CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

Decree of Excommunication*

Premise to the Decree of Excommunication

In order to dispel any doubts about the canonical status of Bishop Romulo Antonio Braschi, who attempted to confer priestly ordination on several Catholic women, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith confirms that, as a schismatic, he has already incurred an excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See.

Decree of Excommunication

Following upon the warning issued by this Congregation on 10 July 2002, and published the following day, because the women Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger, Adelinde Theresia Roitinger, Gisela Forster, Iris Müller, Ida Raming, Pia Brunner and Angela White did not within the period that ended on 22 July 2002, give any indication of amendment or repentance for the most serious offense they had committed, this Dicastery, in keeping with this warning, declares that they have incurred an excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See with all the effects established by canon 1331 of the Code of Canon Law.

In having to take this action, the Congregation trusts that, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, these persons may discover the path of conversion in order to return to the unity of the faith and to communion with the Church, which they have wounded by their actions.

Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 5 August 2002.

JOSEPH Card. RATZINGER
Prefect

 TARCISIO BERTONE, S.D.B.
Archbishop Emeritus of Vercelli
Secretary

* L’Osservatore Romano, English Edition, N. 32/33, 7-14 August 2002, page 12:

“On 5 August the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published the Decree of Excommunication of the seven women who took part in an invalid ordination ceremony in Austria on Saturday, 29 June.

The ceremony which took place on a boat on the Danube River in Austria, was performed by Romulo Antonio Braschi, an Argentinian priest, who broke with the Catholic Church in 1998, and was ordained a Bishop in the Schismatic Catholic Apostolic Church of Brazil. That group broke away from the Holy See in 1945. The seven women, from Germany, Austria and the United States are: Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger, Adelinde Theresia Roitinger, Gisela Forster, Iris Müller, Ida Raming, Pia Brunner and Angela White. The women were given time to repent and renounce their ordination, but the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith noted that they have given no sign of repentance”.