CTA still protests Gumbleton ouster

Make no mistake: Bishop Tom Gumbleton's forced retirement from St. Leo's parish in Detroit Jan. 25 was punitive. He said so himself in his homily that Sunday: “I'm sure it's because I spoke out so openly last January concerning victims of sex abuse in the church.” He was referring to his foray into Ohio in early 2006 to lobby for a bill to extend the statute of limitations and allow victims of sexual abuse to sue the church many years after they were abused. The bishops of Ohio opposed it, and it failed. But Gumbleton had stepped out of line — the cardinal sin among many of today's bishops.

A year later he paid the price, not only stripped of his parish ministry, but even required by Rome to get a local bishop's permission to give a talk inside his diocesan boundaries. Gumbleton was scheduled to talk at CTA Tucson, Ariz. Feb. 6 about homosexuality in the Church, and Feb. 7 in at CTA Phoenix about the Gospel for today. Neither Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson nor Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix would allow it. So Gumbleton stayed away, and the local CTA affiliates gathered crowds to listen to him on videotape.

CTA Detroit and CTA-USA are working together on Gumbleton's behalf. Signature ads in Michigan papers were followed by letters to Detroit's Cardinal Maida, and then by phone calls to his office. CTA-USA has organized protest letters to the two Arizona bishops from all over the U.S.

Learn more about this part of CTA's JustChurch project, and how you can take action.