Latest news with #excommunication
CTV News
01-08-2025
- CTV News
Spanish court orders rebel nuns out of convent
In this file photo dated Sept. 1945, Pope Pius XII, wearing the ring of St. Peter, raises his right hand in a papal blessing at the Vatican. (AP Photo) A Spanish court has ordered a group of nuns excommunicated from the Catholic Church to be expelled from their convent, according to a legal ruling viewed by AFP Friday. The nuns, from the Order of Saint Clara, announced in May last year that they were breaking with the Vatican over doctrinal differences and claims their wish to buy another convent had been blocked. They have since declared allegiance to an excommunicated ultra-conservative priest who has rejected the validity of all popes since the death of Pius XII in 1958. The Archbishop of Burgos asked the nuns to leave the 15th century convent in the northern town of Belorado, saying they had no legal right to remain there after excommunication but they refused. In a the ruling, dated Thursday, a court in the nearby town of Briviesca sided with the archbishop, instructing the nine remaining nuns to leave and return the convent to the Church. 'If they do not comply voluntarily, they will be forcibly evicted,' the court said, noting that the Church had presented valid documentation of ownership, while the nuns had offered no legal title justifying their continued use of the property. The court did not set a specific date for the eviction. During a hearing on Tuesday, the nuns' lawyer, Florentino Alaez, said his clients would appeal if the court ruled they had to leave the convent. One of the nuns, Sister Paloma, told reporters that the convent 'is ours'. 'We are not isolated nuns, we are a legal entity, and they are our possessions,' she added. The nuns issued a 70-page manifesto last year declaring their break from the Church. They accused ecclesiastical authorities of sabotaging a planned purchase of another convent in Spain's Basque Country and denounced what they called the Vatican's 'doctrinal chaos' and 'contradictions.' They also declared allegiance to Pablo de Rojas Sánchez-Franco, a priest excommunicated in 2019 who leads the fringe group 'Pious Union of Saint Paul the Apostle.' Rojas adheres to sedevacantism, a radical belief that all popes since Pius XII (1939–1958) are illegitimate.
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Spanish court orders rebel nuns out of convent
A Spanish court has ordered a group of nuns excommunicated from the Catholic Church to be expelled from their convent, according to a legal ruling viewed by AFP Friday. The nuns, from the Order of Saint Clara, announced in May last year that they were breaking with the Vatican over doctrinal differences and claims their wish to buy another convent had been blocked. They have since declared allegiance to an excommunicated ultra-conservative priest who has rejected the validity of all popes since the death of Pius XII in 1958. The Archbishop of Burgos asked the nuns to leave the 15th century convent in the northern town of Belorado, saying they had no legal right to remain there after excommunication but they refused. In a the ruling, dated Thursday, a court in the nearby town of Briviesca sided with the archbishop, instructing the nine remaining nuns to leave and return the convent to the Church. 'If they do not comply voluntarily, they will be forcibly evicted,' the court said, noting that the Church had presented valid documentation of ownership, while the nuns had offered no legal title justifying their continued use of the property. The court did not set a specific date for the eviction. During a hearing on Tuesday, the nuns' lawyer, Florentino Alaez, said his clients would appeal if the court ruled they had to leave the convent. One of the nuns, Sister Paloma, told reporters that the convent "is ours". "We are not isolated nuns, we are a legal entity, and they are our possessions," she added. The nuns issued a 70-page manifesto last year declaring their break from the Church. They accused ecclesiastical authorities of sabotaging a planned purchase of another convent in Spain's Basque Country and denounced what they called the Vatican's "doctrinal chaos" and "contradictions." They also declared allegiance to Pablo de Rojas Sánchez-Franco, a priest excommunicated in 2019 who leads the fringe group "Pious Union of Saint Paul the Apostle." Rojas adheres to sedevacantism, a radical belief that all popes since Pius XII (1939–1958) are illegitimate. du/ds/ach
Daily Mail
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Mormon mom who was outed as OnlyFans star details dark underbelly of the religion
A Mormon mom who was shunned by her church after she was outed as an OnlyFans star has lifted a lid on the secrets that go on behind closed doors in the religion that members don't want you to know about. Holly Jane, 42, originally from California, spent years living a 'double life' - making tens of thousands of dollars a month selling sultry snaps of herself on the adult site while keeping her raunchy career hidden from the members of her community. But in 2022, Holly's OnlyFans account was exposed and she was kicked out of the church, and the backlash from her peers was so intense that she eventually decided to move to a new town in a bid to start over. Now, Holly has spoken exclusively with the Daily Mail about the dark underbelly of the Mormon religion, laying bare the immense 'pressure' put on members to act a certain way. She explained that there are 'unwritten' rules that control everything from the way you 'dress' to how you 'speak.' She also claimed that women have to 'suppress' themselves and that intimacy is fiercely shunned, leading to 'unhealthy' views on sex. While chatting with the Daily Mail, Holly recalled her entire world being turned upside down after her OnlyFans career was exposed and she was excommunicated from the church. 