Priest found guilty of heresy

INLAND DIOCESE: The verdict comes after what may have been the first trial of its kind in the U.S.
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The Diocese of San Bernardino has declared an Inland priest guilty of heresy, after what experts say may have been one of the first trials of its kind in U.S. history. As a result, the Rev. Ned Reidy is formally excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.

Reidy said the verdict means little to him, because the religious denomination he joined in 2000 after resigning from his Roman Catholic order does not recognize the Vatican's authority.

He was a priest for 19 years before he discovered his true 'calling', it seems. He was also found guilty of schism. It appears that he was ordained about 1980 or so.

"I have no thoughts on it because I'm so far beyond this," said Reidy, co-pastor of Pathfinder Community of the Risen Christ in Bermuda Dunes, which is near his old Roman Catholic parish in Palm Desert. "I'm now involved in the life of the people here. I've gotten on with my life."

But what about "eternal life"?

Marc Balestrieri, a canon lawyer and president of De Fide, a Santa Monica-based group that advocates filing heresy denunciations against those who violate fundamental church teachings, praised the verdict.

"The gravity of the errors which he is professing, coupled with the group's targeting of Roman Catholic faithful in the bishop's diocese, all pose a real danger of inducing the flock under his care into grave sin," Balestrieri said. "Let us not forget, we're dealing here with the risk of eternal damnation."

Balestrieri drew national attention in 2004 for filing a heresy denunciation against former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts because of Kerry's support of abortion rights.

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