Catholic Diocese of Green Bay Bishop David Ricken has ordered
parishes in the diocese to cut corporate ties to JOSHUA and other
non-Catholic social justice organizations.
Ricken complimented the work being done by the Green Bay-based
JOSHUA and the Appleton-based ESTHER, but he expressed concerns that,
without Catholic oversight, the groups' political positions could stray
from Catholic teachings.
"An undesirable result of dual affiliations could be that a conflict could place our parishioners in a very difficult position of having to choose between their Catholic Church authority and another parallel organization," Ricken said in a prepared statement.
"Therefore, I am directing our parishes to withdraw their corporate membership in these organizations, effective July 1, 2011."
The directive will affect 15 of the diocese's 157 parishes, including those in Brown County.
The order won't preclude individual Catholics from belonging to either group, and parishes still would be encouraged to work with those and other groups on specific projects consistent with Catholic social teaching, Ricken said.
A statement from the diocese cited an episode almost a year ago, in which an announcement from an abortion rights coalition appeared on ESTHER's website.
ESTHER staff removed the announcement shortly after it appeared, but the appearance raised Rickens' concerns, and he met with ESTHER and JOSHUA leaders to discuss the issue.
ESTHER and JOSHUA are members of WISDOM, a statewide network of congregation-based social justice organizations.
David Liners, state coordinator for WISDOM, expressed regret that Ricken issued the order and said it would hurt the organizations.
"It's going to create some difficulties in terms, certainly, of funding, because member congregations contribute," Liners said. "We'll lose that."
He said it was important to note that neither group did anything wrong or anything contrary to Catholic teaching to influence Ricken's decision.
"We're very conscious of the fact we have members and leaders who are Roman Catholic," Liners said. "We are very consciously not going to do anything contrary to Catholic teaching, and I'd say the same is true of Lutherans and other denominations."
The abortion rights coalition announcement that appeared on ESTHER's website was a news feed from another organization, Liners said.
ESTHER eliminated the feed as soon as it became apparent the group was taking an abortion rights position.
Also Wednesday, Ricken announced
plans to form a Commission on Living Justice in early fall as a way to
provide Catholics with a way to participate directly in the diocese's
own efforts on issues of social justice.