One Of The Good Guys
Delaware Liberal is somewhat known for its anti-Catholic rhetoric, so let’s rejoice for a moment for a Catholic priest liberals can admire, Reverend Father Roy Bourgeois. “What’s so special about him?” Donviti asks.
Immediately what comes to mind is that he is about to be excommunicated from the Church because not only does he believe that women should become priests, he had the audacity to attend the ordination for Janice Sevre-Duszynska as well as deliver the homily. (That’s two links to National Catholic Reporter in one DL post, not that we are counting.)
Women in our Church are telling us that God is calling them to the priesthood. Who are we, as men, to say to women, “Our call is valid, but yours is not.” Who are we to tamper with God’s call?
Sexism, like racism, is a sin. And no matter how hard or how long we may try to justify discrimination, in the end, it is always immoral.
But Father Bourgeois’ priesthood has always been activism for people whose voices are not heard. Bourgeois is a member of the Maryknoll Order which is known for its work among the poor in Latin America as well as their mission to bring positive change to the lives of the poor.
One of Bourgeios’ biggest contributions to the world of peace is his organizaiton of School of Americas Watch or SOAW. Currently, thousands of people are atFort Benning, Georgia to hold a three-day vigil at the School of Americas or, as it is now known, Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation or WHINSEC. No matter what you call it, WHINSEC or School of Americas, this US institution has had an embarrassing history of training death squads and murderers under the cloak of the military. Hopefully, one of President Obama’s future acts will be to shut down this school.
In his letter to the Vatican regarding the ordination of women to the priesthood, Bourgeios writes:
Conscience is very sacred. Conscience gives us a sense of right and wrong and urges us to do the right thing. Conscience is what compelled Franz Jagerstatter, a humble Austrian farmer, husband and father of four young children, to refuse to join Hitler’s army, which led to his execution. Conscience is what compelled Rosa Parks to say she could no longer sit in the back of the bus. Conscience is what compels women in our Church to say they cannot be silent and deny their call from God to the priesthood. Conscience is what compelled my dear mother and father, now 95, to always strive to do the right things as faithful Catholics raising four children. And after much prayer, reflection and discernment, it is my conscience that compels me to do the right thing. I cannot recant my belief and public statements that support the ordination of women in our Church.
And Bourgeois does not bury his head in the sand regarding the horrible abuse of children within the Church as well as the silence among the many priests and bishops who looked the other way.
According to USA TODAY (Feb. 28, 2008) in the United States alone, nearly 5,000 Catholic priests have sexually abused more than 12,000 children. Many bishops, aware of the abuse, remained silent. These priests and bishops were not excommunicated. Yet the women in our Church who are called by God and are ordained to serve God’s people, and the priests and bishops who support them, are excommunicated.
Silence is the voice of complicity. Therefore, I call on all Catholics, fellow priests, bishops, Pope Benedict XVI and all Church leaders at the Vatican, to speak loudly on this grave injustice of excluding women from the priesthood.
Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador was assassinated because of his defense of the oppressed. He said, “Let those who have a voice, speak out for the voiceless.”
I leave you with this one thought. If more small “c” christians acted as Bourgeois, the world would be a better place.
Tags: Catholicism
Bourgeois is a lose cannon, he should be defrocked.
Tom S, this is all you have to add to the conversation? Lame.
Are we really known for our anti-Catholic rhetoric? I mean besides Donviti.
If a person shouts from the rooftops that’s what people tend to hear.
Nice to see Tom S. chiming in with his usual “the Catholic Church is just the dandiest thing ever” rhetoric. I second nemski’s sentiment: LAME.
The Maryknoll Order is known for its radicalism.
What more did Tom S. need to say?
Does seem like an over reaction.
The Maryknoll Order is known for its radicalism.
women as priests….oohhhhhh so radical.
Are we really known for our anti-Catholic rhetoric? I mean besides Donviti.
one bad dildo spoils the entire barrel…
This “calling from god” rationalization bullshit scares the mythical Hell out of me…
Wow, Art Downs, wow. By radicalism, you mean helping the poor.
Thanks for reaffirming the meme that if Jesus came back, he would not recognize the Catholic Church among many of the organized religions.
Art, the DL appreciate you for playing in today’s game. Your parting gift is the peace of mind that you continual remind us of the shallowness of social bigotry.
Art and Tom worship at the church of “Thou Shalt Not.” It’s much easier than the church of “Thou Shalt”, since it lets them pass judgement on everyone while skipping all that hard to follow, radical Jesus stuff.