'Honestly, I felt empty. Despite all the memories, and all the time I had spent – none of it mattered,' she said. Holly Jane, 42, from California, spent years living a 'double life' - selling sultry snaps of herself on the adult site while keeping her raunchy career a secret from the members of her church 'That warm feeling I had for the people in that church, the connection I thought we shared – it turned out to be one-sided. I cared more than they did. 'I moved and cut ties with them all, and no one ever called or reached out... I've experienced a lot of loss.' Holly slammed the 'double standard' in the religion, pointing out that many Mormon influencers have confessed to 'soft-swinging' - where couples engage in sexual activity with other couples - but were not kicked out of the church. 'People pick and choose who to judge and who to protect, and in a community built on values like accountability and forgiveness, it feels unfair that some are cast out while others are shielded,' she scathed. 'But life isn't fair and at the end of the day, each bishop makes decisions based on what's brought to him. That's just how it goes.' It's no secret that the Mormon religion has strict rules for its members, including no alcohol, tobacco, coffee, porn, and sex outside of marriage, amongst other things. Members are also expected to dress modestly - but Holly said it's much more than that. 'Even married adults are expected to suppress parts of themselves. Modesty stops being just about clothing – it becomes about personality, presence, even how confidently you walk into a room,' she said. 'There's constant pressure to shrink, to fit into some invisible "appropriate" box – or risk being labeled rebellious or unworthy. 'I'm a grown woman. I'm a mom. Embracing my sexuality isn't shameful – it's empowering. It doesn't take away from my faith or values. 'But in Mormonism, especially for women, boldness is threatening. That's what's unhealthy. It teaches guilt and hiding, even into adulthood.' She said the rules extend way beyond what you can and can't consume, and claimed there's an intense 'pressure,' especially on women, to act a certain way. 'There's an unwritten rulebook – how many kids to have, when to marry, how involved to be,' she shared. 'It's not in the doctrine, but if you don't follow it, you're judged. Culture over commandments. Bishops (male leaders) hear everything. 'We're told how to dress, speak, act, and what kind of wife and mother to be – all while suppressing huge parts of who we are.' She said members of the church are expected to 'confess' any bad thoughts they've had to their bishop, who in reality, is just a 'regular guy with no mental health training.' 'Imagine being 16 and having to explain your sexual thoughts to a middle-aged man,' she said. According to Holly, girls are taught from a young age that showing too much skin could 'cause someone else to sin,' which she said 'creates a twisted sense of responsibility for men's thoughts.' 'Women learn to shrink, hide, stay quiet – and that doesn't disappear in adulthood,' scathed the single mom. Holly believes she's not the only one has broken the Mormon rules in secret, in fact, she believes there are many others like her who are committing acts that would be frowned upon by the church without their knowledge just like she was. 'That pressure builds. Eventually, people push back – quietly or loudly, like I did,' she added. 'What I'm doing isn't so different – I just chose to stop hiding. I know a lot of women who wish they could too, but they're scared of losing family, friends, and their Church standing. So yes – it's more common than people think. 'On the outside, Mormon families look perfect – Pinterest homes, polished kids, church smiles. 'But behind closed doors, there's pressure, anxiety, depression, and hidden addictions. 'You're taught to protect the Church's reputation at all costs – even if it means suffering silently.' She explained that despite not agreeing with all of the Mormon views, she still practices the religion and is trying to be accepted into the church in her new town Holly relocated from Oregon to Texas after her OnlyFans career was exposed, and she was sent an official letter listing the things she could no longer do, including taking part in sacraments and entering the temple. But she explained that despite not agreeing with all of the Mormon views, she still practices the religion and is trying to be accepted into the church in her new town. 'I felt like there was an emptiness since I stopped attending [church]. But I'll never stop [my OnlyFans career],' she shared. 'I enjoy it, and I see it as a calling so I'm not asking the bishop's permission – he can keep his opinions to himself.' In the end, she hopes by sharing her story it can help other Mormon women to embrace their sexuality and not feel ashamed. 'I'm not here to tear down anyone's beliefs. I just want women to know they're allowed to be whole – spiritual, sexual, expressive – and still worthy of love, faith, and community,' she concluded.
