US nuns stand up for Fr. Roy Bourgeois
I saw a post todat at America magazine's blog by James Martin SJ - 100 Catholic sisters protest Vatican action - about American nuns who've written to the CDF in support of Maryknoll priest Roy Bourgeois, facing excommunication for having participated in a woman's ordination. Here's a bit of the post ....
[...] The nuns' Dec. 12 letter says the Vatican's action "has diminished our Church." They believe that "excommunications depend not on edicts or laws, but on compliance" by the faithful. If the faithful do not exclude or shun someone from the community, they are not excommunicated. The letter asserts that Bourgeois is not outside the community because they "embrace him wholeheartedly." The letter was organized by the National Coalition of American Nuns (NCAN) ..... "Many of the signers have served the Church for more than 40 or 50 years. Many are prominent leaders in their fields," said Loretto Sister Jeannine Gramick, another NCAN coordinator. She pointed to Mercy Sister Theresa Kane, who made worldwide headlines when she asked Pope John Paul II to open all ministries to women on the occasion of his first visit to the U.S in 1979, and Dominican Sister Carol Coston, who founded Network, a Catholic social justice lobby. She also noted the signatures of Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister, a prolific writer in the field of spirituality, Notre Dame Sister Ivone Gebara, a noted Brazilian feminist theologian, and Loretto Sister Maureen Fiedler, host of the public radio show Interfaith Voices.
I wonder what will happen to the nuns. Brave ladies.
[...] The nuns' Dec. 12 letter says the Vatican's action "has diminished our Church." They believe that "excommunications depend not on edicts or laws, but on compliance" by the faithful. If the faithful do not exclude or shun someone from the community, they are not excommunicated. The letter asserts that Bourgeois is not outside the community because they "embrace him wholeheartedly." The letter was organized by the National Coalition of American Nuns (NCAN) ..... "Many of the signers have served the Church for more than 40 or 50 years. Many are prominent leaders in their fields," said Loretto Sister Jeannine Gramick, another NCAN coordinator. She pointed to Mercy Sister Theresa Kane, who made worldwide headlines when she asked Pope John Paul II to open all ministries to women on the occasion of his first visit to the U.S in 1979, and Dominican Sister Carol Coston, who founded Network, a Catholic social justice lobby. She also noted the signatures of Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister, a prolific writer in the field of spirituality, Notre Dame Sister Ivone Gebara, a noted Brazilian feminist theologian, and Loretto Sister Maureen Fiedler, host of the public radio show Interfaith Voices.
I wonder what will happen to the nuns. Brave ladies.
posted by crystal | 12:59 PM
4 Comments:
I don't know what will happen to these brave ladies but this is a comment that I just posted over there.
I'm sure that if some of these outspoken woman were around when Jesus chased some out of the temple, they would probably be the first to say something like, who gives you the authority of telling these people what to do here? Are you just another male chauvinist or what? Where do you get off by saying destroy this temple and I'll build it up in three days?
No body but Jesus Christ and His appointed Apostle have the right to tell His Church what to do!
God Bless,
Peace
Of course, maybe the dudes in the hierarchy would be closer to the pharisees in the temple...
I personally think we should have women priests, though I think having unauthorized ordinations is the wrong way to go about it for a number of reasons. Still, the response to it should be more pastoral than inquisitorial.
Victor,
I don't think Jesus and his apostles made any statements in the gospels about women priests or priests at all, though I'm not all that good at remembering scripture passages.
Hi Liam,
Yeah, the women's ordinations seem in some ways pointless except to perhaps bring attention to the subject, as the Church won't recognize them.
What bothers me especially is that we aren't supposed to even discuss women's ordination and though some good people think it would be ok, they dare not speak up.
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