Posted on 07/03/2005 5:30:41 AM PDT by NYer
LYON, France — A French woman defied a threat of excommunication by the Roman Catholic Church and held a ceremony proclaiming herself a priest on Saturday.
In a small ceremony on a boat, Genevieve Beney was joined by other women from around the world who have taken similar dramatic action to draw attention to the church’s policy against women priests.
“This is not a rupture with the Roman Catholic Church,” Beney said in a statement read aloud before she boarded the boat. “If there is a rupture on my part, it is with a situation that I consider to be obsolete and unjust to women.”
The Vatican has not commented on the case but has made clear it sees no room for debate about opening up the priesthood to women. The Church says Jesus chose men to be his apostles and that the practice of ordaining only men must stand.
In 2002, seven women — from Austria, Germany and the United States — conducted an ordination ceremony and were promptly excommunicated from the church.
Two of the women who participated in that ceremony — Gisela Forster of Germany and Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger of Austria — led Saturday’s ceremony, along with a third woman who followed in their footsteps, Patricia Fresen of South Africa.
Beney, a theologian, says its time for the church to change.
“We consider ourselves Catholic,” Beney told AP in an earlier interview. “But we do not agree with the church law … that says only a baptized male can be ordained as a priest.”
The Archbishop of Lyon, Philippe Barbarin, urged Beney earlier this week not to follow through with her plan, saying it “will constitute a serious act of rupture in respect to the Catholic Church.”
“There will be no truth to the words that will be pronounced,” Barbarin said. “For many Catholics, this will be a source of useless injury and suffering.”
A spokesman for the archbishop, Vincent Feroldi, said that no decree of excommunication would technically be necessary since Beney’s act violates church law and automatically makes her incapable of receiving the sacraments, such as communion.
Before boarding the boat, Beney’s husband, Albert Ratz, called his wife’s act “a magnificent adventure, an act of resistance against incomprehensible blockage by the Catholic church.”
That she apears at al should tell you something smart aleck.
Joan of Arc didn't ordain herself a priest.
We pray to Mary to intercede on our behalf because she is the Mother of our Lord Jesus. Ordaining women is a different issue and doesn't pertain to respect for, or a rightful role for women in the church. Men are ordained because they represent Christ during the sacrifice of the Mass. Bishops follow the tradition of the twelve apostles who were men. This is what we believe.
I'm proud of you for know that.
The headline is incorrect. She just ordained herself an "EX
Catholic" priest.
Oh gee, so much love for women.
Bye Bye Troll!!!
The feminazi minority seems to be getting more enraged as their 'rights' surreptitiously imposed upon society by judicial fiat and morally bankrupt democrat party hijackers are being rescinded by conservative reality.
The 'people' have been and are deserting the democrat ship of fools -the feminazis stand side by side with the baby killers, socialists, homosexuals, etcetera on the deck of the ship of fools -destination nowhere...
What are you, one of these DaVinci Code people? That new age tripe is a joke. Good luck building a life on it.
no crap....
could it be that maybe they were being moronic in their opposition, i.e. they wouldnt GIVE HER the chance to prove herself? hmmmm?
why would I want to show her that?
She is a pretty fine preacher and has had no issues with anyone, save the morons that were opposing her without letting her prove herself.
"BTW, the opportunity for a woman to become a Roman Catholic Bishop is roughly identical to the opportunity for a woman to become a Grand Ayatollah. Check it out!"
There are now:
1) Altar girls
2) Female gospel readers
3) Female eucharistic ministers
4) Female lay preachers in lieu of priests
5) Female seminarians and theologians
6) Female Vatican and diocesan officials at a high level
Just a question of time .....
In June 2002, 7 women were 'ordained' catholic priests on a barge floating down the Danube. The Vatican, always willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt, responded. After the ceremony, which was watched by several hundred supporters and relatives, the Vatican gave the women until July 22 to retract their vows. They did not. (BTW - two of those women appear in the picture posted above).
On August 5, 2002 ..... "Because the women ... gave no indication of amendment or repentance for the most serious offence they had committed ... they have incurred excommunication," Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican's chief guardian of theological orthodoxy, said in a document released yesterday.
Until the Catholic church cleans its own act up, lets not be so wiling to label all protestants the way you are doing. Pretending there is a 'protestant' church that believes in all of the above is rather childish, and hypocritical. Especially when we all know that there IS a single non-protestant church that continues to have its own members that do believe as listed, and that same church continues to serve them sacraments.
Excellent website ... and well organized. It hopefully will have a good effect for the church, primarily for those that have drifed away from the church and from God as well. There is however no 'newsgroup' or question/answer session on the internet such as this that will suffice for those of us that have come closer to our Saviour and his Word. This is not the thread to get into details (nor is that website) but I love my Catholic brethren and continue to pray for reunification of Christ Church someday.
You appear to have not followed FR for long or you would have known better than to say that.
Catholics don't really believe that Judas was ordained, now, do they. There's a "new twelvth" in the picture. Leonardo Da Vinci put her in the Last Supper.
I'll let him in on the joke ~ the KJV does not contain all the material that the Catholics include. Ergo, from the Catholic perspective the KJV is "incomplete".
That's hardly a case of "new age" additives.
The chance is still ZERO!
I hear the Episcopalians need members.
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