Posted on 09/03/2009 10:36:01 AM PDT by NYer
From Catholic News Service:
Priest confirms excommunication; will keep urging women’s ordination
By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS)—Maryknoll Father Roy Bourgeois has confirmed his excommunication from the Catholic Church but said he has not changed his view that women who are called to priesthood should be ordained.
He urged the church to turn away from what he called the sin of sexism.
Father Bourgeois said he was excommunicated Nov. 24, 2008, “latae sententiae”—automatically—for not recanting his public statements supporting the ordination of women, which is against church teaching that, for several fundamental reasons, the church is unable to ordain women.
Father Bourgeois told Catholic News Service Aug. 28 that his beliefs are based on his understanding of justice and equality as expressed in the Gospel.
The 70-year-old former missionary in Latin America said that while he has not heard directly from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since Oct. 21, 2008, his order has confirmed his excommunication.
“In my heart I do not feel I have done anything wrong,” he said via telephone from Alabama as he was traveling to visit his family in Louisiana. “On the contrary, it is my conscience that I am following and I find great peace whenever I am following my conscience.
“I feel I am a priest in good conscience. I feel if I went against my conscience I would be an unfaithful priest,” he said.
“I feel I am a priest in good standing with God,” he added. “Am I a priest in good standing with the Vatican? No.”
In June, Maryknoll Father Edward M. Dougherty, the order’s superior general, said in a statement that Father Bourgeois remains a member of the society despite the excommunication. To no longer be considered a priest, Father Bourgeois would have to be laicized.
“The Maryknoll Society continues its pastoral support of our brother Roy and hopes that the day of reconciliation is not far away,” Father Dougherty said. “The church in its leadership and members has been promised by Christ that the Holy Spirit informs the decisions that carry our church into the future. May that same Holy Spirit enlighten Roy and those interested in his case as well as those charged with authority in our church.”
Father Bourgeois told CNS he continues to celebrate Mass privately in his apartment in Columbus, Ga., where he carries on the 20-year-old campaign to close the U.S. Army’s Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the School of the Americas, at nearby Fort Benning. The institute trains soldiers from throughout Latin America.
Father Bourgeois first gained the attention of Vatican officials after participating in a reported ordination sponsored by Roman Catholic Womenpriests Aug. 9, 2008, in Lexington, Ky. In a meeting with his Maryknoll superiors nine days after the ceremony, he received a canonical warning related to his role. At the time, Father Bourgeois said he had no intention of participating in any other such event.
On Oct. 21, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sent a letter to the order saying Father Bourgeois would be excommunicated in 30 days if he did not recant his statements supporting the ordination of women. Father Bourgeois responded in a letter Nov. 7 outlining his views and explaining that he felt excluding women from the priesthood was sexist and therefore was a sin.
Father Bourgeois said he has had no other correspondence with Vatican officials.
“It’s a silencing; it’s trying to get rid of you,” Father Bourgeois said of the Vatican’s action. “In Bolivia (as a missionary) they kicked me out of the country. Now they’re kicking me out of the church.”
After his ordination in 1972, he worked as a missionary in Bolivia aiding the poor for five years before he was arrested and forced to leave the country for speaking out against injustice.
Excommunicated but can’t leave without ruffling more feathers.
Roy Bourgeois was excommunicated for pushing women priests, but Teddy Kennedy was winked at for promoting abortion. What Gives?
They’ll excommunicate someone for this, but not for supporting the dismemberment of babies in the womb....
I remain confused......
Militant
Teddy was part and parcel of procuring thousands upon thousands of abortions. He's already gone, like a great many politicians.
The priest's excommunication was merely confirmed by the Vatican in what I presume is a purely adminstrative action.
Then why wasn't it done??
Here is a hint: $
I just don't get it.....probably the reason my husband and I don't attend church anymore, although we still believe.
Correction: Roy Bourgeois, a former Maryknoll Priest dismissed from the clerical state and excommunicated from the Catholic Church, ...
And I quote:
"A latae sententiae penalty differs from a ferendae sententiae (sentence to be made) one. If one commits an ecclesiastical offense for which a ferendae sententiae punishment is prescribed, the penalty will only take effect when imposed by the competent ecclesiastical authority"
Latae sententiae excommuncation just happens. That's why it doesn't get in the papers.
But the question remains: how come Teddy had that Catholic funeral?
