Posted on 09/23/2013 2:25:26 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Melbourne priest Greg Reynolds has not only been defrocked, but also excommunicated by the Catholic Church over his support for women priests and homosexuals. The order came directly from Vatican under the authority of Pope Francis, who just recently said that the Church focuses too much on gays and abortion.
Mr Reynolds resigned as a parish priest in 2011, and has founded Inclusive Catholics in 2012. He said that although he was expecting to be laicised or defrocked for his views on ordination of women and homosexuality, he didn't know he was to be excommunicated as well.
Excommunication is a form of medicinal penalty for members of the Catholic Church. Those who are excommunicated are barred from receiving the Eucharist and other Sacraments of the church.
"In times past excommunication was a huge thing, but today the hierarchy have lost such truth and respect," he was quoted by The Age as saying.
"I've come to this position because I've followed my conscience on women's ordination and gay marriage. The order, written in Latin, came from Vatican through the authority of Pope Francis, and gave no reason for the former priest's excommunication.
The letter was dated May 31, months before the Pope told his subjects to go easy on how they deal with gays, abortion, and contraception. Mr Reynolds continued to The Age that he wants the same thing as the Pope, adding that he believes that the Church is in need of reform and renewal.
"My motivation is trying to encourage reform and clear need for renewal in the church," he said. "I still love the church and am committed to it, I'm just trying to bring about in my own little way to help highlight some of the failing and limitations."
Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart, who made headlines in May after appearing at a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into a child sex abuse case of another priest, apparently was not the one who requested the order, "but someone else unknown has gone over his head and contacted the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith," Mr Reynolds said.
Archbishop Hart explained that Mr Reynolds was excommunicated because he continued to celebrate the Eucharist publicly after his priestly faculties were withdrawn. He was also preaching contrary to the teachings of the church.
As per its official Web site, Inclusive Catholics is an evolving movement/community in Melbourne that has recognises the hierarchical nature of the Catholic Church, but opposes its views on homosexuality and the ordination of women.
Mr Reynolds said that his being excommunicated would not make a different to his ministry.
He was offered $5000 as a payout for his 32 years of service in the church when he resigned, though he claimed he should have received $48,000 as the usual payout figure is about $1500 per year.
To contact the editor, e-mail: editor@ibtimes.com
This was done in order to shut up the liberal old msm.
But the Pope says the dog can stay.
May there be MANY more to come!
Damn.... LMAO and some good red wine all over my keyboard and desk. Damn it, still laughing.
Payout? News to me.
He’s not the first who has sought to use the priestly office for his own vision, rather than than the good of the Church. Will they ever learn?
It's not a matter of "letting," as if these men were compelled to accept celibacy. Here's the way it works: the Western Church, for the last 1000 years, has chosen priests mostly (not exclusively) from the ranks of celibate men. In other words, these are presumably men who, first of all, figured they had a vocation to celibacy; and after this, they were accepted for ordination. Therefore, this is something these men have chosen; it was not imposed on them.
It is not at all unusual for married men to be ordained. To cite just one example, the Catholic Church in the U.S. has more married ordained deacons (17,000) than it has celibate religious-order priests ---Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans, etc. --- (13,000).
" It occurs to me that there is a whole army of Nuns just sitting around doing nothing..."
Departing from my usual prudence, I have decided to respond to this silly assertion.
"Go tell your mama, she's waitin' for ya."
If you say so.
I am just tired of how the old msm is trying to make Pope Francis into their image.
I am not a Catholic and this is not Catholic bashing.
I have thought for years that the RC church should tell its members to either believe or leave. This not only includes things like birth control and women ordination but the thinly veiled pagan practices left over from Aztec and Mayan religion in Central America and as well as similar practices in the Pacific and Asia.
Just excommunicate the whole Netherlands for starters with their legal prostitution and porno-industry.
Would that make the RC smaller? Yes but they need to either stand up for their doctrine or abandon it.
This guy in Australia can become a Lutheran. They allow this sort of stuff.
Isn't she the one that handled all manner of diseased folks?
Yeah, we'll exempt her.
`
What you're saying is, the only way for the Church to be a whole lot better off, would be to become a whole lot more consistently Catholic.
True and universally applicable, starting with Mrs. Don-o.
When will it be Pelosi’s turn?
Hey "inclusive Catholics" The Church's attitude toward sodomy isn't based on "views." If you pick up The Big Book and read it no and then you'll realize there's a higher authority involved.
It looks to me that the excommunication was for continuing to say public masses after he resigned. The excommunication was not because he was dissident wrt Church doctrine. I wonder whether anything would have happened if he had not resigned.
The hierarchical authorities generally rarely or never explain exactly what a laicization or an excommunication was all about, and this can be a problem. Years back (I'm talking 20+ years ago) I remember a Jesuit, Bill Callahan, who was evidently laicized and likewise expelled from the SJ's for advocating women's ordination in an intemperate blast in the New York Times. He, however, portrayed his ouster to his friends and allies as a punishment for "opposing the arms race and advocating for social justice for the poor", which is nonsense because the SJ's and in fact the Holy See were all about peace and poverty issues.
But it's always handy to use the poor as human shields.
"The" "issue" in his case was women's ordination. That, plus public defiance to his lawful superiors.
My impression is that messing with sacraments, plus open insubordination, will get you in deep doodoo every time.
Evidently this loon gave Communion to a dog. Whether it was the dog in the photo I do not know.
BTW: Giving Communion to a dog would qualify as “throwing away the Sacred Species,” which is one of seven (I think) offenses which incur automatic excommunication.
That painting is a masterpiece! Wow!
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