In an unprecedented move, the Vatican is forcing a Canadian Catholic priest to drop his libel suit against another cleric by illicitly threatening him with the rare and extraordinary punishment of excommunication. Father Nicholas Gruner, who heads the Fort Erie-based Fatima Center, has offered to withdraw his libel action against Monsignor Alan McCormack, now based in Cardinal Ratzinger s Congregation in Rome, provided the unwarranted threat of excommunication is withdrawn together with certain guarantees.
Excommunication is for heretics and abortionists.
This is a clear cut abuse of Church authority in order to engage in a coverup. Father Gruner s civil suit seeks a retraction of public statements made in 1990 by Msgr. McCormack, then an official of the Archdiocese of Toronto, challenging Father Gruner s status as a Catholic priest. Excommunication, which formally severs all connections between an individual and the Catholic Church, is a punishment normally applied only to persons guilty of grave moral or theological offenses, such as the persistent preaching of heresy. Since this penalty effectively terminates a priest s career, it is very rarely used.