Roman Catholic Bishop Robert Morlino is trying to quell a backlash against some conservative priests in Platteville by warning parishioners that they risk the possibility of being barred from sacraments such as communion, confession and burial.A report Sunday said the warning came Wednesday in a five-page letter from Morlino to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Platteville.
The congregation has been roiled by opposition to the traditionalist priests, who arrived in June 2010.
Donations are down by more than half since they arrived, and about 40 percent of the 1,200 members have signed a petition seeking the priests’ ouster.
The church’s 77-year-old school is set to close June 1, a loss many parishioners blame on the collapse in donations.
The priests are from the Society of Jesus Christ the Priest, a group known for traditionalist liturgy and devotion to strict Catholic teaching.
The bishop’s letter stunned many parishioners.
“There’s almost shock and awe,” said Myron Tranel, a member of the church’s finance council. “But mostly, there’s a lot of disappointment that the bishop has decided to deal with it this way.”
Other members applauded the bishop, saying decisive action was needed.
“This is a warning shot across the bow — you either want to be a Catholic or you don’t,” said Gregory Merrick, a member of the church’s pastoral council.
Morlino’s main message was that this should be a time of “prayer, serious introspection and forgiveness,” said Brent King, spokesman for the Diocese of Madison, which covers 11 counties in southwestern Wisconsin.
“The bishop’s caution that ‘this cannot continue’ should not be made into anything more than that — a caution,” King said.
Critics say the priests emphasize doctrine over pastoral care and institute changes. Among other things, they do not allow girls to be altar servers or allow parishioners to assist in distributing communion.
Morlino has stood by them, and wrote that the priests have admitted “that they undertook some changes in a way that was abrupt for many people.”
Yet, he said no one has provided concrete examples of them straying from church doctrine.
In the end, the bishop wrote, they’re teaching the Catholic faith properly “and what remains are personal likes and dislikes, along with inflated rumors and gossip, some of which may even rise to the level of calumnious inciting of hatred of your priests, the faith and myself.”
An addendum cites many church laws, including one that says anyone who publicly incites animosities or hatred toward church authorities “is to be punished by an interdict or other just penalties.”
“Interdict is a very severe penalty that effectively prohibits the Catholic sacraments from being celebrated,” said the Rev. Steven Avella, a history professor at Marquette University.
Dennis Doyle, a Catholic theologian at the University of Dayton, said an interdict differs from excommunication in that the person still is considered a church member.
Rosemary Anderson, who now attends services elsewhere, said parishioners aren’t trying to make some grand statement.
“Platteville, Wisconsin, is not the hotbed of revolutionary movement in the world,” she said. “We just want our parish community back.”