Moran: Reminder of Excommunications
Jul 22, 2019 1:03:59 GMT
Post by Admin on Jul 22, 2019 1:03:59 GMT
It seems Moran just can't stop talking about his 'excommunications' of Fr. Hewko, Tony la Rosa, and Greg Taylor. He has mentioned them several times in sermons over the last several months. His latest was just a week ago, entitled "Reminder of Excommunications". He really must want us to be aware he has 'excommunicated' these three souls.
In the above video, he barely has finished the Gospel reading when he begins right away [roughly the 3:15 minute mark] about Fr. Hewko's excommunication and the those of Mr. Tony la Rosa and Greg Taylor. But when we listen to exactly what Moran cites as the supporting rationale for these excommunications, he only says for spreading "lies". He then states that they are excommunicated by the "most ancient Apostolic Canons".
Sadly, many of us have heard that privately Fr. Pfeiffer approves of these excommunications, that he has repeatedly told souls that it is not Moran excommunicating Fr. Hewko, Mr. la Rosa, and Mr. Taylor, but rather its the Apostolic Canons that excommunicates them.
This whole topic is so ridiculous that I have deliberately not wanted to address it here on The Catacombs by giving it even a shred of attention. But with OLMC faithful receiving Confirmations from Moran, it seems he continues to be a presence in the OLMC world despite the 'Disassociation' of January 2019.
So forgive my bearing on your patience in bringing a few things to the forefront.
Regarding the "Most Ancient Apostolic Canons":
According to the 1917 Catholic Encyclopedia, the Apostolic Canons are:
A collection of ancient ecclesiastical decrees (eighty-five in the Eastern, fifty in the Western Church) concerning the government and discipline of the Christian Church, incorporated with the Apostolic Constitutions (VIII, 47).
Please note that the first 50 of these 85 Canons are accepted by the Catholic Church, while all 85 are accepted by the Orthodox:
In an effort to demonstrated more clearly that all 85 are accepted by the Orthodox, they are listed here on The Canons of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
... the Latin Church, throughout the Middle Ages, recognized but fifty canons of the Apostles.
As an aside, most authorities agree that while certainly dealing with administration in the Primitive Church, the Apostolic Canons are neither Apostolic in origin nor necessarily 'ancient':
Nevertheless, though a venerable mirror of ancient Christian life and blameless in doctrine, their claim to genuine Apostolic origin is quite false and untenable. Some, like Beveridge and Hefele, believe that they were originally drawn up about the end of the second or the beginning of the third century. Most modern critics agree that they could not have been composed before the Council of Antioch (341), some twenty of whose canons they quote; nor even before the latter end of the fourth century, since they are certainly posterior to the Apostolic Constitutions. Von Funk, admittedly a foremost authority on the latter and all similar early canonical texts, locates the composition of the Apostolic Canons in the fifth century, near the year 400. Thereby he approaches the opinion of his scholarly predecessor, Drey, the first among modern writers to study profoundly these ancient canons; he distinguished two editions of them, a shorter one (fifty) about the middle of the fifth century, and a longer one (eighty-five) early in the sixth century.
Let us go back though, to these Apostolic Canons that supposedly excommunicate Fr. Hewko, Mr. la Rosa, and Mr. Taylor. Interestingly, Moran cites them as a whole in his 'excommunication for "lies." He does not and has not ever ventured to name exactly which Canon he is supposedly invoking as the legal foundation for his pronouncements.
But what is perhaps even more interesting is that the first 50 Catholic Apostolic Canons do not appear to give Moran any reason to invoke them as ground for excommunication for "lies". BUT, Canon No. 55 of the Orthodox does appear to give Moran these grounds, IF it was true, which we know it is not [one cannot be excommunicated for speaking the truth, or for speaking to the facts, or for giving warning about false shepherds.]:
Canon LV.
If any of the clergy insult the bishop, let him be deposed: for "thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people."
If any of the clergy insult the bishop, let him be deposed: for "thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people."
But let us look even deeper at these excommunications. The [fifty Catholic] Apostolic Canons were made a part of the "Corpus Juris Canonici" by the Catholic Church:
BUT, it was replaced with the 1917 Code of Canon Law:
So the Apostolic Canons have no binding legal foundation for these supposed 'excommunications' by Moran. Moran should be citing which of the 1917 Codes of Canon Law he is using to supposedly 'excommunicate'. But of course, all this presupposes that he is a valid AND legitimate bishop, of which there is extreme doubt. One simple example of the existing doubts that have never been clarified: thecatacombs.org/thread/1884/warning-orthodox-nicholaus-ilnyckyj-1975
“These eighty-five canons were approved by the Eastern Council in Trullo in 692 but rejected by Pope Sergius I. In the Western Church only fifty of these canons circulated, translated in Latin by Dionysius Exiguus in about 500 AD, and included in the Western collections and afterwards in the "Corpus Juris Canonici".” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canons_of_the_Apostles
BUT, it was replaced with the 1917 Code of Canon Law:
“The Corpus Juris Canonici (lit. 'Body of Canon Law') is a collection of significant sources of the canon law of the Catholic Church that was applicable to the Latin Church. It was replaced by the 1917 Code of Canon Law which went into effect in 1918.” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Juris_Canonici
So the Apostolic Canons have no binding legal foundation for these supposed 'excommunications' by Moran. Moran should be citing which of the 1917 Codes of Canon Law he is using to supposedly 'excommunicate'. But of course, all this presupposes that he is a valid AND legitimate bishop, of which there is extreme doubt. One simple example of the existing doubts that have never been clarified: thecatacombs.org/thread/1884/warning-orthodox-nicholaus-ilnyckyj-1975
And this is not even taking into consideration that in supposedly excommunicating Fr. Hewko, Tony la Rosa, and Greg Taylor, who are all from three different countries, never mind dioceses, Moran assumes jurisdiction he does not have!
Let us continue to pray for all the souls involved, especially Moran himself, OLMC, and all the OLMC faithful who are being led into believing that Moran has any legitimate standing to make these 'excommunications'.
