"The bishop is pleased that Bishop Gumbleton has decided to cancel," Dwyer said. "I don't believe he or any bishop has to explain in detail why we do not endorse Call to Action. The record speaks for itself."

Nicole Sotelo, a leader in Call to Action's Chicago headquarters, said the Arizona meetings would go on at other churches with Gumbleton on video.

Sotelo said Gumbleton was disappointed in the bishops' reactions. Gumbleton declined to respond to numerous requests for comment.

Gumbleton's stance on expanding the amount of time sex-abuse victims have to file lawsuits and other positions have made him a favorite of liberal Catholics but also a maverick among American bishops.

Frank Douglas, a Voice of the Faithful leader in Tucson, claimed Gumbleton "has been blackballed by his own church" because of the Ohio testimony.

M.J. Benton, a Phoenix Call to Action leader, said the meetings would proceed in Tucson and Phoenix, with Gumbleton on video. The Phoenix meeting is at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Church of the Beatitudes, 555 W. Glendale Ave.

"He has been an advocate for justice, so it is sad to see him treated so unjustly," Benton said.