Roman Catholic Womenpriests Respond to Vatican Decree of Excommunication
Recived by email from Roberta Meehan.
Thanks, Roberta.
* * *
For immediate release
From Roman Catholic Womenpriests
www.romancatholicwo menpriests. org
CONTACT:
Bridget Mary Meehan: (703) 283-2929 (cell), 703-671-6712
Roman Catholic Womenpriests’ Response to Vatican Decree of Excommunication
Roman Catholic Womenpriests reject the penalty of excommunication issued by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stating that the “women priests and the bishops who ordain them would be excommunicated ‘latae sententiae”. Roman Catholic Womenpriests are loyal members of the church who stand in the prophetic tradition of holy disobedience to an unjust law that discriminates against women.
We hold up heroic women in the church’s tradition like Hildegard of Bingen, Joan of Arc and St. Theodore Guerin who obeyed God, followed their consciences and withstood hierarchical oppression including interdict, excommunication and death.
In obedience to Jesus, we are disobeying an unjust law.The Catholic Church teaches that a teaching or law of the church is authoritative only if it is “received” by the sensus fidelium, the community of faith. If the community of faith does not accept the law, it has no effect on us. All people have a moral obligation to disobey an unjust law. St. Augustine taught that an unjust law is no law at all. Since 70% of U.S. Catholics favor women’s ordination and a growing majority of Catholics worldwide also favors women’s ordination, we do not “receive” or accept the Church’s prohibition against the ordination of women and the church’s continued reliance on sexist metaphors, beliefs and assumptions for denying ordination to women.
Pope Benedict XVI, written when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, in the commentary section of the Doctrine of Vatican II, volume V, page 134, stated: “Over the Pope as the expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority, there still stands one’s own conscience, which must be obeyed before all else, if necessary even against the requirement of ecclesiastical authority.”
Roman Catholic Church laws are often contradictory. In this instance, canon 1024 limits sacred orders to men, while canon 849 states that baptism is the gateway to the sacraments. Scholar Bishop Ida Raming, doctor of theology, points out a prior church understanding: “some medieval canonists hold that not maleness but baptism is the pre-requisite for valid ordinations: “After being baptized, anyone may be validly ordained.” (The Exclusion of Women from the Priesthood: Causes and Background)
Recent scholarship affirms that women were ordained in the first thousand years of the church’s history. The first half of the church’s history provides us with images and accounts of the inclusion of women in Holy Orders that contradict the later prohibition. We are reclaiming this important tradition in order to bring equality and balance, and reconciliation and renewal to the church we love, and to all the holy people of God who have been hurt, marginalized, and ostracized in the name of Jesus Christ, who always and everywhere said, as we do, that ALL ARE WELCOME.
“Roman Catholic Womenpriests are leading the way to a renewed Roman Catholic Church in which the full equality of women will be a reality,” commented Bridget Mary Meehan, U.S. media spokeswoman. “Like Mary Magdalene, apostle to the apostles, and the women deacons, priests and bishops who served in the early centuries of our church, we are offering a model of a renewed priesthood in a community of equals.”
8 Responses to “Roman Catholic Womenpriests Respond to Vatican Decree of Excommunication”
May 31, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Exclusion and discrimination are terrible things for the Roman Catholic Church and the actions and laws that now govern it clearly point to the hypocritical forum of paternal domination. If the world were only male, it still would not be right that some serve and others are considered unequal and disallowed the opportunity to serve! If one goes by the letter of the law, the Apostle Paul would not have been saved! God broke the rules and caused him to see that the persecution of His people was an evil thing. And God did not discriminate when it came to His people, so why does the Church of Rome do this in the guise of speaking for God? No one has that right, but we all have the obligation as Christians to spread the good news, and cast those nets that will bring souls closer to God.
If one member suffers, all suffer with it, if one member is honored, all the members share its joy!
(I Cor.)
June 1, 2008 at 12:09 am
Ladies you have begun a good work. Recognizing you may become the newest schismatic church I will keep you in my prayers. Praying that as you move forward the mistakes of the church will not be repeated by you.
June 1, 2008 at 7:11 pm
If society hadn’t decided to treat gay men so badly, we wouldn’t be in this mess.
The RC priesthood/hierarchy is a gay profession, a safe haven, a well-monied enclave. They don’t want women priests, they don’t want married priests, they just want more men who are happy to live the good life together under the cloak of celibate purity.
When the people in the pews move beyond trained codependence and spiritual addiction things might change as they decide to withold their money and resources. Perhaps the terrorism of parish closures will help them mobilize and act sooner than later. Some threatened parishes might even rise to the level of valor to invite a woman priest or a married priest to be their new spiritual resource. The gay clergy is working to minimize their growing workload by selling churches out from underneath the good people who built them and have generations of family history invested in them. Priests who have to work too hard during the day don’t have much engery left to play at night.
Other mainline religions have a variety of clergy who successfully and wholistically minister to their adherents. The early church had married clergy, women priests, and a few celibates. In fact, Paul’s 2nd Letter to Timothy Chapter 3 provides a scriptural basis that requires that clergy be married. Despite the Vatican’s crass and strident efforts to the contrary, we are achieving our origins as a church – one woman priest at a time.
