'We Are Church' Founder Excommunicated
Pope Francis has allowed the excommunication of the co-founder of the dissenting group 'We are Church', Austrian media has reported.
Martha Heizer, 67, and her husband, Gert, were excommunicated for “simulating the Mass”, according to the website Kath.net.
The Heizers reportedly often took part in “private Eucharistic celebrations” at their home with no priest present. The Church considers the simulation of the Mass a delictum gravius, or a grave delict, on a par with sexual abuse and violation of the confessional.
Heizer chairs 'We are Church', which she co-founded in 1995 in Austria, Germany and South Tyrol. The group seeks liberal reforms within the Catholic Church and has long campaigned for women priests, an end to mandatory priestly celibacy, and greater participation of the laity.
Bishop Manfred Scheuer of Innsbruck described the development as a “self-excommunication”, which he said was “not a victory, but always a defeat for the Church”.
In a statement Martha and Gert Heizer said they were “immensely shocked” to be classed alongside sex abusers.
They do not accept the verdict and have vowed to "continue to work with great force for reform in the Catholic Church", adding that this decision "shows how much renewal she needs."
Edward Pentin Edward Pentin is the Register’s Senior Contributor and EWTN News Vatican Analyst. He began reporting on the Pope and the Vatican with Vatican Radio before moving on to become the Rome correspondent for EWTN's National Catholic Register. He has also reported on the Holy See and the Catholic Church for a number of other publications including Newsweek, Newsmax, Zenit, The Catholic Herald, and The Holy Land Review, a Franciscan publication specializing in the Church and the Middle East. Edward is the author of The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates (Sophia Institute Press, 2020) and The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation into Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family (Ignatius Press, 2015). Follow him on Twitter at @edwardpentin.
