Boston: more pretend “ordinations” - sad business [Fr. Z]

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More dissent.

Here is a piece from The Boston Globe. Sad business, really.

My emphasesand comments.
3 women to be ordained Catholic priests *[Nooo… will pretend to be ordained.] in Boston
Excommunication automatic, church warns

By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | July 18, 2008

Three aspiring Catholic priests ****** will be anointed and prayed over this weekend in an ordination liturgy that will resemble the traditional in most ways but one: The three [not] being ordained are women.

The **[fake] **ordination ceremony Sunday, at a historic Protestant church [That’s about right.] in the Back Bay, is the first such event to take place in Boston, one of the most Catholic cities in the nation. ?]

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, in accord with Vatican teaching, [two millennia of Christian tradition] says the participants in the ordination ceremony will be automatically excommunicating themselves.

But the women **[not] *being ordained say they are acting because they feel called to the priesthood and compelled to resist what they view as a wrong church teaching. [Because they get to make that determination, I guess. Right?]

“We’re part of a prophetic tradition of disobeying an unjust law,” [Remember folks: reject premises. This isn’t unjust, because it is not a matter of justice, and it is not a law, but an infallible teaching.] said Gabriella Velardi Ward, a 61-year-old Staten Island architect with two children and five grandchildren, who will **[not] **be ordained along with Gloria Carpeneto of Baltimore and Mary Ann McCarthy Schoettly of Newton, N.J.

Ward said she has wanted to be a priest since age 5, [And her parents dropped the ball on that one, I guess. They should have taught her better. But, then again… you can’t always accomplish what you want with kids, can you.] and that she actively considered becoming a nun before deciding that the priesthood was her calling because she wants to be able to celebrate Catholic sacraments. [She can! Just not as a priest.]

“Excommunication or not, I will still be a validly ordained priest [This is simply a wicked lie.] and still will be able to serve the people of God,” she said.

The women are to be **[fictionally] **ordained by Dana Reynolds, a California woman who was **[not] **consecrated as a bishop in Germany in April.

Reynolds and the others are part of an organization called Roman Catholic Womenpriests, which has been holding** [invalid]** ordination ceremonies for women since 2002; the organization says there are now 28 women Catholic **[pretending to be] **priests in the United States.

Among those already ordained is Jean Marchant, a former director of healthcare ministry for the Archdiocese of Boston, who with her husband presides over a small congregation that has a weekly Catholic Eucharist in a Protestant church in Weston.

The organization says its ordinations are valid because its first bishops were ordained by Catholic bishops in good standing – bishops whose names have not been released because they would face sanction by the Vatican. [Gratis asseritur gratis negatur. Besides, a real bishop can no more ordain a woman than I can transsubstantiate a banana into the Body of Christ. It just doesn’t work.]

But the Vatican says the ordinations are illegal **[Not only illegal but *invalid. INVALID. NULL! ZERO! VOID! Can they not get why it is “illegal” to attempt to ordain women? Because it is invalid and therefore makes a mockery of the sacrament of Holy Orders!] under church law **[The newsie is sticking to the shallow end of the pool.] **and yesterday the Archdiocese of Boston sent an e-mail to all priests declaring that women play key roles in the church, but cannot be priests.

“Catholics who attempt to confer a sacred order on a woman, and the women who attempt to receive a sacred order, are by their own actions separating themselves from the church,” the archdiocese said. “As a faith community rooted in the loving ministry of Jesus Christ, we pray for those who have willingly fallen away from the church by participating in such activities.”

The [false] ordination will be Sunday afternoon in Church of the Covenant on Newbury Street in Boston’s Back Bay. The church is affiliated with two Protestant denominations, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Church of Christ.

The interim pastor of Church of the Covenant, the Rev. Jennifer Wegter-McNelly, said the congregation decided to rent its historic space, [sounds like a form of ecclesiological prostitution] with Tiffany windows depicting women of the Bible, at a nominal fee to show support.

“It’s our effort to encourage and celebrate with them,” Wegter-McNelly said. “This church’s commitment to women goes back a long time.” [As if the Catholic Church doesn’t have a committment to women. Right.]

The ceremony has been scheduled to coincide with the first joint conference of four organizations pushing for the admission of married men, as well as of women, to the priesthood. That conference begins today at the Hyatt Harborside.

