Call to Action
Encyclopedia
Call to Action is an organization that advocates for a variety of liberal causes to change the Catholic Church. Call to Action's goals include women's ordination
, an end to mandatory priestly celibacy
, a change in the church's teaching on a variety of sexual matters
, and a change to the way the church is governed. Vatican
officials have identified at least some of CTA's views "in contrast" with Catholic faith; these controversial positions of CTA have even resulted in the general excommunication of all its members in one particular diocese in the United States.
wrote that the laity of the Catholic Church should "take up as their own proper task the renewal of the temporal order". He further wrote that, "it is to all Christians that we address a fresh and insistent call to action." In response to this, the bishop
s of the United States
put together the Call to Action Conference in Detroit, Michigan
in 1976.
At the conclusion of the three-day conference, the 1,340 delegates voted that the Catholic Church should "reevaluate its positions on issues like celibacy for priests
, the male-only clergy
, homosexuality
, birth control
, and the involvement of every level of the church in important decisions," though they never explicitly proposed changing the Church's position on these issues. They also called for an end to racism, sexism, and militarism in the United States.
Although many of the United States bishops were sympathetic to the political aims of Call to Action, most of them disavowed or avoided discussing the conference's demands for changes to doctrine and organisation within the Catholic Church. As a result, the Call to Action organization that was born out of the Detroit conference was run by laity. By 1978, it had been securely established in Chicago, and by the 1980s it had spread throughout the United States.
's formation of Call to Holiness, an organisation specifically formed to counter the aims of Call to Action.
The Call to Action Conference also highlighted a potential rift within the so call "liberal" wing of the U.S. Catholic experience what Fr. Andrew Greeley
described in anticipation of the conference (which was only one part of the Catholic American Bicentennial Process), as a demarcation between the “old" Catholic social actionist and the “new" Catholic social actionist or the “pre-Berrigan” and “post-Berrigan” approaches to activism. (c.f.Daniel Berrigan
and Philip Berrigan
). In “Catholic Social Activism – Real or Rad/Chic
?”, Fr. Greeley saw the old social justice action in labor schools, worker priests, and community organizing that “mastered the politics of coalition building with the system.” Leading figures in that “old” tradition for Greeley were Ryan, Higgins, Egan and Baroni. On the other hand, the “new” Catholic action came out of the Berrigan experience and the peace movement; thus it was heavily involved in confrontation and protest. CTA it would seem represents that "new" tradition. Its lack of tangible success in comparison to the "old" tradition, was scathingly predicted by Greeley:
"The old social actionists are largely men of action, doers, not talkers. The new social actionists are intellectuals...They are masters at manipulating words and sometimes ideas...They are fervent crusaders. [But] winning strikes, forming unions, organizing communities are not their 'things', they are much more concerned about creating world economic justice."
of Partenia
, Jacques Gaillot
, the auxiliary Bishop of Detroit Thomas Gumbleton
, and theologian Hans Küng
(whose authority to teach theology in a Catholic institution was rescinded), were among the featured speakers.
In recent years, Bishop Gumbleton
has been the only member of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy to publicly support Call to Action. When Call to Action sponsored a speech by Gumbleton in Tucson, Arizona
in February 2007, the Bishop of Tucson
, Gerald F. Kicanas, refused permission for it to be delivered on diocesan property.
of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska
issued, under certain conditions, an automatic interdict
(which escalates after one month to an automatic excommunication
) on members of several organizations within his diocese
, including Call to Action. The group appealed, but the excommunications were affirmed by the Congregation for Bishops
in 2006. The congregation's prefect, Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re
, wrote to Bishop Bruskewitz that his action "was properly taken within [his] competence as pastor of that diocese."
The Congregation for Bishops was not primarily issuing a doctrinal statement regarding Call to Action, but rather making a juridical statement saying that Bishop Bruskewitz had acted properly within his jurisdiction as ordinary
of the Diocese of Lincoln. Although this does not have direct impact outside of Lincoln, it almost certainly means that any other bishop who performed similar acts would be supported by the Roman Curia
.
However, Cardinal Re's statement did include some doctrinal statements regarding Call to Action's activities. He wrote that "The judgment of the Holy See is that the activities of ‘Call to Action’ in the course of these years are in contrast with the Catholic faith due to views and positions held which are unacceptable from a doctrinal and disciplinary standpoint.... Thus to be a member of this association or to support it is irreconcilable with a coherent living of the Catholic faith." It is unclear whether the cardinal's reference to "the Holy See" indicates that this is the judgment of the pope or of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
, which has jurisdiction over doctrinal matters.
