Archbishop is excommunicated

POPE JOHN PAUL has excommunicated an exiled Vietnamese archbishop and six of his followers including an American.
The Church decision was directed against Archbishop Pierre Martin Noo Dinh Thuc, the 85-year-old former archbishop of Hue, Vietnam, who currently lives in France.
A document called a "notification" signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said the excommunication was ordered "by special mandate" of Pope John Paul because of Archbishop Thuc's illicit ordinations of bishops and priests and his statement last year that the Holy See is vacant.
excommunicated in 1978 for ordaining bishops in Spain without the authorisation of Pope Paul VI. The excommunication was lifted the next year by the Vatican after Archbishop Thuc asked pardon from Cardinal Jose Bueno y Menreala of Seville, Spain, for the "immense damage suffered by the church, since its unity was placed in danger."
Archbishop Thuc was still, however, prohibited from ordaining priests or bishops.
One of the Spaniards illicitly ordained a bishop in 1978 was Clemente Dominguez Gomez, now 37, who declared himself "Pope Gregory XVII" after Pope Paul's death in 1978 and continues to insist that the current pope is not a valid successor of Peter.