In St. Louis, a recent Catholic women’s **[fake] **ordination ceremony at a synagogue led to a rift in Catholic-Jewish relations. [When you are that rude and obstuse, bad things happen to dialogue.]

The Boston archdiocese declined to comment about the Protestant church’s decision to allow the dissident Catholics to meet there. [Wow. A sentence that got it right!]

The Vatican has repeatedly said that women cannot be priests because Jesus did not have female apostles. [Not the only reason, of course. But notice how this shallow comment leaves the impression that the Church is behind the times, etc.]

In 1994, in the most definitive recent Vatican statement [not a teaching, I guess, just a policy statement] on the issue, Pope John Paul II issued an apostolic letter in which he wrote, “I declare that the church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women.”

In its own statement, sent to priests by a vicar general, the Rev. Richard M. Erikson, the archdiocese said, “The ordination of men to the priesthood is not merely a matter of practice or discipline within the Catholic Church, but rather, it is part of the unalterable Deposit of Faith handed down by Christ through his apostles.” [Ahhh… clarity.]

But the archdiocese also said it hopes the women involved will seek “reconciliation” with the Catholic Church, and said, “Following our devotion to Mary, the church is committed to, and sustained by the many important contributions of women each and every day.”

Michael Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com.

Full entry…
 
your comment about them “getting to make that determination” really summed it up for me. I’m tired of this nonsense with people calling themselves Catholic, and then hijacking the Catholic faith because “well it doesn’t fit me, so I’ll try and change it”. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but shouldn’t the simple fact they cannot even have a service in a Catholic church (yet call themselves Catholic “priests”) be a good indication that this is not appropriate. I’ll pray for these women that they come to their senses, but I’m afraid this is typical here in the States. Do what I feel is right, not what God feels is right.:rolleyes:
 
We need to seriously pray for these women and those that support them. I don’t know how it got this way (well, I think I do, but I don’t have the energy) but I really hope it stops.

I’m really tired of these people just saying “I’m going to do whatever I want.” Notice that it’s always the women being “ordained” that say that the church has a thing against women?

My personal favorite argument is the one that “Jesus didn’t ordain women because it was was unacceptable for women to have leadership roles at the time” (or something along those lines). They never mention how “acceptable” it is to be born from a virgin, heal the sick, forgive sins, proclaim yourself to be God and God’s son, not to mention dying and then rising, and then going up to heaven-oh yes, that’s all perfectly normal-but put a woman in charge-that would be unusual!
 
Boston, Jul. 18, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Members of the feminist group Roman Catholic Womenpriests have announced plans to “ordain” three more women to the priesthood this weekend, in a ceremony that will be held in a Protestant church in Boston.
Click to expand...
cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=59738

We all know that women can’t be ordained but the fact that these women are trying to become ordained is just sickening and outrageous. May the Lord have mercy on us all.
 
Wow… firstly being female they cannot be validly ordained, secondly may i ask who is supposedly ordaining them, and what their claim to apostolic succession is?
 
I find it odd that if Christ meant for there to be female clergy that he wouldn’t have ordained Mary of Magdala, or for that matter Mary mother of God, as Apostles as they both seemed to be prime candidates otherwise; and as for the ludicrous claim that “Jesus didn’t ordain women because it was was unacceptable for women to have leadership roles at the time” all I’ll say is Jesus the Christ son of the living God wasn’t really one to compromise his teachings for the sake of societal norms.
 
Some time ago, another poster noted that he had never heard these types to say anything about praying for women’s ordination, or even praying that God’s will be done! 😦
 
The other day I posted about the illicit, invalid attempt at ordaining women which was to take place in Boston. The Boston Globe reporter was, in my opinion, both sloppy and biased in his work.

Today there is another article, by the same writer. Let’s see if there is a difference.

My emphases and comments.

Group claims [Right! This is a change from the first article, which basically accepted the premise that the breakaway group was actually ordaining.] to ordain women priests in unsanctioned ceremony
By Michael Paulson
Globe Staff / July 20, 2008

A group advocating for the ordination of women this afternoon held a ceremony in a packed Protestant church in Boston at which it declared [That’s fair. They do “declare” that, even though they are wrong.] three women to be Catholic priests and a fourth woman to be a deacon.