New York Times
25-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
The Church Could Use an American Pope
To convey how all-encompassing the Roman Catholic Church was during the Middle Ages, the historian R.W. Southern once offered a striking analogy: The medieval church, he wrote in 1970, was 'a compulsory society in precisely the same way as the modern state is a compulsory society.' Like a modern nation, whose citizens typically belong to it by the accident of birth within its territory and whose obligations to obey its laws and pay taxes are typically not undertaken by choice, the medieval church could expect obedience, allegiance and what we now call 'participation' from those who, by another seeming accident — baptism — found themselves within its ranks. This idea of the Catholic Church not as a voluntary association of individuals but as a total social organism — from which one could escape only by means of excommunication, with its threat of 'eternal fire' — is now hard for most of us to imagine. In the post-industrialized West, religious practice has become a choice, even for those who are baptized as infants. Catholicism, like other religions, is essentially subject to the consumer logic of the marketplace, forced to compete with other possible ways of pursuing self-actualization among a like-minded community of believers. In the United States, of course, the Catholic Church has always operated like this: without state power, amid a variety of other religious options, often fighting for its survival. Though many of us are still reeling from the sheer improbability of Leo XIV's election as the first American pope, the significance of his Americanness transcends the bare fact of his election. What would once have been considered his uniquely American experience of the faith — as something voluntary, improvised, provisional — has now become the default condition of Catholic life worldwide. In this respect, his origins could prove to be among his greatest assets in leading the church. Leo XIV was born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago in 1955. The jokes write themselves — about 'da pope,' about imposing deep dish pizza on the Italian peninsula by papal edict, about Leo's election having been prophesied in 2006 by Dennis Green, the coach of the Arizona Cardinals, who in a memorable rant invited the news media to 'crown' the Chicago Bears. But when Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, was asked this month by NBC News about the elevation of an American pontiff, he wept. 'The culture of Chicago and the Midwest produced a pope,' he said. 'That's terrific.' It is terrific. And if anything, Cardinal Cupich's regional pride (which, as a Michigander, I share) undersells the distinctively American character of Leo's experience. The descendant of Creoles — his mother's family's race was listed as Black in the census of 1900 — Leo was raised in a parish in Chicago where the church he attended is now deconsecrated, its walls streaked with graffiti. He has two brothers who are almost archetypes of their generation: John, a Wordle-playing retired school principal and lifelong Chicago-area resident; and Louis, a Florida transplant and vociferous MAGA supporter who has described himself as 'not the most religious person.' The brothers' rise from modest brick houses to the professional classes, their dispersion across political and geographical lines — this is the post-Vatican II American Catholic story in miniature. It is a story of fracture, mobility, volition. When Leo was elected to the papacy, the three brothers still spoke weekly by phone. That Leo, despite spending most of his mature ecclesial career abroad in Peru and Rome, has managed to navigate the shifting terrain of the past half century without losing hold of his brothers — without, one might say, ceasing to be their brother — is no small thing. It suggests a talent not only for mediation but also for holding together what history has pulled apart. This unifying instinct is also evident in Leo's earlier remarks as a priest. Speaking at a synod in 2012 on the challenge of evangelization in the modern world, Father Prevost remarked that the Catholic Church often finds itself speaking a different language than the culture around it. Would-be listeners, he observed, are conditioned to find the Gospel message not merely wrong but 'ideological and emotionally cruel.' In this environment, he suggested, speaking the truth is not enough; evangelization must understand the unwelcoming context in which it operates. To present the truth in love, he argued, is a matter not only of what the church teaches but also how, when and to whom. This is a far cry from the academic perspective of the theology department or the bureaucratic outlook of the chancery office. Leo appears to see the Catholic Church not as a theory to be tested or a program to be implemented but as a thing to be lived — haphazardly, inconsistently, often with more fervor than clarity. It is worth noting that Leo's predecessor and namesake, Pope Leo XIII, was the first pope to reflect at length on the United States. In 'Longinqua oceani,' an encyclical from 1895, Leo XIII regarded the United States favorably, with a mixture of admiration and guarded optimism. Nonetheless, he continued to view America as something of an ecclesiastical periphery, a promising outpost, perhaps, but one that depended upon the spiritual and intellectual reinforcement of Europe. He did not imagine a world in which the American church would one day be in a position