Excommunication of a schismatic priest.

I wrote previously about Monsignor Dale Fushek and the Rev. Mark Dippre, once both heavily involved in Life Teen and now at odds with their bishop, Thomas Olmsted. Fushek was removed from public ministry due to charges of sexual misconduct, but insisted on presiding at non-denominational worship services at a convention center.

Both priest have now been excommunicated for their disobedience to the Church. Both priest, who are still clerics at this point, have been declared guilty of schism. From the The Diocese of Phoenix website:

“Fushek and Dippre have incurred the censure of excommunication because they have chosen to be in schism with the Catholic Church by establishing and leading an opposing ecclesial community known to the public as the Praise and Worship Center.”

Prayers for both men that they may repent their actions and rejoin the community of the Church.