Vatican to Bishop Gumbleton: Thou Shalt Not Speak

According to a news report there is a little more to the story of Bishop Gumbleton & Call to Action in Azrizona. An article in The Arizona Republic (6 February 2007) reports that: "Bishop 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."

This explains a lot about why Bishop Gumbleton was told by Bishop Kicanas he was not welcome. In my original post I assumed that he was simply being forbidden to do anything liturgical &/or appear on Church property.

To hear Call to Action's spin on it Bishop Gumbleton has been silenced. He has not. If that were true then why is it that Call to Action announced that the meetings would go on & he would be addressing those meetings via video appearances? The fact that he is still speaking proves he hasn't been silenced.

& now another disident group has been heard from: "Frank Douglas, a Voice of the Faithful leader in Tucson, claimed Gumbleton "has been blackballed by his own church" because of the Ohio testimony. "

I hate to break it to you Mr. Douglas, Bishop Gumbleton has been told that what he is doing is wrong. The Church has the right to expect its leaders to conform to & uphold the truths it teaches. Bishop Gumbleton has not. He has put himself in the position where the Church has had no other option then to take the action she did. That is the truth.

But as I pointed out in my original post on this, since when has Call to Action let the truth stand in the way of a good heresy? Or making a martyr where there isn't 1? The problem is with the message they are presenting. The Church cannot condone what goes against what it teaches. & much of what Call to Action & Voice of the Faithful stands for is heresy, pure & simple.

According to the report: "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 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."

Part of the good news is that it is not only Bishop Kicanas that banned him, but that Bishop Thomas Olmstead also refused him permission to speak in the Pheonix, AZ Diocese. Kudos to both these bishops for doing the right thing.

Group: Bishop's Ariz. talks blocked