Women Enter ‘Priesthood’ in Defiance of RC Church (media prepping for papal visit alert!)

VOA ^ | April 10, 2008 | Jeff Swicord

[NYer]

As Pope Benedict prepares to travel to the United States [arriving April 15th], he continues to uphold the church's long-standing tradition of not ordaining women as priests.  Since July 2006, more than U.S. 20 women with the organization "Roman Catholic Womenpriests" have considered themselves ordained without church approval.  VOA's Jeff Swicord reports on one woman in Sarasota, Florida, who says it is time for the church to openly accept women into the priesthood. 

Bridget Mary Meehan (r)

Bridget Mary Meehan is one of 24 Roman Catholic women in the United States conducting mass in defiance of church doctrine.

She describes her religious journey, which started as a young girl growing up in Ireland. "We grew up in this beautiful family where prayer was as natural as breathing," she recalls.  "Every evening we prayed the family rosary, and every evening we had such a sense of God."

Meehan entered a convent at the age of 18 and became a Roman Catholic nun with the Sisters of Christian Community.  In July 2006, a woman bishop not recognized by the Vatican ordained Meehan with seven other women. 

Meehan says the Roman Catholic Church needs to be more inclusive. "I think the problem is they don't know how to integrate women into the present clerical hierarchical structure,” she said. “And that is a problem because this hierarchical clerical structure needs to be changed."

Meehan offer mass in her home

Meehan advertises her mass in the local newspaper in the southern coastal community of Sarasota, Florida.  Her home serves as her church.

The local archdiocese declined VOA's request for an on camera interview.  But the archdiocese published a letter in the local newspaper condemning Meehan's actions.

Arne Panula in Washington is a member of Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic organization.  He says there are reasons why women are not ordained as priests.  He says it was a man, Jesus, who stood at the alter, broke bread and said, "This is my body," a ritual that priests recreate during mass.

Arne Panula

"The church teaches that he [the priest] does this in what is called insomnia nomini Christa, that he does this in the name and the person of Jesus," says Panula.  "Jesus was male. Jesus was a man.  And to be able to do that as Jesus did requires that it be a man who does it."

Meehan disagrees. "A priest is suppose to be in personi Christa," she says. "That does not mean taking on male identity. It means breaking the bread and sharing the wine in the memory of Jesus as a Pascal meal."

But Panula says Jesus chose not to ordain women. "Jesus Christ could have ordained women," he says.  "He could have named women to the presbyterate, in which case right now there would be women priests."

Meehan disagrees. She cites passages from the Bible and new scholarly works that retranslate the original Latin records of the Catholic Church's early days. "The ordination of women - we know for the first 1,200 years women were ordained,” she said. “So therefore, the teaching on that does not reflect the practice of the church throughout its history."

Meehan says her congregation is growing. She says some members are disappointed with the direction of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly in the area of gender equality. 

Cathy Kidder was attending Meehan's mass for the first time. "A lot of us have raised their children in the church and saw them learn all those wonderful traditions and heritage and belief in justice attitudes of our church," she says, "and our children have gone to other churches where they feel these things have been put into better practice."

Meehan has conducted mass since 2006.  The local archdiocese has protested her actions, but the Vatican has not sanctioned or excommunicated her.  Two women in St. Louis, Missouri have been excommunicated. 

"I think it is very wise of the Vatican right now to take a wait and see attitude, watch the movement of the spirit in the Roman Catholic Womenpriests rather than condemning us,” Meehan said. “Because, one day they just might have to undo their condemnation and canonize a few of the women in the movement.  At least that is our hope and our prayer."

[MarineBrat]

Women Enter ‘Priesthood’ in Defiance of RC Church

Translation: I want a pony!

[Polybius]

What does Jesus call phony priests who claim they are the Christ??? ...... "The church teaches that he [the priest] does this in what is called insomnia nomini Christa, that he does this in the name and the person of Jesus,"

Screamingly bad Latin, not to mention bad reporting, from The VOA ..... what should have been a routine serving of empty drivel went l.o.l. funny when Swicord attributed to an Opus Dei priest the following comment on the maleness and the priesthood: "'The church teaches that he [the priest] does this in what is called insomnia nomini Christa, that he does this in the name and the person of Jesus,' says [Fr. Arne] Panula. Jesus was male." ....... A priest acts "insomnia nomini Christa"? That is screamingly funny. It doesn't mean a thing, folks. The closest I can get is "lack of sleep to/for the name Christina".

[Appleby]

I can call myself a member of Team Audisport North America and Reinhold Joest is not going to let me drive the Whispering Audi....

P.S. to the girls: Why don’t you try calling yourselves men and see if you can get in that way? Makes just as much sense.

[Mrs. Don-o]

FTA "We know for the first 1,200 years women were ordained,” she said."

The Catholic Church also doesn't ordain people who are hallucinating.

---

By the way, hiya, DieHard my buddy! Are you, by any chance, a Freemason?

[Mrs. Don-o]

"insomnia nomini Christa,"

According to the standards above, don't be surprised if the VOA reports the Marine motto "Semper fidelis" to be "Simper fiddles", or if the US Seal "E pluribus unum" comes out "Deploribus moon'em", or if the Olympic motto "Citius, Altius, Fortius" comes out "Citrus, Altoids, forceps."

[maryz]

LOL! You know, you’re awfully good at this! Maybe there’s a career opportunity here somewhere! ;-)

[lastchance]

“Meehan disagrees. ‘A priest is suppose to be in personi Christa,” she says. “That does not mean taking on male identity. It means breaking the bread and sharing the wine in the memory of Jesus as a Pascal meal.’”

