Five years after excommunication, CTA steadfast in Lincoln

CTA members in the Lincoln, Neb., diocese were told March 22, 1996 by Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz that they had six weeks to leave CTA or be excommunicated. Most Lincoln CTAers stayed the course, and this spring are celebrating the fifth anniversary of the ban. Right on cue, Providence sent them an anniversary card: the Lincoln Journal Star printed a large photograph of, and ran a lengthy feature story about, Rachel Pokora, a 32-year-old university professor who is proud of her lifelong commitment to Catholicism, social justice and women’s equality in the Church — and equally proud to be part of CTA in Lincoln! “The whole excommunication is a huge issue to me,” she said in the article. “I actually don’t acknowledge that as valid.” Pokora is one of the leaders of national CTA’s Next Generation program. So is Patty Hawk of Lincoln, who chairs CTA Nebraska and serves on the national CTA board.

Chittister to speak in Lincoln

Within weeks, Bruskewitz’s diocesan paper ran another stern editorial reaffirming his 1996 censure of CTA members and again denouncing the movement. (He has even told his priests CTA members who die are to be denied Catholic burial.) But CTA Nebraska representatives John and Jean Krecji told a regional CTA leaders’ meeting in Chicago March 24 they thanked God that the Pokora piece in the secular daily reached thousands more people than will see the Catholic paper.

They shared plans for a CTA Nebraska Spring Conference next year, Apr. 5-6, 2002, with a keynote address by Joan Chittister, right in the heart of Lincoln. Regional CTAs from all over the U.S. have pledged to send delegations to stand in solidarity with CTA Nebraska and celebrate our common faith.