John Krejci is denied communion by Lincoln, Neb., Bishop Bruskewitz

CTA Nebraska co-founder John Krejci was denied Communion on three separate occasions in Lincoln, Neb., during February, once by Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz with what Krejci described as "an unfriendly wave of the hand,” and later by two parish priests on orders from the bishop. In two of the incidents, Krejci then stepped up to the altar and gave himself communion. He told the news media he did so to protest an unjust action. Krejci has been a daily communicant for years.

The incidents come nine years after Bruskewitz excommunicated Krejci and all other members of Call To Action in his diocese. CTA/NE members filed a canonical appeal of that censure in 1996 and have never heard the Vatican's decision. Their understanding was that with an appeal pending, they could still receive communion, and no one has ever been turned away at communion time except Krejci in the latest episode. A chancery official now claims that the Vatican told Bruskewitz some time ago that the appeal had been rejected. The chancery offers no explanation why only Krejci has been refused the Eucharist. News stories point out that Krejci, a priest who resigned active ministry in 1971 and got married, was a fellow seminarian with Bruskewitz in Rome in the 1960s.

Krejci has been a vocal critic of Bruskewitz's handling of priest sex-abuse cases. Since the U.S. Bishops adopted their Dallas charter on sex abuse in 2002, Bruskewitz denounced its rules publicly, threatened to sue the bishops’ conference if forced to comply, was found non-compliant in a 2003 nationwide audit of dioceses, and refused even to participate in a second audit in 2004. Meanwhile the diocese settled two clergy sex abuse cases for sums of money kept secret under confidentiality agreements. Dodging the 2004 audit was a way to hide these cases. But CTA/NE a took the initiative of reporting them to the bishops’ conference.

CTA/NE’s current board members, chaired by the co-president of national CTA, Patty Hawk, are consulting canon lawyers about an appropriate response to the communion denials. They are also seeking to keep the spotlight on Bruskewitz's defiant refusal to implement the sex abuse rules now being followed in every other diocese.

On a personal level, other CTA members in Lincoln are shocked and hurt. Rachel Pokora writes, “Who is next? What separates me from John Krejci? We are both cradle Catholics, and both on the CTA/NE board. Am I to be turned away from the table with a flick of the hand?” The CTA/NE board is considering a retreat to help members deal with the pain.

You may wish to send your own words of support to our brothers and sisters at CTA Nebraska. Address them to ctan@alltel.net