Posted on 05/12/2005 6:27:14 PM PDT by Coleus
Writer banned from speaking at retreat
Diocese of Paterson Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli has banned a writer who supports abortion rights and female ordination from speaking to a lay Catholic group on church property.
Angela Bonavoglia , a self-described "itinerant Catholic," was scheduled to speak tonight to a local branch of the lay group Voice of the Faithful at the Jesuit Loyola Retreat in Morristown. But at the last minute, the diocese asked the Jesuits there to "disinvite" Bonavoglia, saying that her views oppose church doctrine, according to a diocesan spokeswoman.
The ban marks the first time a Paterson bishop has specifically interfered with a meeting planned by Voice of the Faithful. Since its inception in 2002, the group, which openly questions elements of church dogma, has been banned from churches in the Archdiocese of Newark but has met about 20 times on Diocese of Paterson property. Though Serratelli has no plan to ban the group in the future, he intervened specifically in this case because of Bonavoglia's views on abortion rights, according to Marianna Thompson, the diocese's spokeswoman.
"This is a speaker who is not in tune with the basic teachings of the Catholic Church, including abortion," Thompson said on Tuesday by telephone. "While we affirm every person's right to free speech, we also hold fast to the doctrines of the faith and church teaching." Serratelli
Bonavoglia, of Westchester County, N.Y., has written two books, "The Choices We Have Made: 25 Women and Men Speak Out About Abortion," and "Good Catholic Girls: How Women are Leading the Fight to Change the Church." In a recent radio interview, she argued that the church's strict anti-abortion and anti-contraception stances have especially hurt women in the developing world. She said that the fact that women are shut out of ministry is one of the biggest problems plaguing the church.
Voice of the Faithful leaders, who are not uniformly for abortion rights, said they invited Bonavoglia to speak because she has written positively about their group.
They said she was not going to speak only about abortion but was planning to focus more broadly on women in the church.
"As long as we suppress dialogue, we're stifling the pursuit of truth," said Maria Cleary, a North Jersey Voice of the Faithful organizer. "The last time we looked, we were free to talk in this country."
Bonavoglia said in a telephone conversation on Tuesday that her views are widely represented in the Catholic reform movement and that shutting her out was shutting a whole group of Catholics out.
"I don't feel that it's fair to target me as a Catholic that has rejected church teachings," she said. "This hierarchy right now is lopping off whole groups of us for daring to hold an alternative, equally legitimate position.
"To forbid dialogue, to forbid people to bring their feelings and thoughts into our own church environment is an ominous direction for the church."
Instead of Loyola House, Voice of the Faithful will meet tonight at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, which is also in Morristown. While Bonavoglia was not happy about being banned from church property, she indicated that the new venue has one thing going for it.
"It has a woman pastor, which delights me to no end," she said.
Coleus, you jumped right on this. Good work. I wish I had that kind of success with the Diocese of Cleveland.
What concerns me most is why was this woman invited to speak in the first place?
With the Jebbies, this doesn't surprise me.
How tragic... the Jesuit retreat house does that here too :( It's the only way they can stay open they claim.
You got a link? I'm thinking about putting this on the angelqueen forum.
Glad to see this happening.
Loved the smarmy quote at the end by her huh? At least they have a woman priest...
Voice of the Faithful. Faithful to what? The heretic moved her meeting to a Lutheran church with a woman pastor and claims to be delighted with it. So stay there!
These people are not Catholics - they just play them on TV.
More signs that the tide is turning.
There was a time, and not that long ago, when the Jesuits were among the most conservative orders in the Church, it is saddening to see what they have turned into.
Wahoo. It's starting.
This is reminiscent of Bishop D'Arcy of Fort Wayne, who waited until the day before a college commencement to decline an invitation to receive an award due to a speaker who had been invited.
No problem with disinviting speakers. But, as Catholics, we should learn some common courtesy and not use the proximity of the occasion to embarrass by grandstanding.
Let's disinvite the speakers when we first learn of these situations.
check this out guys
Excellent!
The cafeteria will be closing in five minutes...maybe the Voice of the (Un)Faithful has time to get their a$$es out before all "hell" breaks loose....What a great time to be a proud Catholic!!
So do a number of sects, go join one: there's the Lutherans, the Methodists, the Baptists, the Episcopalian's, and a whole bunch of others. They all either are embracing abortions and homosex, or about to. They would LOVE to have you.
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