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	Outspoken Retired Bishop Cancels Tucson Speaking Engagement By Stephanie Innes Arizona Daily Star [Tucson AZ] February 2, 2007 http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/167391.php After finding out he wouldn't be welcomed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson, a retired bishop from Detroit has canceled plans to speak here. The Rev. Thomas J. Gumbleton, a retired auxiliary bishop from the Archdiocese of Detroit, had been scheduled to speak in Tucson on Tuesday about homosexuality and the church. Gumbleton is known for advocating more inclusion for lesbians and gays in the church and for speaking out about the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests. Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas said last week that he would not be welcoming Gumbleton to the local diocese because of the identity of the group hosting him - the Tucson chapter of Call to Action - a group that Kicanas says takes positions that are contrary to church teachings. For that reason, the group's messages cannot be promoted on church property, the bishop said. He said he'd written to Gumbleton and made it clear that Gumbleton will not be in Tucson at the invitation of the local diocese. "He's being silenced," said Laurie Olson, vice president of the local Call to Action group, which had found a non-Catholic church for Gumbleton's talk. "His assistant called and she said that he was required to cancel because he was denied permission by the bishop (Kicanas)." Olson said her group still plans to hold the event, set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday Feb. 6 at First Christian Church, 740 E. Speedway. Group members hope that Gumbleton will speak by video teleconference. If that doesn't work, they plan to show a DVD of the bishop speaking about homosexuality. "We will not allow our prophet to be silenced," a press release from Olson's group says. The national group Call to Action says its mission is freeing the Catholic Church to become a force for peace and justice in the world. Its Web site includes information on optional celibacy for priests and on the status of women, gays and lesbians in the church. The local chapter of Call to Action says it follows the national mission. The group has hosted speakers who urge improved transparency and inclusion in the church, and its members have proposed more democracy in the church, such as electing bishops. Gumbleton, featured in a Jan. 24 article on the National Catholic Reporter's Web site, has been in the national news lately because he was not reappointed to serve as pastor of the inner-city St. Leo's Catholic Church, which he'd led since 1983. In a video of his last Mass at St. Leo's, filmed by a parishioner and posted on the National Catholic Reporter Web site, Gumbleton said he still wanted to lead St. Leo's and believed he was not reassigned because of the recent openness with which he spoke concerning victims of sex abuse in the church. Gumbleton also has talked about his own childhood sexual abuse by a priest. The Archdiocese of Detroit says it did not renew Gumbleton's position because of his age. At age 75, all bishops must submit a letter of resignation directly to the pope, wrote Cardinal Adam Maida, Archbishop of Detroit, in a letter to parishioners distributed the weekend of Jan. 20-21. Maida wrote that the pope had accepted Gumbleton's resignation. Some conservative Catholics say Gumbleton is a dissident and a heretic. Gumbleton was unavailable for comment.
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