Well this is the problem with latae sententia. It's not imposed excommunication: it happens due to your actions - and those actions are generally secret.
Even though Teddy's pro-abortion stance was well known, perhaps the Clergy couldn't state categorically that Teddy had indeed procured an abortion (there indeed being a difference between buying an abortion and writing abortion-rights into Law).
Or - and this is my hope - Teddy repented of his evil deeds and was received back into full communion before death. A Priest may not break the seal of the Confessional - indeed to do so would attract latae sententiae excommunication. So we just don't know.
And this is why I am not a democrat or contribute the Maryknolls any longer. When they publically dismiss him from the order then we will reconsider resuming contributions
“there indeed being a difference between buying an abortion and writing abortion-rights into Law”
Sure they are different. But I would hazard publicly enabling abortions and voting public money to pay for them again and again while putting yourself forward as a famous Catholic doesn’t get you too far either. The funeral just drove home the point a little more to many badly edjumcated Catholics, the vast majority of who have never even heard of “latae sententiae” excommunication, that baby butchery really isn’t a big deal when you get right down to it. That’s the scandal.
Freegards
Dear Cherry,
Attending Mass on Sunday is for the purpose of worshiping God, not the Church. I live in a "progressive" diocese where certain worship services would knock your socks off. Like you, I stopped attending Mass. At one time, I even considered switching to a Protestant denomination .... it was that bad. But I could not bring myself to abandoning my faith because of some priest or bishop.
In the marriage vow made between a man and a woman, the promise is made "for better or worse". This can also apply to our Church. Christ said to go to the Church as It is the final authority in Christianity. In addition, St. Paul states that the Church is "THE pillar and ground of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15). The Church is Christ's bride (Ephesians 5:29) and has "no spot, wrinkle or blemish" (Ephesians 5:27). Christ also stated that the gates of Hell will not prevail against His Church (Matthew 16:18). The Church cannot commit error. Individual clergy may commit sins, even popes commit sins because in the Church there are both "weeds and wheat" (Matthew 13:30).
Attending Mass on Sunday (and more frequently), provides you and your husband with immense graces and "food" for your weekly journey. Why attend Mass on Sunday? Because God is waiting there, for you! What actually happens at Mass? Most Catholics have no idea. Until we fully grasp the understanding of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we can't begin to fathom what it is we deny ourselves under the notion of self-righteousness. Please take a few minutes to read the information at the following link. It is in several parts.
The Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass - a primer for clueless Catholics.
Many of us have stood in your shoes.
I hope and pray that this primer will enlighten you to the greatest gift on earth - our Lord, present in the Eucharist, waiting to come to you. Keep in mind, too, that the Catholic Church is much broader than you may know. I am a Roman Catholic, practicing my faith in the Maronite (one of the Eastern) Catholic Church. Should you like more information, feel free to freepmail me.
Can. 1247 On Sundays and other holydays of obligation, the faithful are obliged to assist at Mass. They are also to abstain from such work or business that would inhibit the worship to be given to God, the joy proper to the Lord's Day, or the due relaxation of mind and body.
2042 The first precept (“You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.") requires the faithful to participate in the Eucharistic celebration when the Christian community gathers together on the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord.82
Thanks for the link.
This may sound abstract, but I think your response is a casualty of Vatican II’s allowing priests to face the congregation. By doing so, we, as Catholics, have come to believe that the priest - while indispensible to the sacrament - is the source of the sacrament. The priest, when he faced the cross WITH the congregation, is no longer the center of attention. He is no longer an “administrator” but a fellow penitent, a fellow sinner - but one who is endowed with the authority to act in the person of Christ and administer said sacraments.
But the Church is not the priest, per se. The Church is the entire body of faith - the teaching authority of the Magisterium, the efficacy of Tradition, and the fullness of grace gifted to us in the sacraments. When we fail to show up for Mass, we’re not sending a message to the priests and bishops - we’re sending a message to God that we do not want this free gift of grace - that He needs to send it to us in a better package to make it worthwhile.
I’m sure you don’t believe that, but, as someone who was away from the Church like you (sacramentally absent, but still “believing”) for several years, I know how easy it is to let our opinion of the personnel become an obstacle to the grace that is waiting there for us.
So please pray about it. Especially for those of us who are married, the sacramental life is indispensible in this day and age. I promise you that God will not be outdone by your generosity of bringing your hearts to His banquet every Sunday.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.