to represent Catholicism more broadly. Americans are often parochial, and not in a good sense. But it is possible that our strange and uneven relationship with the Catholic faith has given us insight. Catholicism in this country arrived late — at the twilight of Christendom. It survived not by imperial privilege but by adaptation. It endured as an ethnic identity and the source of a moral vocabulary for politicians that gave us both the New Deal and the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Today it is being revitalized by hundreds of thousands of Hispanic immigrants and a countercultural youth movement of urban parishes filled with Latin, incense and crying babies. Anyone who can speak to this cacophony — who can describe it without resorting to caricature, without reducing the American Catholic Church to MAGA hats or rainbow flags — might just possess the imagination necessary to comprehend the whole of the faith. For the universality of the Catholic Church is not abstract; it is as richly textured as Dante's 'Divine Comedy,' cosmopolitan but disorderly. It includes traditionalist devotees of the Latin Mass, those accustomed to modern acculturated Masses in Latin America and Africa and hundreds of millions of churchgoers who have never given a thought to the liturgy. It includes the lapsed, the divorced and the remarried. It includes the persecuted remnant of the faithful in Burma, the slum children of Manila, Polish grandmothers, Japanese adherents of Our Lady of Akita and, yes, the sort of sports-mad Chicagoans memorably evoked by the character Bill Swerski and his fellow superfans on 'Saturday Night Live' ('Da Bears'). If Leo manages to encompass all of this, his American origins will surely be part of the reason. His election is not evidence of the Vatican's final capitulation to modernity but a reminder that, whatever its challenges, the church persists — not as a fortress or an intellectual proposition but as a people.
CBS News
06-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
The role of women in the Catholic Church remains a divisive issue
The role of women in the Catholic Church is a big issue The role of women in the Catholic Church is a big issue The role of women in the Catholic Church is a big issue With the conclave to select a new Pope beginning on May 7, many are wondering in what direction a new pope will take the Catholic Church. The role of women in the Church is a big issue, and there are Catholics in the Pittsburgh region hoping women will be able to take bigger roles in the near future. In an intimate church service, Reverend Gerry Lococo celebrates mass as an ordained Roman Catholic priest in the basement of an Episcopal church in Brighton Heights. The community is called "Sunday's Bread." Lococo and a few hundred other women have been ordained outside the official church structure, and because the Catholic Church forbids women from becoming priests, Lococo is excommunicated. Yet she describes herself as a "cradle Catholic." "I love the sacramental church that we have. We have all these sacraments, yet I cannot receive all of them. Holy Orders is a sacrament. Doesn't that seem a little bit odd for members of a church to not be able to receive all of the sacraments?" Lococo says. A Pew Research survey in February found 59% of U.S. Catholics say the Church should allow women to become priests; however, the Catholic Church believes only men can be priests, in part because Jesus was a man. Lococo is married and says she was called to be a priest after decades as a social worker, but the inspiration started as a child. "I used to play mass with my brothers. We would have the little vanilla wafers or something like that, and I would actually (act out the mass)," Lococo says. Support for women becoming deacons is even higher than for priests. Sixty-eight percent of U.S. Catholics say women should be allowed to become deacons. Catholic deacons can give sermons and perform some services, like baptisms and funerals. Since the 1960s, married men have been allowed to be deacons. Dr. Phyllis Zagano is recognized globally as an expert on the diaconate for women. She says there's only one person in scripture with the job title of deacon – Saint Phoebe, and that women were ordained as deacons in the Catholic Church up to the middle of the 12th century. She says it's time to allow women to be deacons again. "The church, by ordaining women, would say to the world that half the planet is worthy of respect, is made in the image and likeness of God," Zagano says. In 2016, Pope Francis appointed Zagano to a papal commission that met at the Vatican to discuss whether women should be allowed to be deacons. Pope Francis and Vatican leaders did not make any changes to the current practice. Zagano says many people are hopeful the new pope will allow women to take more leadership in the Church, including as deacons. "I think if we don't, it will be a problem for the Church and the world because women are pretty much fed up with the Catholic Church. They're leaving, and they're leaving with their husbands and their children and with their checkbooks." Lococo says she will continue to serve as she feels called and hopes a new pope will recognize her ministry. "We always have hope. We always have hope. In this season of Easter, I am hopeful. Who knows what the conclave will result in?" American Catholics are sometimes more open to change and considered more "liberal" than Catholics in other countries. Only 7% of Catholics around the world are from the United States.
