San Bernadino, CA: Who would have thunk it?

I have family in San Bernadino, but I learn of this via Amy Welborn's blog Open Book, which owes it to The Press-Enterprise in San Bernardino, CA:


The Diocese of San Bernardino today will hold what experts say could
be one of the few Roman Catholic heresy trials in U.S. history.

The priest on trial refuses to attend the hearing, which he calls
"medieval and totally un-Christian."

"It's like the Inquisition has returned," said the Rev. Ned Reidy, of
Bermuda Dunes, who also is charged with schism.

The church defines heresy as the denial of a church truth and schism
as the refusal to submit to the authority of the pope or church
leaders.

If the diocesan tribunal concludes that Reidy committed heresy and
schism, he will be formally excommunicated from the church -- although
the Vatican believes no one can ever fully lose his priesthood. Heresy
is the same charge that Galileo faced for defying church teaching.

Reidy, 69, does not deny the principal allegations against him: that
he left the Roman Catholic Church for another religion and espouses
teachings that violate church doctrine.

Reidy served 19 years as pastor of Christ of the Desert Roman Catholic
parish in Palm Desert before resigning from the Order of the Holy
Cross in 1999 to join the Ecumenical Catholic Communion, which does
not recognize the Vatican's authority and has beliefs that Reidy said
are more in synch with his own. In 2000, Reidy founded an Ecumenical
Catholic parish in Bermuda Dunes, just east of Palm Desert. It is one
of 18 Ecumenical Catholic parishes nationwide.

The denomination, based in the city of Orange, holds more liberal
views than the Vatican on issues such as divorce, birth control and
homosexuality, and it ordains married, female, divorced and gay
priests.

Reidy was automatically excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church
when he joined the Ecumenical Catholic Communion. The diocese is
holding the heresy and schism trial because some Roman Catholics might
still believe Reidy is a practicing Roman Catholic priest, said the
Rev. Howard Lincoln, spokesman for the diocese. Reidy's current church
is only a few miles from his old Roman Catholic parish, Lincoln said.

"He is still using the term 'Catholic' in quotes, in advertising and
on the Internet," he said. "Because of the confusion in not
differentiating between his church and the Roman Catholic Church, the
diocese felt we must proceed with this official action in order to
make that distinction."

Reidy said he severed his ties to the Roman Catholic Church when he
resigned from his order. The homepage of Reidy's current parish,
Pathfinder Community of the Risen Christ, states: "We are a
Non-Roman-Catholic Community."

The diocese issued a letter in April 2000 shortly after Reidy founded
the Pathfinder parish warning Roman Catholics not to attend his
services or retreats. Reidy said several parishioners from his former
Roman Catholic parish, Christ of the Desert, have followed him to
Pathfinder.

The letter states that Roman Catholics who participate in a Mass or
other rites associated with groups such as Ecumenical Catholics would
suffer "serious spiritual harm."


Earlier Trial in Corona

Lincoln said the diocese has held one previous heresy trial. That one
involved the Rev. Anthony Garduno, formerly of St. Edward parish in
Corona.

The diocese held the trial because Garduno in 1996 formed a church in
Corona with beliefs similar to the Ecumenical Catholic Communion.

Garduno left St. Edward after 1993 allegations that he had asked a man
to strip during premarriage counseling.

Although Garduno said there was a church trial against him in 2003, he
insisted it was not for heresy, but for not being in union with the
pope. He said the documents he received in 2003 on the trial did not
mention the word "schism" either.

Garduno said he did not attend the hearing because the diocese no
longer has jurisdiction over him.

Lawrence Cunningham, a professor of theology at the University of
Notre Dame in Indiana and an expert on church history, said he is
unaware of Catholic heresy trials in the United States outside the San
Bernardino diocese. Several other Roman Catholic scholars said they,
too, are unaware of other U.S. trials.

Monsignor Thomas Green, a professor of canon law at The Catholic
University of America in Washington, D.C., said such trials in modern
times are rare worldwide.

"By and large, once you get past the Council of Trent and the 1600s
and 1700s, you don't hear much about it," he said.

Heresy trials can occur at the Vatican or in a diocesan court. Green
said the last time the Vatican itself formally excommunicated a priest
for heresy was in 1997, when the Rev. Tissa Balasuriya of Sri Lanka
was denounced for his views on original sin. Balasuriya later
reconciled with the Vatican.

The one-day closed trial of Reidy is being held today in the Halls of
the Tribunal at the diocese's San Bernardino headquarters. Three
diocesan priests will serve as judges at the trial, which will also
include other diocesan officials. A ruling is expected within several
days, Lincoln said.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which outlines Vatican doctrine,
defines heresy as "the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth."
Green said that means the rejection of fundamental matters of faith,
such as the Holy Trinity or the virgin birth of Jesus. The catechism
defines schism as "refusal of submission to the Roman pontiff."

In a June 15 document delineating the accusations, Stephen Osborn,
promoter of justice for the diocese, wrote that Reidy committed
"offenses against the Christian faithful by espousing and teaching
matters contrary to divine law and to the universal law of the
Catholic Church."

Among other things, Osborn cites the Ecumenical Catholic church's
refusal to accept the infallibility of the pope, its blessing of
same-sex unions and its ordination of women.

Bishop Peter Hickman, the Ecumenical Catholic denomination's leader,
said the language in Osborn's missive is offensive.

"The cold, mean-spirited tone of the letter makes you think this was
from a few centuries ago," he said.

Lincoln said the letter is worded carefully to be in accordance with canon
law.

Green, the Catholic University canon law expert, said heresy trials
occurred "not infrequently" through the 1600s, although there are no
reliable statistics on the exact number.

Perhaps the most famous heresy trial was the one in 1633 against
Galileo for teaching that the Earth revolves around the sun. He was
sentenced to lifelong house arrest.

Others found guilty of heresy during inquisitions from the 12th to
19th centuries suffered penalties as severe as torture or death.

Frank Flinn, an adjunct professor of religious studies at Washington
University in St. Louis and a former Roman Catholic friar, predicted
that the San Bernardino trial will backfire and publicize a
little-known denomination that might appeal to disenchanted Roman
Catholics looking for a liberal alternative that preserves Catholic
rituals.


Left to Avoid Reassignment

Reidy said he joined the Ecumenical Catholic Communion because the
Holy Cross order planned to reassign him and he did not want to leave
the desert. The order typically limits a priest's stay in one parish
to 12 years.

In 2003, the Holy Cross order formally dismissed Reidy, said the Rev.
Ken Molinaro, assistant provincial for the order.

Reidy, who was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1962, said he
had long questioned church teachings on the ordination of women and
other issues. However, he said, he would have stayed at Christ of the
Desert indefinitely because he had a long history there, liked his
parishioners and was able to take "a progressive approach" to liturgy
and ministry.

Most of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion's 35 priests are former
Roman Catholic priests, Hickman said.

Lincoln said the diocese is not taking action against other Ecumenical
priests because it is unaware of any others who had been pastors in
the diocese.

The Rev. John Coughlin, a law professor at Notre Dame and an expert in
canon law, said although the trial can be conducted at the diocesan
level, Reidy would have the right to appeal any ruling to the Vatican.
Reidy said he has no plans to do so because an appeal would give the
decision legitimacy.

Coughlin said there are less drastic ways for the diocese to make it
clear that Reidy is no longer a Roman Catholic priest.

"It doesn't make sense if he's left the priesthood and left the
Catholic Church for him to be tried," Coughlin said. "It seems to me
it could be achieved by a simple statement by the bishop that the
priest is no longer a Roman Catholic priest."