Word: churches
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Howard University. How many of the archdiocese's 80,000 black parishioners will enlist in this self-made Catholicism? Jacqueline Wilson, who directs the Washington archdiocesan office for black Catholics, thinks "there are a lot who share his concern," but expects that most will stick with the official church. "No one," she believes, "can go off and start up his own church and call it Roman Catholic...
According to church law, only the diocesan bishop can authorize a new parish or decide where priests work. In a toughly worded response to Stallings' challenge two weeks ago, Hickey threatened to notify all U.S. bishops that the renegade priest was no longer in good standing and should henceforth be forbidden to speak at any Catholic institution in the U.S. Stallings is unapologetic. "I have been caught up in the spirit of destiny," says the rebel priest. "I know I am breaking canon law. But to stir up the conscience of a nation, I'll do it. When laws control...
Stallings is regarded by critics as an inveterate grandstander whose grandiose actions could lead to his excommunication -- and eventually a schism within the church that could spread beyond Washington. He was recently president of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus and built a nationwide following through appearances in black parishes. He claims that he remains within the Catholic Church but rejects its hierarchical rule, charging that the bishops are imperialistic and the church racist. Imani Temple, vows Stallings, "will ask the people what we should be all about...
Catholicism, he believes, should allow experimental worship with broader appeal to the black community, including African-American Masses complete with recitations from black literature. Such an African-American liturgy with an all-black priesthood, Stallings believes, might be patterned after the Eastern rites within the Catholic Church. He seeks to combine "Baptist practices with the beauty and tradition of the Catholic faith." As a young Catholic in North Carolina, Stallings often attended an enthusiastic black Baptist church with his grandmother. Says he: "The church is failing to bind together the church with the needs and aspirations of African Americans...
...Detroit imbroglio, Cardinal Szoka threatens to shut down another 25 parishes by next year unless offerings and memberships increase. Though many white worshipers too are hurt by the retrenchment, the archdiocese's 65,000 black Catholics especially feel that the church is abandoning them. Marian Gabriel, co-chair of a local black Catholic organization, considers Szoka's decision "blatantly racist." Says she: "This is the most disgusting thing I've ever run up against...