September 13, 2000
Page B6
Portland
(Cljv ÿlorthuxb ©baerucr
Religion
Obituaries
In Loving Memory O f
Christopher Guinn Jr.
Sunrise August 7,1937
Sunset September 1, 2000
Roberta Vann: an icon in the community
by J o s
R amos
Roberta Vann, an honored fellow resident ofPortland
celebrated her 97,h birthday among family and friends last
week on Sunday, September 3. Bom in 1926 in Minter
City, Mississippi, she had picked cotton'on a plantation
at 5 years old and attended school around the cotton
picking season.
At 26 years old, Roberta graduated from Clark College
in Georgia and later went on to become a teacher. She met
her future husband, Cleotus Moore, Sr. when he was still
a student in embalming school. They married on April 1,
1949 and later took up residence in Portland a few years
later where Cleotus started his mortuary business, now
called Vann & Vann Funeral Directors locatedat5211N.
Williams. Roberta helped to run the company as well as
working part-time as a teacher at Boise-Elliott Elementary.
Over the years, Roberta endured many challenges for being
a woman o f color where she was not allowed to vote, own
a house and other discriminatory practices that have been
outlawed.
During her birthday celebration, Calvin Allmon, Roberta’s
former 4'h grade student from Boise Elliott showed his
appreciation for her influence in his life by playing the
piano. Another one o f her students was Kevin Fuller, a
graduate from Harvard with a Masters degree.
Roberta has had a personal commitment to helping
youths. Her message to them has been to not take their
opportunities for granted because it has been through the
sacrifice o f others that has created the freedoms and
opportunities they have today.
Priest told to drop civil suit
( O N T R IB I T T D S T O R Y
In an unprecedented move, the
Vatican is forcing aCanadianCatholic
priest to drop his libel suit against
anothercleric by illicitly threatening
him with the rare and extraordinary
punishment o f excommunication.
Father Nicholas Grüner, who heads
the Fort Erie-based Fatima Center,
has offered to withdraw his libel
action against M onsignor Alan
McCormack, now based in Cardinal
Ratzinger’s Congregation in Rome,
provided the unwarranted threat o f
excom m unication is w ithdraw n
together with certain guarantees.
Coralie Graham, a Director o f the
apostolate headed by Father Grüner
was incredulous: “I am speechless at
th is
ab u se
of
a u th o rity .
Excommunication is for heretics and
abortionists. This is a clear cut abuse
ofChurch authority in order to engage
in a coverup. But what is a person to
do when politicians so close to the
Pope are the ones pulling the puppet
strings?”
Father Gruner’s civil suit seeks a
retraction o f public statements made
in 1990 by Msgr. McCormack, then
an official o f the Archdiocese o f
Toronto, challenging F ather Grüner's
sta tu s as a C a th o lic p rie st.
Excommunication, which formally
severs all connections between an
individual and the Catholic Church,
is apunishment normally applied only
to persons guilty o f grave moral or
theological offenses, such as the
persisten t p reaching o f heresy.
Since th is p e n a lty e ffe c tiv e ly
terminates a priest’s career, it is very
rarely used. Hundreds o f priests
convicted in civil courts o f serious
sexual and financial crimes in recent
decades have been spared this
punishm ent, as have prom inent
theologians, such as Hans Kung,
w hose p u b lish e d v iew s are
notoriously contrary to Catholic
teaching.
Father G rüner has never been
o ffic ia lly accused o f any such
offenses. In fact. Father Grüner has
never been canonically accused o f
any offense whatsoever against the
Catholic Faith, Catholic morals, or
Canon Law. The excommunication
threat was made in a letter (dated June
5, 2000, and d elivered by two
messengers to Fort Erie on June 21)
from Dario Cardinal Hoyos, who heads
the Vatican’s Congregation for the
Clergy in Rome. Catholic moral
theology and Canon Law allows
Father Grüner to sue in civil court for
libel ifotheravenuesofdefendinghis
good name are exhausted.