In trying to excommunicate women called to priesthood, the men who love each other at the Vatican are only further excommunicating themselves from everybody else in the universal church.
In the long run, their actions are destructive and futile. They only alienate people and destroy true communion.
That’s not what true Roman Catholicism is about.
June 1, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Even when we find ourselves to be the Church of Christ Catacombed—remember this; for HIM we have been beneath the ground before. We are all the breath of God, but the voices that will empower the Church and bring Her back to Her Majesty are the voices of the innocent who became voiceless at the hands of clerical abusers. From the clay of Adam, those breaths will come one at a time to reveal corruption and decadence. It is only because of them that we know and realize their pain…from their revelations, from the court documents, from clergy lies and cover-ups, from heirarchy dishonesty, from parish cosolidation and closures to pay restitutional fees, and from the Church proper abusing its priests and laity.
I have heard of penis envy…but envy of the womb…now, that’s a new one. The Roman Catholic Church is twisted and torn, but she is also pregnant. And, persons of reason know that pregnancy is but a short time…and giving birth to an innocent entity is even shorter!
Don’t pray to God for anything more than thankfulness, for He has already given you the resources that you need to sustain yourselves…and in communion with the other, you will be whole.
All Glory to God, and Honor to He whose name I bear!
June 1, 2008 at 10:28 pm
[...] This opinion piece first appeared as a comment to a recent posting on this blog. [...]
June 1, 2008 at 11:21 pm
There is but one solution, stop donating laity, until evil men like Mahony, Egan, Law, O’Malley, Maida, Scola, Rigali,
George, Pell, Hummes, McCarrick, Sambi, Soldano, Leveda, Bertone, Rivera, etc. are each removed from office for their decades of pedophile enabling, aid/abetting, racketeering, obstruction of justice, lying, embezzling, etc.; each canonically censored; & each placed under life house arrest (like pedophile founder Marciel of the Mexican Cult Legion Of Christ) in a remote, darl, cold, damp, moldy, no medical care, windy, bad food and forced hard labor monestary) or alternatively
each EXCOMMUNICATED.
No Curia Accountability? No Laity Monies! It’ That Simple.
The Holy Spirit
June 2, 2008 at 2:46 am
The roman Catholic Church preaches and teaches that we should not descriminate and we should honor democratic elections. does the church practice what it preaches?
We must oalways remenber that obediance comes from the latin obe dire – to listen. OK, We have listened to the church and it is time for us to make our own decision.
The sacraments that the Roman Catholic Womenpriest and their bishops may not be recognized by the local Bishop (read appointed Roman Govinor) or the incestuiously elected Pope. But it is the people of their church community that need to decide if these sacrements are valid.
The Vatican may think that they have power, but only if the people follow. Some people will, but as more and more follow other ways, the Vatican will loose if they do not cahnge as well.
The Vatican is threatened by what is happening. Their response is to lash out to try to hold onto their power.
If the Vatican is preaching Justice, maybe they should be looking at he abusive Priests and Bishops and clean house before they attack a growing movement that addresses a vocational need.
December 12, 2009 at 9:01 pm
God sent his only begotten Son Jesus Christ for the redemption of mankind.
God the son was of male gender. The gender of Christ must be represented 100 per cent
and this cannot be accomplished by a woman. The Doctrine of the Trinity does not permit a female gender of the Trinity. The trinity was/is the Mind of the Godhead for an eternity.
If you advocate women priests you are by implication advocating a foursome of four persons in one God.
The Anglican Church was fully reconciled to the Roman Catholic Church before the arrival of the feminist movement which encouraged the ordination of women priests.
Catholics are free and permitted by the Roman Catholic church to be married in an Anglican Church to their Anglican partner by an Anglican celebrant whereby a Catholic Church representative being present the RC Church recognises the marriage as both Catholic and Anglican.
It cannot be recognised as Catholic if the Anglican priest is a woman.
The Church demography on the continent of Europe consists of German 50 per cent Catholic, Dutch 50 per cent Catholic, Swiss 50 per cent Catholic and the Baltic states 50 per cent Catholic.
Women priests are in partnership with the feminist movement of the1960s. Their intention is to
not only undermine a belief in the Law of God namely the Doctrine of the Trinity but to subvert the very socio-ecclesiastical structure of Europe. Greater Europe will not tolerate a furtherance of a division in the socio cohesion of Europe. The women to the priesthood movement and women in the priesthood of the Lutheran churches will in the long term be rejected in Europe as it will in an England only 22 miles by highspeed train from Dover to Calais.
It is not possible to ordain a woman to the priesthood. God would not recognise it. This is why the Catholic church says it has no authority to ordain women to the priesthood.
Pope Benedict XVI is to be admired and respected for his uncompromising position in declaring it as such. If women have any notion of forcing a change in the Doctrine of the Trinity forget it. Whatever you might choose to call yourselves ,even Catholic, you will not be recognised as Catholic but subversives of Papal guidance and authority by any Pope who is Christs Vicar on Earth.