Free Republic

A Swedish priest has been fired after telling his congregation that people who support female priests would be rejected by God - despite the fact that his own church is led by a woman. The Church of Sweden priest in Halland, south-western Sweden, was defrocked after a sermon in which he claimed that Christian salvation was only available to people who rejected the ordination of women. The priest made the controversial comments after finding out that a reorganisation of the church in his area meant that he would soon be working with two female pastors. “The very idea that a...

INTER INSIGNIORESDeclaration on the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood (15 October 1976) Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith IntroductionThe Role Of Women In Modern Society And The ChurchAmong the characteristics that mark our present age, Pope John XXIII indicated, in his Encyclical "Pacem in Terris" of 11 April 1963, "the part that women are now taking in public life . . . This is a development that is perhaps of swifter growth among Christian nations, but it is also happening extensively, if more slowly, among nations that are heirs to different traditions and imbued with...

<p>"Thirty years ago, the ferment for ordination of women was on everyone's radar as far as 'gender issues in the church' were concerned. At the time, that issue was cast in terms of validating the ministry of women in the Church.</p>