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
, an end to mandatory priestly celibacy
Clerical celibacy
Clerical celibacy is the discipline by which some or all members of the clergy in certain religions are required to be unmarried. Since these religions consider deliberate sexual thoughts, feelings, and behavior outside of marriage to be sinful, clerical celibacy also requires abstension from these...
, a change in the church's teaching on a variety of sexual matters
Human sexual behavior
Human sexual activities or human sexual practices or human sexual behavior refers to the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts from time to time, and for a wide variety of reasons...
, and a change to the way the church is governed. Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
officials have identified at least some of CTA's views "in contrast" with Catholic faith; these controversial positions of CTA have even resulted in the general excommunication of all its members in one particular diocese in the United States.
History
In 1971, Pope Paul VIPope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
wrote that the laity of the Catholic Church should "take up as their own proper task the renewal of the temporal order". He further wrote that, "it is to all Christians that we address a fresh and insistent call to action." In response to this, the bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
put together the Call to Action Conference in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
in 1976.
At the conclusion of the three-day conference, the 1,340 delegates voted that the Catholic Church should "reevaluate its positions on issues like celibacy for priests
Clerical celibacy
Clerical celibacy is the discipline by which some or all members of the clergy in certain religions are required to be unmarried. Since these religions consider deliberate sexual thoughts, feelings, and behavior outside of marriage to be sinful, clerical celibacy also requires abstension from these...
, the male-only clergy
Ordination of women
Ordination in general religious usage is the process by which a person is consecrated . The ordination of women is a regular practice among some major religious groups, as it was of several religions of antiquity...
, homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
, and the involvement of every level of the church in important decisions," though they never explicitly proposed changing the Church's position on these issues. They also called for an end to racism, sexism, and militarism in the United States.
Although many of the United States bishops were sympathetic to the political aims of Call to Action, most of them disavowed or avoided discussing the conference's demands for changes to doctrine and organisation within the Catholic Church. As a result, the Call to Action organization that was born out of the Detroit conference was run by laity. By 1978, it had been securely established in Chicago, and by the 1980s it had spread throughout the United States.
Ideological aspects
Many conservative and traditional Catholic groups and individuals oppose Call to Action. Some conservative Catholics were so disapproving of Call to Action that they supported Mother AngelicaMother Angelica
Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, PCPA is an American Roman Catholic nun who founded the Eternal Word Television Network. In 1944 she entered the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, a Franciscan religious order for women, as a postulant, and a year later she was admitted to the order as a...
's formation of Call to Holiness, an organisation specifically formed to counter the aims of Call to Action.
The Call to Action Conference also highlighted a potential rift within the so call "liberal" wing of the U.S. Catholic experience what Fr. Andrew Greeley
Andrew Greeley
Father Andrew M. Greeley is an Irish-American Roman Catholic priest, sociologist, journalist and fiction writer....
described in anticipation of the conference (which was only one part of the Catholic American Bicentennial Process), as a demarcation between the “old" Catholic social actionist and the “new" Catholic social actionist or the “pre-Berrigan” and “post-Berrigan” approaches to activism. (c.f.Daniel Berrigan
Daniel Berrigan
Daniel Berrigan, SJ is an American Catholic priest, peace activist, and poet. Daniel and his brother Philip were for a time on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for their involvement in antiwar protests during the Vietnam war....
and Philip Berrigan
Philip Berrigan
Philip Francis Berrigan was an internationally renowned American peace activist, Christian anarchist and former Roman Catholic priest...
). In “Catholic Social Activism – Real or Rad/Chic
Radical chic
Radical chic is a term coined by journalist Tom Wolfe in his 1970 essay "Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny's," to describe the adoption and promotion of radical political causes by celebrities, socialites, and high society...
?”, Fr. Greeley saw the old social justice action in labor schools, worker priests, and community organizing that “mastered the politics of coalition building with the system.” Leading figures in that “old” tradition for Greeley were Ryan, Higgins, Egan and Baroni. On the other hand, the “new” Catholic action came out of the Berrigan experience and the peace movement; thus it was heavily involved in confrontation and protest. CTA it would seem represents that "new" tradition. Its lack of tangible success in comparison to the "old" tradition, was scathingly predicted by Greeley:
"The old social actionists are largely men of action, doers, not talkers. The new social actionists are intellectuals...They are masters at manipulating words and sometimes ideas...They are fervent crusaders. [But] winning strikes, forming unions, organizing communities are not their 'things', they are much more concerned about creating world economic justice."
