Banned by the bishops from using the word Catholic in their name, Catholic Action raised the ire of MP's after sending an email telling them they were "on the road to hell for all eternity" if they voted in favour of the Marriage Amendment Bill.

The group also sent follow-up emails to MP's, including the Green's Kevin Hague, saying that homosexuality was "an abomination crying out to Heaven for vengeance", and accusing Hague and Labour MP Ruth Dyson of having "an agenda promoting abominable perversity".

Labelling homosexuality as a 'mortal sin' the group said homosexuality would see people "cast into hell to suffer eternal punishment".

Group spokesperson, Arthur Skinner, said the New Zealand Bishops' inactivity on the matter meant they have to take the issue on and do the bishops' jobs for them.

Skinner accused the NZ Bishops of becoming mere politicians.

President of the NZ Catholic Bishops' Conference, Archbishop John Dew, reiterated that Catholic Action does not have permission to use the name Catholic, but said he would not excommunicate Skinner.

"We have made it known to them and to others that they haven't sought permission from the bishops to use the name Catholic, and we've told them not to use it," Dew said, "but there isn't actually anything else we can do. It would have to be something heretical for them to be excommunicated".

MP Kevin Hague, however, noted that the Catholic bishops who had been vigorous in their opposition to the Marriage Amendment, will not move against Skinner.

"It's interesting whether the Catholic bishops are effectively saying the same thing, but in a more genteel way," he said.

Hague said it is incumbent on the bishops to identify the substantial differences between their position and that of Catholic Action.

Archbishop Dew said he had not seen Catholic Action's submission.

"We try and say whatever is done should be done in charity, and so using language which is inflammatory is not charitable language, not a part of who we are as gospel people," he said.

Archbishop Dew said he'd had no response to his letter to Skinner and Catholic Action denying them the right to use the name Catholic, and didn't expect one.

He said it was the first time he'd been aware of a group using the church's name without permission.

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The bishops do not consider the language used by the group in its communications, and actions the group has taken, to be consistent with the way in which a Catholic group should operate.

Canon Law provides for bishops to grant permission for the use of the name Catholic and the ability to remove it. The bishops have sent a letter to all Members of Parliament informing them that they do not have permission to use the word Catholic in their name and to cease using it. The bishops also assured Members that they do not condone the way in which the group operates, and that they do not consider it to be a Catholic group.

Catholic Action sent communications to MPs and media throughout their campaign against the Marriage Definition Bill. Their submission was rejected on the grounds that it was offensive. This means it was not considered or even seen by the committee, and will never be released publicly by Parliament.

Catholic action has previously protested against "blasphemous" art at Te Papa, ripped down church billboards depicting the Virgin Mary taking a pregnancy test, called for Auckland Bishop Patrick Dunn to be sacked by the Pope if he did not to recant his qualified support for contraception, and called New Zealand's Catholic bishops "gutless".

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"Co-responsibility," he said, "requires a change in mentality, particularly with regard to the role of the laity in the Church."

"It is important, therefore," he added, "that a mature and committed laity be united, who are able to make their own specific contribution to the Church's mission, in accordance with the ministries and tasks each one has in the life of the Church, and always in cordial communion with the bishops."

The Pope's wish to see laity co-responsible for the Church was expressed in his message to the 6th Assembly of the International Catholic Action Forum, being held in Romania.

Recalling that the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church spoke of the laity-clergy relationship as "familiar", Pope Benedict said it is "important to deepen and to live out this spirit of profound communion in the Church, which characterised the early Christian community, as the book of the Acts of the Apostles attests".

"Feel the commitment to work for the Church's mission to be your own," he told the lay group, "through prayer, through study, through active participation in ecclesial life, through an attentive and positive gaze at the world, in the continual search for the signs of the times."

Encouraging "serious and daily" ongoing formation, the Pope said the laity are "called to be courageous and credible witnesses in every sphere of society, so that the Gospel might be the light that brings hope in difficult situations, in troubles and in the darkness that men today so often find along the path of life".

Sources:

Zenit

Catholic News Agency

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