The ceremony, like several others that have taken place around the world over the last six years, was denounced by the Roman Catholic church, and critics said the event was a stunt with no religious significance. *[Well… it does have religious significance. It is invalid, but it is religiously significant because it reveals the confusion and error that dominates some breakaway groups. This muddies the waters of what “Catholic” means, and what priesthood really is about.] The Catholic Church has consistently taught [In the last article the reporter used language of policy and statements, rather than teaching.] that only men can be ordained as priests, and the Archdiocese of Boston said that the women who participated in today’s ceremony had automatically excommunicated themselves by participating in what it said was an invalid ordination ceremony.

But the women who participated in the event, along with the several hundred people who spent nearly three hours in the sweltering, non-air-conditioned Church of the Covenant, said they rejected the excommunications, and believed that the women had been validly ordained. [Whatever.] The women were vested with white chasubles and red stoles and greeted with a standing ovation as they were declared to be priests; they then helped preside over a service at which they declared bread and wine to be consecrated and offered what they said was Communion to anyone who wished to receive it.

The ceremony was organized by Roman Catholic Womenpriests, an organization that is not recognized by the Roman Catholic church. Catholic church officials say the women are not Catholic, their ordinations are not real, and any sacraments they attempt to celebrate, including today’s Eucharist, are invalid. [Very clear. That is what the Church says.]

The Womenpriests organization says their ordinations are legitimate because Catholic bishops in good standing ordained their first members to become female priests and bishops. Therefore, they argue, the women being ordained can claim apostolic succession, or direct descent from Jesus’s apostles. *[Yes. They claim that. But even if some dopey or senile Catholic bishop is willing to do something so foolish as to pretend to ordain women, they would be no more ordained than a yak or a bowl of peach cobbler. Women can’t be ordained priests. They can go through ceremony after ceremony and at the end they are still not ordained.]

The organization has not released the name of the bishops it says consecrated the first women bishops, saying they would face sanction by the Vatican, but says it will release the names once the male bishops die. [Could they be lying? I’m just asking.]

Critics say today’s ordinations are not valid because women can not be ordained. ******

C.J. Doyle, of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, called the ceremony “a sacrilegious parody of Holy Orders conducted at a Protestant church by a collection of apostates misappropriating the Catholic name.” [Wow. Nicely done.]

“One must not only be a male to be a Catholic priest, one must be a Catholic,’’ *[Well… one has to be baptized for sure.] Doyle said. "The performers in this theater of propaganda !] are neither. These women ought to have the intellectual honesty to admit that they left the Catholic Church some time ago. Whatever publicity value today’s exercise has, it must be measured against both the manifest fraudulence and the irredeemable hopelessness of their cause.” [Perhaps this fellow should be the spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston!]

But the women make the contested claim that there is historical evidence of female priests in the early church, [Wrong. There is no “evidence” of this in the Catholic Church. They can misinterpret all sorts of mosaics or frescos, it doesn’t change the fact that there have never been women priests in the Catholic Church. Some heretical, schismait groups attempted this, admittedly.] so that the ordination of women is “nothing new.” [WHAT?!?]

“Why is Rome so upset about us? Because they know the ordinations are valid,’’ [ROFL!] said Bridget Mary Meehan, spokeswoman for Roman Catholic Womenpriests. “We are not intimidated. We feel so strongly. Nothing can stop the Holy Spirit.’’ [This is blasphemy.]

Three women were declared to be priests at the ceremony today: Gloria Carpeneto of Baltimore, Judy Lee of Fort Myers, Florida, and Gabriella Velardi Ward of New York City. A fourth woman, Mary Ann McCarthy Schoettly of Newton, NJ, was declared a deacon.

The women did not pledge obedience or chastity [Big deal.] – the promises made by Roman Catholic priests. One was introduced to the congregation by her daughter; another by her husband.

The ceremony was presided over by Dana Reynolds of California and Ida Raming of Germany, both of whom have been declared bishops by Roman Catholic Womenpriests. But Catholic church officials say the women are neither bishops nor Catholic – that they too have been automatically excommunicated as a result of their actions.