Reactions from the Catholic hierarchy and theologians
Many Catholic church leaders have criticized Call to Action, primarily because the moral and juridical positions of the organization run counter to the established teachings of the Catholic Church. Others have given limited support while avoiding becoming closely associated with the group. Still others have given public support. At the 1995 Call to Action conference, the titular bishopTitular bishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.By definition a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop the tradition of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches is that he be ordained for a specific place...
of Partenia
Partenia
Partenia is a Roman Catholic titular see in present-day Sétif Province, Algeria. Formerly a major city, the episcopal see was abandoned and consumed by the Sahara desert in the 5th century...
, Jacques Gaillot
Jacques Gaillot
The Most Reverend Dr. Jacques Jean Edmond Georges Monseigneur Gaillot , Titular Bishop of Partenia, is a French Catholic clergyman and social activist. He was from 1982 to 1995 Bishop of Évreux in France...
, the auxiliary Bishop of Detroit Thomas Gumbleton
Thomas Gumbleton
Thomas John Gumbleton is a retired Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit.-Education and career:...
, and theologian Hans Küng
Hans Küng
Hans Küng is a Swiss Catholic priest, theologian, and prolific author. Since 1995 he has been President of the Foundation for a Global Ethic . Küng is "a Catholic priest in good standing", but the Vatican has rescinded his authority to teach Catholic theology...
(whose authority to teach theology in a Catholic institution was rescinded), were among the featured speakers.
In recent years, Bishop Gumbleton
Thomas Gumbleton
Thomas John Gumbleton is a retired Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit.-Education and career:...
has been the only member of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy to publicly support Call to Action. When Call to Action sponsored a speech by Gumbleton in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
in February 2007, the Bishop of Tucson
Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the southwestern region of the United States. It comprises nine counties of the state of Arizona, making it the fifth largest diocese in the continental United States in terms of area...
, Gerald F. Kicanas, refused permission for it to be delivered on diocesan property.
Excommunications in Lincoln, Nebraska
In 1996, Bishop Fabian BruskewitzFabian Bruskewitz
Fabian Wendelin Bruskewitz is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the eighth and current Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska.-Early life and ministry:...
of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska
Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln is a Roman Catholic diocese in Nebraska, and comprises the majority of the eastern and central portions of the state south of the Platte River. The episcopal see is in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was established on August 2, 1887, by Pope Leo XIII...
issued, under certain conditions, an automatic interdict
Interdict (Roman Catholic Church)
In Roman Catholic canon law, an interdict is an ecclesiastical censure that excludes from certain rites of the Church individuals or groups, who nonetheless do not cease to be members of the Church.-Distinctions in canon law:...
(which escalates after one month to an automatic excommunication
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
) on members of several organizations within his diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
, including Call to Action. The group appealed, but the excommunications were affirmed by the Congregation for Bishops
Congregation for Bishops
The Congregation for Bishops is the congregation of the Roman Curia which oversees the selection of new bishops that are not in mission territories or those areas that come under the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches who deal with the Eastern Catholics, pending papal...
in 2006. The congregation's prefect, Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re
Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re
Giovanni Battista Re is an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church whose service has been primarily in the Roman Curia. He is the Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Bishops, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 2001...
, wrote to Bishop Bruskewitz that his action "was properly taken within [his] competence as pastor of that diocese."
The Congregation for Bishops was not primarily issuing a doctrinal statement regarding Call to Action, but rather making a juridical statement saying that Bishop Bruskewitz had acted properly within his jurisdiction as ordinary
Ordinary
In those hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system, an ordinary is an officer of the church who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute the church's laws...
of the Diocese of Lincoln. Although this does not have direct impact outside of Lincoln, it almost certainly means that any other bishop who performed similar acts would be supported by the Roman Curia
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
.
However, Cardinal Re's statement did include some doctrinal statements regarding Call to Action's activities. He wrote that "The judgment of the Holy See is that the activities of ‘Call to Action’ in the course of these years are in contrast with the Catholic faith due to views and positions held which are unacceptable from a doctrinal and disciplinary standpoint.... Thus to be a member of this association or to support it is irreconcilable with a coherent living of the Catholic faith." It is unclear whether the cardinal's reference to "the Holy See" indicates that this is the judgment of the pope or of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...
, which has jurisdiction over doctrinal matters.