On March 19, 1996, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, issued a warning to Catholic members of a dozen groups to sever ties with the organizations by April 15, 1996, or face excommunication within his diocese. One of the groups, Call to Action, appealed to the Vatican. Bishop Bruskewitz recently received the response:

In a Nov. 24 letter to the Lincoln bishop, made public Dec. 8, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Bishops, told Bishop Bruskewitz that his ruling "was properly taken within your competence as pastor of that diocese."

"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," the cardinal said in his letter.

"Thus to be a member of this association or to support it is irreconcilable with a coherent living of the Catholic faith," he added.

Cardinal Re's letter mentions only Call to Action, not the other eleven groups covered by Bruskewitz's ruling.

The December 8 issue of the Southern Nebraska Register, newspaper of the Diocese of Lincoln, contains a summary of the story, including a mini-history--written from a certain point of view--of Call to Action. Despite never having maintained his own list of Catholics excommunicated by his order, the "remedy," Bruskewitz explains,

is not difficult: Catholics who wish to return to full communion with the Church need only repudiate their membership in these groups by sending a letter to the organization and having their names removed from any rosters or mailing lists. Then, they can seek out the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where their priests can guide them in confession and penance.

They may be asked to make a profession of faith, noted Bishop Bruskewitz, because membership in these organizations often requires them to reject Catholicism and take dissenting oaths.

[Update via Amy Welborn: the Lincoln Journal Star reports on the controversy.]

These events raise several questions. What, for example, does it mean for a Catholic to be excommunicated within the confines of a given diocese, but not in another? Without reference to any procedure, without the signature of Secretary Monterisi, what canonical force does Re's letter have? Given that no Catholics are actually named by Bruskewitz in his decree (or apparently anywhere), and none has been given the opportunity for a full legal procedure, what canonical standing does his order possess? Where does Re's letter leave Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago, where Call to Action headquarters are located? Or Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee, where Call to Action holds its annual meeting?

I'm looking into these questions, and will report back when I get some answers.