No matter what else is happening in the Church and world, Rome is way on top of the women's ordination issue. Some might say over the top.Vatican stops women's ordinations in Catholic church
By Kim Cain, Religion News Service, Dec. 8, 2009
By Kim Cain, Religion News Service, Dec. 8, 2009
MELBOURNE, Australia -- An Anglican ordination that was scheduled to be held in a Roman Catholic church in rural Australia was moved to a Protestant church because the Vatican refused to have women ordained in a Catholic building.
Catholic Bishop Joseph Grech of Sandhurst had given permission for the Anglican bishop of Bendigo, Andrew Curnow, to ordain seven candidates in St. Killian's Catholic Church on Nov. 29 after the local Anglican cathedral was closed for safety reasons.
But when it was discovered that four of the ordinands were women, Rome vetoed the local leadership, saying the ordinations could not take place within the Catholic building, even though it was an Anglican service. (I guess this shows that even though all Anglican ordinations are considered invalid by Rome, ordinations of women are beyond invalid. It might be OK to invalidly ordain men in a Roman Catholic Church but not women.)
Curnow told Ecumenical News International that he had been informed that the decision was entirely due to the presence of female ordinands. "It was felt that this would be sending the wrong signal regarding the ordination of women from a Catholic perspective," he said. (Or it emphasizes to the Anglicans the Pope wants in the church that women's ordination will not happen on his watch, in his buildings under any circumstances.)
Instead, the ordinations were shifted to a local church of the Uniting Church in Australia, a Protestant denomination that has a history of ordaining women.
The decision to stop the ordinations in the Catholic church building was handed down through the office of the apostolic nuncio, or Vatican ambassador, to Australia, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto. (I notice that in this case the Papal Nuncio didn't feel the need to go through diplomatic channels.)
"After much discussion with Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto and the Vatican, the ramifications were investigated," Grech told the Bendigo Advertiser. "The Catholic Church's doctrine on the ordination of deacons and priests is well known.
"There were certain issues within the doctrine that created problems. It's the best thing for both churches." (One of those problems is that although the teaching is well known, over half the sheep don't agree with the chief shepherd.)
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This is another one of those bizarre Vatican concerns that put me into gales of laughter. We have heard not one word from the Vatican about the Murphy report concerning the dismal response of the Dublin hierarchy regarding sexual abuse, although I guess we finally will on Friday. There hasn't been one peep out of the Vatican about the 'Kill gays' bill in Uganda, or from the USCCB for that matter. There hasn't been one peep from the Vatican about the secret protocols worked out amongst developing nations in Copenhagen. A document which more or less gives free reign for the developing world to continue to emit green house gasses at the expense of developing nations.
Instead, the Vatican acts with alacrity about an isolated situation in Australia in which a Roman Catholic bishop offered an Anglican bishop a one time use of Church property--out of a sense of Christian brotherhood--because it would have allowed for the ordination of four women. Operative term for Rome appears to be brotherhood.
Roman Catholicism burns while the Vatican piddles. Even the top dog can't piddle that much.
I was just thinking about how women are treated in the Church as inferior persons, not even considered worthy to be able to become a deacon, and then I come to your blog and read this!
ReplyDeleteThis is some priority these guys in the Vatican have cooked up and it just reeks of deep-seated hatred of women, which is quick and sharp ill-judgment on their part.
It didn't take the Vatican long to react to not allowing women of any denomination to be ordained in a Catholic Church building because that is a no brainer to them and needs no real discussion.
Women apparently have a 2nd class Baptism in the RCC. Women also must have an inferior form of the sacrament of Confirmation. So that must mean that when a woman sins that sin is inferior to men's. So the laws of the Church and State should also resemble these rules of inferiority of women. If a women commits a crime, it is an inferior crime and should have an inferior punishment. Sounds fair to me!!
It is amazing that the Vatican has been quiet about the impending doom of homosexuals in Uganda. If they were the least bit Christian they would have released a statement to the press announcing they are AGAINST the law. But no, they are cooking up some long winded, deep-seated crock of crap bs that spins some message that nobody will understand.
My god what hypocrisy and blindness, oblivious to its own obvious stupidity. Thanks so much for this. I'm drinking a glass of single malt scotch at the moment, but that's not why I'm laughing - though the story is also horrible, creepy and sick. Sooner or later, we simply have to start ignoring these authority figures and start constructing our own church without them.
ReplyDeleteCommonweal has a very interesting article;
ReplyDeleteMaximus' Mary; A Minister, Not Just an Icon
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/article.php3?id_article=2721
It's about the Life of the Holy Virgin by St. Maximus the Confessor.
A very interesting article. It's too bad the book is unavailable in English and difficult to find.
Anon, the commonweal article is way more than interesting. I wish I would have known about it before I posted yesterday. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for the link.
Butterfly, you should have seen the photo I almost posted. Except then I would have been the one over the top. You have to check out anon's link.
Jayden, I think it's symptomatic of the degree of pathology that they are so blind to the idiocy of where and how they choose to act.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, thank you for the link. I hope the book is translated into English soon.
ReplyDeleteIt makes perfect sense to me that Mary had a crucial role in the early Church. As a mother with a son I can identify with this account of Mary knowing all about her son and in taking an active role in the early Church. How could it be otherwise? How could Christianity be spread without the women also spreading the truth of Jesus Christ? It could not have happened without the women.
Oh Lord, and Mother of God, please help the men in the Church to see the great injustice they are doing against women in the Church and to Mary who is surely brought to tears with her Son over their continued hatred of women.
Colleen, maybe going over the top might really be what is needed sometimes, to make sure the point is clear and that it is remembered and talked about and contemplated. What I mean about that is that certain things that Jesus did could be considered over the top. Did he have to make a whip of cords and overturn the tables of the money changers at the Temple? Couldn't he have chosen instead some other method to get his point across?
ReplyDeleteNot all of what Jesus did in his lifetime is recorded. But those things that really stood out, such as the story above, were written and are remembered. Perhaps that is why Jesus did what he did, so it would be recorded and remembered because it was central to his message for us.
But I haven't seen the picture you mention Colleen. You could email it to me.
Colleen, Yes, the Vatican's priorities do seem mixed up. Years ago when I was the pastor of a small RC church, I participated with my Episcopal friends in the ordination of two Episcopal priests, both men. I felt very welcome. How times have changed. More recently, like the last twenty years, I attended the Dignity services at an Episcopal Church where there was a woman pastor. We were welcome. All I can say about this latest incident of Vatican inhospitality is the Vatican hates us all. Like all of you I wait for the tornado of the Spirit to come.
ReplyDeleteRidiculous. Well, at least we can't accuse the Vatican of black-and-white thinking on the issue of Anglican orders: apparently there's black, white, and blacker-than-black. Who knew there were degrees of invalidity?
ReplyDeletePrickliest, that's exactly why my first reaction was to burst out laughing. Now we have shades of black. Indeed, who knew?
ReplyDeleteMilwaukee is questioning the Vatican's judgement, in their appointment of Listecki... check out this article: http://www.wisconsingazette.com/milwaukee-gaze/activist-bishop-to-head-milwaukee-diocese.html
ReplyDelete