In any case. Canon Law does not
p ro v id e fo r the p e n a lty o f
excommunication for such a civil suit.
Nevertheless, according to a Vatican
official, the letter bluntly warned
Father Grüner that failure to withdraw
his libel suit “ w o u ld provoke
additional canonical procedures
against him, up to and including the
penalty o f excommunication.” Since
FatherGruner was attacked in print a
d ecad e ago by M o n sig n o r
McCormack, FatherGruner has made
several unsuccessful attem pts to
reach an out-of-court settlement. The
T o ro n to A r c h d io c e s e ’s only
response was an attempt to have the
suit dismissed, claiming that the
Church’s internal court was a more
appropriate forum for resolving the
matter.
In view o f the excommunication
th reat, F ather G rü n er has now
requested a m eeting and direct
negotiations with Vatican officials,
including Hoyos.At the same time.
F a th e r G rü n e r re q u e ste d an
adjournment o f the libel trial in order
to accom m odate the req uested
meetings at the Vatican, which may
tak e m any w eeks to a rra n g e .
Earlier this year, JusticeGloria Epstein
o f the Ontario Superior Court ruled
that the case “can and should be
resolved in this court,” since the
Church’s internal dispute resolution
process does not provide for the
awarding o f damages, and lacks a
m echanism for enfo rcin g such
awards.
Father G ru n e r’s organization
publishes a quarterly magazine, “The
Fatima Crusader", with over one
million readers in Canada and the
United States. It promotes traditional
Catholic teachings and devotions,
and has attracted strong opposition
from Fatima skeptics in the Vatican
bureaucracy.
N o tably, the sam e C ardinal
Ratzinger, (whose Vatican office
employs McCormack), mentioned
Father Gruner by name in his press
conference o f June 26 regarding the
Third Secret, and suggested that
FatherGruner was in a state ofanxiety.
“ It m ust be b e c a u se C ard in al
Ratzinger knew o f Cardinal Hoyos’
threat o f excommunication. I am not
now suffering, nor was I suffering on
June 26, from any state o f anxiety.
The excommunication threat has no
basis in Church law and my mind is at
peace. Idon’tknowwhatelse Cardinal
Ratzinger could be referring to. His
choice o f the word ‘anxiety’ is surely
no coincidence,” said FatherGruner.
Since both European and North
American press have sought the
benefit o f Father Gruner’s and the
“Fatima Center’s” extensive research
on the Third Secret, it may be that
there is more to this excommunication
threat than meets the eye.
It appears that this is an attempt to
silence the “Fatima Center” from
revealing to the world all it knows
about the Third Secret independent
o f the Vatican and in particular, the
news that clearly contradicts the
Vatican “spin” on the Third Secret.
The suit is currently scheduled for
trial August 28, 2000 in Toronto,
Canada.
C h risto p h e r G uinn, Jr., d ied
September 1,2000 at the age o f 63. A
celebration o f life will be held on
Thursday, September 7,2000,3 pm -
7pm, at the Isaac and Peggy Brooks
Building 3620 N. Williams Ave.,
Portland.
Mr. Guinn was bom August 7,1937
in Curtis, Arkansas. He served in the
United States Air Force for almost
four years. In 1957 he moved to
Portland OR.
His survivors include his daughter
Michelle Guinn and son Christopher
G uinn, III; sisters Vivian Lock,
Samuella Dedmond, Bobbie Black,
Betty Sherman, Audrey Hampton,
Beverly Meek, and Lenetta Guinn;
brothers Rayford, Tommy, and Carl
Guinn and Rickie Hendrix. He had five
grandchildren and a host o f nieces
and nephews.
Private interment will be at Willamette
National Cemetery. Arrangements are
by Little Chapel o f the Chimes on
Killingsworth Avenue.
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In Loving Memory O f
Nadine Winifred Luper
Maiden name Bennett
Sunrise July 4,1920
Sunset August 20,2000
Nadine Winifred Luper leaves to
cherish her memory:
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