BY A STAFF REPORTER
FR. JOHN CHALLENOR, Cong. Orat., has been asked by his superior at Birmingham Oratory to resign from membership of the Catholic Renewal Movement which seeks to work for reform within the Church.
He had already resigned his post as vice-chairman of the movement at the Oratory's request last October. but had remained a member of the executive and the national council.
At a meeting of the CRM executive on Saturday he submitted his resignation as a member but the executive declined to accept it without fuller information.
The executive has now written to Fr. ' Geoffrey Wamsley, Superior at Birmingham Oratory, asking on what grounds the request to resign membership was made.
Fr. Wamsley told the CATHOLIC HERALD: ''.1[1 is correct that Fr. John Challenor has been asked by his community to resign from membership and office in the Catholic Renewal Movement.
"Recent developments and publicity connected with this movement have served to convince the fathers of Birmingham Oratory that it would be inappropriate for their community to maintain any link with it."
Recently the Birmingham CRM group and the Family Planning Association sponsored a leaflet advising Catholics to contact the association if they felt the methods of birth control officially sanctioned by the Church were inadequate.
A few years ago Fr. Challenor was requested to leave the Birmingham cornmunity on grounds of incompatibility but in 1969 the Official Visitor from Rome upheld his appeal against this request.
LATIN MASS PLEA The CRM executive at its meeting also expressed "deep concern at the injustice involved in preventing minority groups like the Latin Mass Society and the Asseciation for Latin in the Liturgy from celebrating Mass in a traditional form."
A resolution is being sent to the English and Welsh bishops urging them to authorise such celebrations on request after Advent 1971.
(After that date, according to present Church Law, irre spective of language used, Mass may no longer be celebrated in the Tridentine or other alternative rite without special dispensation.)
The CRM executive is also to urge the hierarchy to consider the position of the four secular priests of the Nottingham diocese suspended for re
fusal to accept the Pope's decision on birth control.
The executive said the four had recently ceased to be financially supported by their diocese "although Cardinal Heenan gave a public assurance some 18 months ago that they would not remain unsupported."