Archbishop moves to penalize two "Womenpriests"

AP ^ | November 12, 2007

[NYer]

ST. LOUIS: Two women who made Roman Catholic religious history say they are ready to be the new face of the priesthood, even as Archbishop Raymond Burke moved to formally penalize them for violating church law.

Rose Marie Dunn Hudson, 67, and Elsie Hainz McGrath, 69, were ordained Sunday as Roman Catholic Womenpriests, a reform movement begun in 2002.

The movement defies church doctrine that reserves ordination of priests and deacons to only men as unjust and discriminatory.

"After all these years, it's a great feeling to be a priest," Hudson said Monday.

She and McGrath will co-pastor a faith community starting Dec. 1 in space offered by a local Unitarian church.

The women said that at the end of Sunday's ceremony, attended by more than 600 people, they were served with a summons and letter from Burke ordering them to appear before a church tribunal Dec. 3.

Burke's three-page letter admonished the women to "renounce any attempts" to celebrate Mass, hear confessions or officiate at any other sacrament under the "penalty of interdict."

Interdiction is the withholding of Holy Communion and other church sacraments "until they acknowledge what they've done is wrong," said the Rev. Arthur Espelage, executive coordinator for the Canon Law Society of America.

On Nov. 5, Burke warned the women, also by letter, that they would be excommunicated if they proceeded with the ordination.

Burke is in Rome this week and cannot be reached for comment.

An archdiocesan spokeswoman said Burke would "never comment publicly on private correspondence" anyway.

Burke wrote in the archdiocesan newspaper Friday that the women will confuse and lead others astray by their "sinful action."

"He loves to do this," Hudson said. "But nobody's paying attention. Some of these laws have to be changed. The church has been practicing gender apartheid for centuries."

[NYer]

On the Net:

Archdiocese of St. Louis: http://www.archstl.org/

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: http://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/

[NYer]

From left to right, Rose Marie Dunn Hudson, 67, Rabbi Susan Talve, Bishop Patricia Fresen and Elsie Hainz McGrath, 69, pose for a picture together after a meeting to discuss the upcoming ordination as Roman Catholic Womanpriests of Hudson and McGrath at the Central Reform Congregation Synagogue offices Monday, Nov. 05, 2007 in St. Louis. Fresen is to perform the ordination and Salve and her congregation are hosting the ceremony at their synagogue. The ordination will be performed as part of Roman Catholic Womenpriests, a worldwide reform movement that began in 2002. ( AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

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Frank Flinn, adjunct professor of religious studies at Washington University who wrote "The Encyclopedia of Catholicism," called Sunday's event "a watershed."

"The church is going to have to change on this issue and these women were ahead of the curve."

He said scholars agree that women were fully functioning members of the early church, but the hierarchy wants to "preserve the male patriarchal model."

Such arrogance!

[ladtx]

Rose Marie Dunn Hudson, 67, and Elsie Hainz McGrath, 69, were ordained Sunday as Roman Catholic Womenpriests...

The AP and the rest of the nimrod so-called news organizations continually get it wrong. They may have been playing at being ordained but they were definitely not ordained as anything near Roman Catholic. Children playing games or perhaps children playing with fire.

[ladtx]

Hard to believe he can be a professor of religious studies and not have a basic understanding of the Roman Catholic Catechism. I'm just a simple man who reads about his faith constantly and I believe I could do a better job.
This is from the catechism - plain as day.

1577 "Only a baptized man (vir) validly receives sacred ordination." The Lord Jesus chose men (viri) to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry. The college of bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college of the twelve an ever-present and ever-active reality until Christ's return. The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself. For this reason the ordination of women is not possible.

[Bahbah]

"After all these years, it's a great feeling to be a priest," Hudson said Monday.

You're not.

[MortMan]

Two women who made Roman Catholic religious history heresy...

There - now it's accurate.

[Claud]

Under penalty of INTERDICT!!!!!

I officially love this bishop.

Does anyone have a link to the bishop’s actual letter? Or has that not been made public?

[NYer]

As you have noted, it doesn't take a degree in rocket science to read the Catechism and understand why our Lord reserved the priesthood for men only. Archbishop Burke takes it a step further with this comment:

What is most painful about the proposed attempted ordinations is the calculated and grave offense they will offer to our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church. From the teaching in the Holy Scriptures, faithfully handed down to us in the Magisterium, there is no doubt that our Lord Jesus Christ chose only men for the Holy Priesthood, even as He, at the Last Supper, consecrated only men for the priestly office and ministry.

Archbishop's Column: Attempted Ordinations to the Priesthood

[Salvation]

** Some of these laws have to be changed.**

I believe the two women are the ones who must repent and change.

[fetal heart beats by 21st day]

Bye, bye!

The show is for nought.

They’ll be opening another fringe temple by Christmas-probably concelabrating their agape feast with the Rabbi.

They are not now, nor ever can be Catholic priests-not even if they get sex change operations.

[Mrs. Don-o]

FTA: "Two women who made Roman Catholic religious history..."

You're so right, ladtx. The article consistently reports obvious falsehoods --- at best, opinions ---- as if they were facts.

[conservonator]

The saddest thing about this whole priestess thing is the fact that these women are, by their actions, rejecting the unique and profound gift of their gender. By playing dress-up in a mans job, they are rejecting the necessity and importance of the greatest vocation God gave humanity: motherhood. Not just biological motherhood, but spiritual motherhood as well, as a model of Christ’s greatest disciple, His mother, a woman.

[Biggirl]

Ironic is that the women who became so-called ordained priests are older women, women who are for liberal changes in the RCC ? Do not see any younger women here since many are part of what is called the “JPII Generation” that embraces a more traditional Catholic faith.

[Gerish]

Ugh, I can’t even read this stuff anymore. You’ll have to remember to tag on the BARF alert! Lord have Mercy on them.

[ArrogantBustard]

They’re ‘60s leftovers.

[Biggirl]

You got that right!!!!!

[Rutles4Ever]

Disordered, aberrant, perverted, profane - all the hallmarks of Satanic devices.

[magisterium]

This “movement,” however disordered, is starting to pick up steam, with “ordinations” becoming more common in the US and elsewhere. The archbishop needs to set a particularly severe example here, for the women involved, for those inclined to follow them, for the rank-and-file - that this abomination may be forever sent from their midst, AND, most especially, for his fellow bishops, that they might have the backbone to adopt similar remedies with a view to the same desired results.

Having said all that, I suspect the biggest sucker bet of the year will be that these women actually obey their summons and show up at Archbishop Burke’s tribunal on December 3!

[Unam Sanctam]

What get’s me is the arrogance and the disrespect of the Jewish Reform Synagogue toward religious freedom in that they are getting involved in Catholic controversies and presuming to tell the Catholic Church what to believe and do. Just one more example that the true religion of liberals of any religious tradition is liberalism, and that they don’t really believe in freedom of religion but want to impose their views on everybody.

[TaxachusettsMan]

I can’t wait to use the Tridentine Rite’s PRAYER FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE JEWS next Good Friday. I just looked at the text - and every single word is absolutely appropriate!