Obviously Meehan has no clue about Eucharistic theology. Even if she were a male she would not be a suitable priest if this display of ignorance is typical of her.

[Daffy]

These women will soon find themselves excommunicated.

Not only that, but the good Archbishop Burke has declared their organization a schismatic sect. This is posted by St. Louis Catholic:

1) These are the first excommunications of persons who are members of the creatively-titled "Roman Catholic Womenpriests", or "RCWP". Women who have simulated ordination have been excommunicated before, i.e., the infamous Danube Seven, but the RCWP did not exist at that time. Why is this important? Because His Grace refers to the RCWP as a "new and separate sect". Furthermore, Archbishop Burke relates as one of the preconditions of his decree against Fresen (the fake bishop) that she, "in the manner of the leader of a schism", had formally and directly engaged in the founding and development of the separate sect of the RCWP organization, and that she had publicly stated that her sect is outside the hierarchy of the Church.

more: http://stlouiscatholic.blogspot.com/2008/03/on-womenpriests-excommunications.html

[DieHard the Hunter]

> By the way, hiya, DieHard my buddy! Are you, by any chance, a Freemason?

I am indeed!

[Zero Sum]

insomnia nomini Christa !?!

LOL!!!

I guess this is what is meant by the "new scholarly works that retranslate the original Latin records of the Catholic Church's early days."

*wipes tears from eyes from laughing so hard*

[rwlawrence]

“What do you call women who enter the ‘Priesthood’ in defiance of the Roman Catholic Church?”

You call them Episcopaleans.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Oh, goody! You're my first (known) Freemason friend! (I think my father-in-law was a Mason, an excellent man but I didn't know him very well, as he died too soon! too soon! God rest his soul.)

Someday you're going to have to tell me about Freemasons.

[Mrs. Don-o]

To correct an apparent misunderstanding: a Catholic priest does not claim to "be" Christ in an identical sense.

To act "in nomine Christi" is to act with authority given by Him, as in the phrases, "Stop in the name of the law" or "I enjoin you in the name of the Queen" or "in the name of this Court of Chancery."

A priest who offers Mass as Christ's eternal action, "in persona Christi," is no more "deceived" than St. Paul who says,

Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

and no more "deceived" than Christ Himself, who said,

Luke 10:16(KJV) He that heareth you heareth Me;
and he that despiseth you despiseth Me;
and he that despiseth Me despiseth Him that sent Me.

You can still say you don't believe the proposal that the priest "is" Christ, in the sense of "ipsissima res," but that's OK, because that's not what the Catholic Church proposes.

[Iscool]

You can still say you don't believe the proposal that the priest "is" Christ, in the sense of "ipsissima res," but that's OK, because that's not what the Catholic Church proposes.

But that's what the article implies...And I've read on FR numerous times where the poster claimed that was the case...

I'm curious to the thoughts of the other Catholics on this thread on this issue...

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Are you saying this is the actual event the priest is referring to??? This is the way it works for all Christians so it would be nothing above and beyond or special for a priest...

[DieHard the Hunter]

> Someday you’re going to have to tell me about Freemasons.

I’d enjoy that!

[Boagenes]

What, these women are priests just because they say so? HAH!

These women are part of what I believe is a diabolical (in the very real sense of the word) effort to destroy the church from within. These women are no more priests than I am.

I pray for them, but I also pray the Vatican holds fast and smacks them down with all their authority. These women are apostates, and in my view, evil in their actions and intent.

[Boagenes]

No, not Protestants. I belong to one of the oldest Protestant churches, and in our denomination there are NO women priests, and never will be.

[Shadow44]

Hardly anyone focuses on the Orthodox Church, just because they aren’t historically associated in North America and Western Europe. It’s just the Protestant-Catholic divide, and then the Orthodox are usually thrown in as an after thought.

[Mrs. Don-o]

You're quite correct, we all can "identify" with Christ, some in one sense and some in another. We've established that a priest, like any Christian, can say "Not 'I live,' but Christ lives in me" (we'll call that sense A) and that a priest can NOT say "I AM CHRIST" in the sense of absolute personal identity (let's call that sense N.)

So are there other senses besides those two A and N in which a priest can say he's acting "in persona Christi"? Yes: when a priest is acting as the human instrument conveying something that only Christ can convey.

Examples: forgiving sin. Only God can forgive sin. However, the Priest can say, "May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you; and by His authority I absolve you."

Another example: Jesus' sacrifice of His Body and Blood happened in time, yet it has a timeless and eternal reality: for instance, Scripture says (Revelation 13:8) Jesus is "the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world." That same body and blood of the Lamb were offered at the Last Supper, at the Crucifixion, and in the Mass, by the same Person--- Jesus Christ --- in time, outside of time, and for all eternity. The priest at Mass acts "in persona Christi" because he is saying words that can only, in reality, be said by the Eternal Christ, in his one, perfect, and complete Sacrifice.

So that's an intermediate term: A (all Christians identify with Christ), P (a priest identifies with Christ), N (only Christ, in terms of perfect identity, "is" Christ -- only Jesus Christ our Lord, and no other.)

I've tried to explain this, but any ambiguity or error in my explanation is mine, not the Church's. Inquirers would do better to check out the Catechism to get a more adequate understanding.

[TASMANIANRED]

You can call your aunt your uncle but that doesn’t make it true.