I couldn’t help it, had to jump in the water:
A few thoughts: Father was excommunicated in 2008. Not mentioned in your story. The Church promulgated an infallible teaching on the subject of exactly why the Catholic Church cannot ordain women as priests, in 1994. Likewise not mentioned. Father had been given a chance to recant. That is the proper word. Merriam-Webster defines as “to withdraw or repudiate (a statement or belief) formally and publicly.” Father is in error, and must recant as part of a return to grace. Or he can remain outside the Church, where he is now. But he cannot perform those sacramental duties intrinsic to being a Roman Catholic priest, as a direct result of his inability to follow his vow of obedience. Please, do some research when reporting. A better headline here might have been “Former priest rejects 2000 Years of God’s Law For His Own.”
That needs a little unpacking. The non-ordination of women does not have the same doctrinal level as (say) the doctrines on the Trinity, the Incarnation, the nature of the Eucharist and so forth.
The clearest way of putting this is as follows:
There could NOT be a revelation from God tomorrow that God is not God, that there are four Persons in the Trinity, that Jesus was not Man, that Jesus was not God - and so forth.
But there *could* be a revelation from God tomorrow that women can be ordained.
I don't believe this will happen: I believe that the non-ordination of women is well-supported by Christ not having female apostles.
But the intrinsic 'hardness' of this doctrine is at the same level as that of the non-inclusion of gentiles in the Church (which matter was conclusively disambiguated by divine revelation to St Peter).
When women become catholic Priests, I will find myself another way to get to God
Changing the Church in this manner would tell me that for 2,000 years the Church, and Christ, who chose men as his apostle’s has been wrong.Th Catholic Church is not meant to change just for political correctness.
There are certain fundamentals that any structure is built on, Destroy the foundation and the structure will collapse.