THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 13, 1996 TAG: 9606130018
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 25 lines
Does Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of the Lincoln Diocese in Nebraska think we're in the 9th or 10th century?
According to news reports, he is using the threat of excommunication to prohibit Catholics from affiliating with proscribed groups - an exercise in futility.
Excommunication may have worked with the largely uneducated masses of medieval Europe, but this is the 20th century - only a few years from the 21st century.
Excommunication is a toothless tiger. Those who defy the bishop's wishes will either leave the church or find a congregation given to freer thinking. And since there will be no formal record or notification of affiliation , how will the order be enforced?
We need dialogue on issues, not confrontational action such as this. These only serve to drive wedges between people and intensify radical actions.
GEORGE J. WEBER
Virginia Beach, June 1, 1996 by CNB