“We know only too well in how many ways Vatican church leaders refuse to acknowledge the equality in Christ that God has established between men and women, [Here is a basic problem. This is not an issue of “equality”. There is a difference between “equality” and “identity”.] and how they constantly try to reimpose the precedence of men over women, which is unchristian,’’ [These kooks will always reduce the sacred to the worldly and read the Church through the lens of political categories.] Raming said. “We give witness to the whole world that it is not male gender which is the prerequisite for a valid ordination, but faith and baptism, the foundation of our dignity and equality.’’ [This is a variation of the marxist strain of feminism. Their “witness” is really a code word for “struggle” and they replace classes with sexes. (“Gender” is a misused linguistic category).]

Reynolds called the ceremony an act of “prophetic obedience,” [That is a phrase worthy of Satan.] declared that “today we are turning another page of history in the Roman Catholic Church,” and urged the gathering “Let us begin a revolution of hope here and now in Jesus’ name.’’ [More blasphemy. But note that she uses the word “revolution”.]

The ceremony was held in a venerable Protestant church, the Church of the Covenant, which is affiliated with both the Presbyterian Church and the United Church of Christ.

The interim pastor of the church, the Rev. Jennifer Wegter-McNelly, declared the ordination of women “an important part of this church’s identity,’’ and said “we stand with you today.’’

The former president of the Massachusetts conference of the United Church of Christ, the state’s largest Protestant denomination, was among several Protestant clergy who attended the ceremony to express their support for the women seeking ordination as Catholic priests.

“If it looks like discrimination, if it acts like discrimination, and if it feels like discrimination, it is discrimination,’’ said the Rev. Nancy S. Taylor, [Unless you are so deeply confused that you don’t know what a duck… er um… discrimination really is.] the former conference president, who is now senior minister of Old South Church. “Prejudice in liturgical clothing is still prejudice.’’

Michael Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com.
This is a far better article. It more accurately communicates the positions of both sides.

Meanwhile, also in the Boston Globe, there was a slightly weasely correction printed about the earlier article.

Clarification: The main headline on a report in yesterday’s City and Region section may have led to the erroneous impression that three women will be recognized as priests by the Roman Catholic Church after their ordination tomorrow. As the report and a subordinate headline made clear, the women’s status after the ordination is a matter of dispute. Although the organization hosting the ceremony will consider the women to be Catholic priests, the Vatican and the Archdiocese of Boston will regard them as having excommunicated themselves and therefore as being neither Catholic nor priests.
Full entry…
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Here’s some more info:

The group’s spokeswoman said that the ordination was not in compliance with “man made rules.”

Well, she’s right about that-Jesus, was a man, after all.

She goes on to say it is in line with the church’s ordination rituals because their “bishops” were ordained by male “Catholic” bishops “who are in good standing with the Church.”

I hate to burst a bubble-but ordaining women puts you in not good standing with the Church.

apnews.myway.com/article/20080721/D921T7H00.html

I feel so terribly sorry for these women and their supporters. Those who say Satan isn’t attacking the Church needs to check again. I just hope they come around someday. Pray, Pray, Pray!

I could say the words of ordination over someone (I could probably get my hands on the necessary oil). I could even go down to the local church supply store and buy communion wafers, altar wine, and an altar-but that wouldn’t make it real.
 
I too, find it interesting that this group continues to say the the male bishop is in good standing with the Church when he “ordained” those women bishops. However, at the very moment he performed the "ordinations of these women as bishops, he was no longer in good standing with the Church. The very moment it took place, (calling down the Holy Spirit upon the first women to be ordained a “bishop”), he become excommunicated from the Church and lost his line of apostolic succession. Whether we know his name or not, he is no longer a member of the Catholic Church. I fear that what ever he does, as a “bishop” will be invalid and illicit. He is placing future Catholics in jeapordy for they may think that they received a Sacrament when they did not. (Baptisms, Holy Communions, Confirmations, Weddings, Forgiveness of sins, Anointing of the Sick, and Ordinations would all be invalid.)
 
revejj2000 said:
I too, find it interesting that this group continues to say the the male bishop is in good standing with the Church when he “ordained” those women bishops. However, at the very moment he performed the "ordinations of these women as bishops, he was no longer in good standing with the Church. The very moment it took place, (calling down the Holy Spirit upon the first women to be ordained a “bishop”), he become excommunicated from the Church and lost his line of apostolic succession. Whether we know his name or not, he is no longer a member of the Catholic Church. I fear that what ever he does, as a “bishop” will be invalid and illicit. He is placing future Catholics in jeapordy for they may think that they received a Sacrament when they did not. (Baptisms, