I Guess Archbishop Dolan was called to action
Via Improvised comes this story
An appearance by Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton of Detroit has been moved from an atrium attached to Milwaukee's cathedral to another site, reportedly because Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan did not want it to appear that the archdiocese endorsed the agendas of the Catholic reform group that is holding the event.
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Lois Ahlhauser, a past president of Call to Action Wisconsin, and her husband, John, said they had arranged with Father Carl Last, rector of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, for their group to hold its annual meeting from 9 a.m. to noon April 8, with Gumbleton as one of the speakers.
The Ahlhausers said that on March 6, after publicity for the meeting went out, Last told them that Dolan had informed him that the event could not be held in the cathedral, which serves as the archbishop's parish, because Call to Action is a dissident group. The Ahlhausers then found a parish willing to provide space for the event, All Saints Church, 4051 N. 25th St.
As Dave notes this wouldn't have happened under Archbishop Weakland. If Call to frAction was holding an event at a parish church the previous Archbishop would have invited them to the Cathedral. It also appears that the parish that will be holding the event will have Call to frAction preaching to the choir. Their bulletin contains things like:
Oh Great Spirit of our Ancestors,
I raise my pipe to you.
To your messengers the four winds, and
to Mother Earth who provides
for your children,
And their pastor left the Capuchin order in 1970 and later got married, then divorced, and became a priest in 2002.
Known as 
Could Dolan be any more awesome?
While he is awesome, he would been more awesome if he had banned Gumby in all parishes in his diocese.
That pipe they raise must be a crack pipe :)
Gerald,
You, young whippersnapper, it's not a crack pipe, but a hash pipe, circa 1968, once used by Allen Ginsburg as he chanted, "Om" on the North Avenue Beach in Chicago during the infamous Democratic National Convention.
It was thought lost forever in the sands along Lake Michigan, but was actually found by Father Andrew Greeley, who happened to be strolling on the beach deep in thought as he considered writing a bodice-ripping novel, and who passed it along to his friends over at CTA.
The pipe has been held in the highest esteem ever since then to invoke the great "Spirit of Vatican II." There is an old CTA legend that smoking the pipe actually influenced the policies and practices of the late Cardinal "Brother Joseph" Bernadin, but that its hashish coals no longer work on the current prelate in Chicago who has some kind of antidote against its power.
The chief concern among CTA members now is what will happen to this sacred pipe once the last member returns to Mother Earth soon--leaving behind neither heirs nor young initiates into the Rites of CTA. They are summoning the four winds to go an seek an answer.
If you walk by All Saints Church during their upcoming convention, you will hear their elderly voices pleading in ruptured song, "Sing Out, Earth and Sky!"
John:
Actually, you'd hear some darn good gospel hymns from All Saints...they do that very well there, I admit.
Also (full disclosure) I've met the pastor of All Saints. He's not all that bad, but still...
Does Archbishop Dolan (formerly from my neck o' the woods in St. Louis) not have the authority to bar Call to Action from any diocese property? Their appearance at a Catholic parish ... any Catholic parish ... connotes endorsement at least in a limited nature.
You've got to love the subtitle: "They suspect archbishop disapproves of Catholic reform organization"
Hmm, Do you Think So?
From what I've read, associating with All Saints parish will in fact reflect quite perfectly on the Call to Action group. A couple other blogs I read have mentioned All Saints parish; however, never in a good way. This would seem to be one more reason (# 4,652 if you're counting) for Archbishop Dolan to pay them a "pastoral" visit and dispense with a Liturgical and Pastoral Smackdown. Who knows, maybe his grace was just waiting for All Saints to step up and provide another bullet to their executioners?
All Saints is a consolidation of several closed North Side parishes. Naturally, instead of one of the beautiful old churches, they had to choose an early 60's crackerjack box of a building. The first pastor, Fr. (now Bishop) Joseph Perry, did his best to keep things somewhat conventional, but his flock had a mind of its own...
Yes, it would have been more awesome if he had banned Gumby from any of the churches in the diocese and left him talking to himself at a truck stop on the state line, like he deserves.
Wait a minute. The priest *was* a Capuchin, left, got married, got divorced and THEN became a priest. HUH???
Who does this guy know, anyway? I think he needs to go to jail next--you know--just to round out the whole gamut of experiences.
That's not the whole story. See my blog (unabashed self-promotion there) for the rest of it.
CTA is hardly the worst problem. It's the gay-"marriage" snivelers which are the worst problem.
And, YES, Laura, he could be "more awesome."
He could have banned this bunch of heretics (or perhaps burned them...) from ALL of the Archdiocese's properties.
Half a measure is good, but not best, and certainly not "awesome."
In the mid-90s, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz (Lincoln, Nebraska) told all members of Call to Action, and other dissenters in his diocese, they had 30 days to resign or they were excommunicated. Period. No ifs ands or buts; no discussion. Bishop Bruskewitz is the gold standard of bishops in this country.
Oh, Bp. Dolan's action was quite stinging enough to be getting on with. It really would be too much to expect him to ban the previous bishop from the diocese altogether. That would only make a hero of him. Chancery-watchers know how unusual it is publicly to show disapproval of a retired bishop, and the message has definitely been delivered, and understood.
I'm a big fan of rock salt, myself. Works on all kinds of critters.