Archdiocese St. Paul and Minneapolis: Dissident group ignores Archbishop Nienstedt notification, schedules meeting at St. Edwards Catholic Church

The Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt has a headache, here’s how you can help relieve it…

On Friday, April 17, 2009, a statement by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis was issued concerning the “Catholic Coalition for Church Reform” (CCCR), which read:

“The “Catholic Coalition for Church Reform” is a self appointed group that is advocating changes that are in direct conflict with the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. This group has no affiliation with the Archdiocese or its parishes.”

Well, almost no affiliation.

CCCR announcement Monday, July 6, 2009:

You are invited to our first joint meeting of all the work/study group members on Wednesday, July 15, 2009, at 7 pm, at St Edward’s Catholic Church in Bloomington, located on the corner of Nesbitt and 94th Street South, just West of Highway 100 (Normandale Blvd.). Come meet the CCCR Board and hear what the work/study groups are doing.

The headache…

It’s not known if Fr. Michael Tegeder, Pastor of St. Edward, is aware that the self appointed dissident group is meeting at his parish or not, but, the Archbishop’s warning to Catholics is pretty clear. And with good reason, as the following CCCR statement reveals:

As loyal members of the global church, we want to pass on to future generations the Gospel message we have learned. We want to change the policies and practices that hold our own community back from being fully alive in the spirit of a loving God. Our questions are about what changes can be made on a diocesan level to make the church of St Paul and Minneapolis a sacrament of God’s life.

Aside the fact that “loyal members of the global church” [that is, the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church] don’t generally disobey their own bishop’s warnings, the local group is also in cohoots with the fledgling American Catholic Council. A long-frustrated cadre of unsupported National Catholic dissident organizations now banning together, each having–according to their particular flavor–intentions of agitating for the overturning of settled doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, as Archbishop Nienstedt’s declaration rightly states.

…How you can help relieve it:

1. Don’t participate. Warn your family, friends, and fellow Catholics of the spiritual danger(s) involved by falling for propaganda (error) coming from representatives of either the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform or the American Catholic Council within your diocese. Especially, be on watch for advertisements that promote “Synods of the Baptized” or invitations to meetings found within parish bulletins describing “Catholics coming together to dialogue on difficult Church issues…” This smokescreen tactic was used recently within a bulletin at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Minneapolis.

2. Contact Fr. Tegeder by e-mail and (respectfully) inform him here: <mtegeder@stedwardschurch.org>

3. Contact Archbishop John C. Nienstedt by e-mail and (respectfully) inform him here: <communications@archspm.org>

4. Pray for all those suffering from a spirit of constantly taking umbrage: with Church, Church doctrine, and defiance of divinely instituted authority–in this case, Archbishop Nienstedt himself.