I fail to understand why a priest who so regularly breaks with Rome wants to be Catholic. Why not become a Protestant? They have women priests, political activism et al. By all indications he’s going to be excommunicated shortly and probably dismissed from the clerical state shortly thereafter.
Duffy, you mean other than the fact that he has given over 30 years of his life to the church? You mean other than the works he has done helping the poor and trying to rid the world of the School of Americas while being part of the church? Other than that?
Eh, probably the same reason why RSmitty is staying in the Republican Party while he’s not welcome to.
I bet people said the same thing as duffy as they did about St. Thomas of Aquinas
There most likely is no god so stop worrying and live your life.
I do love the concept of defrocked though. Hey you made up your own rules contrary to our made up rules, get out!
Liberal though I may be, the church is ultimately a private, free-to-join (except for the whole tithing aspect) club. As such, you’re entering into it by agreeing to all of their rules, no matter how ridiculous they might be.
I’m actually fine with the church’s unwillingness to allow gay marriage. Again, it’s a private institution no one is compelled to take part in. HOWEVA, I do think that because of that stance, government is obligated to come up with a way to secure the benefits that might not be good for the church, but are clearly beneficial to society as a whole.
Re: the post, I don’t see why a girl can be an altar server, get confirmed, read Bible passages during church, but not be a priest.
Then again, I don’t see how some people could actually believe that something called the KING JAMES Bible could be the literal interpretation of God’s Word.
Ah, the mysticism of religion.
The Pope is having a conversation with God about church teachings and policy. Pope Benedict is unsure of Priests being able to marry and Women becoming Priests.
God answers him. He tells him Priests may be able to marry but not in the Pope’s life time. God then tells answers him about women becoming priests by saying not in his (God’s) life time.
Duffy asks:
Well, it’s sort of A Thing with Catholics: some of us can’t admit that they’ve left when they’ve left.
Yet, if Fr Bourgeois wants to see priestesses, hge can easily become an Episcopalian — while there are still some left. The word “protestant” comes from “protest.” If Fr Bourgeois wishes to protest church teaching, then he should admit what he has become.
Badmon wrote:
The Church looks to the example of Jesus as well as his recorded words. He selected twelve apostles, from whom the bishops are the successors, and he selected all males. The odds of a group of twelve people all being the same sex are 0.0244140625%, or 4096 to 1.
Assuming that Jesus was the living Son of God, and that he knew he was going to establish the Church on earth — an assumption which underpins all of Christianity — he had to have known that his actions in selecting the apostles would have an impact in he future. If he had wanted priestesses ordained, all he needed to have done was select one female apostle. That he did not do so has meaning in itself.
The Church believes it is bound to follow the example of Jesus. That is the theology behind the restriction.
Just a quick note since readers seems to be thinking that I am proposing that Bourgeois should not be excommunicated from the church. After all this is a liberal blog and we are PC and all that.
However, my feeling is that if the church wants to excommunicate this good man, so be it. It just adds another notch to Donviti’s Anti-Catholic belt. 😉
As a recovering Catholic the “all men” thing drives me crazy. First, it was only the women who stood by Jesus until the very end. Where were those 12 men then? And second, when Jesus resurrected… who did he reveal himself?
“All four Gospels report that several women were the ones to find the tomb of Jesus empty. According to Mark and Luke, the announcement of Jesus’ resurrection was first made to women. According to Matthew and John, Jesus actually appeared first to women (in John to Mary Magdalene alone)”
Just saying.
Not for nothing, but don’t we girls have enough to do without being a priest too?
Joanne, mrs. nemski hears you. She’s doing the laundry right now.
I heard Bourgeois interviewed on the radio and he felt that if women were priests the widespread abuse of children would not have happened, and if it did happen, women would not have been silent. He strongly believes (and I concur) that the Catholic Church would be a better place if women were in the pulpit.
Joanne, color me disappointed. Your argument could well be applied to women doctors and lawyers, etc.
Dana’s argument concerning men has more to do with societal conditions than an argument against women priests. If you just go by the bible… it seems women, and only women, were with Jesus in his darkest hour, (the men were nowhere to be found) and in his brightest hour it was women he turned to.
Again… just saying.
Pandora, Jesus had a rather strong record of violating the cultural and religious norms of the time; that’s why the religious authorities wanted him eliminated. If Jesus was the Son of God, he had to have known what his selection of only men to be the apostles would mean for the future, and given his record of violating societal norms, selecting a woman apostle would have been in character for him, if he had desired that the Church have priestesses.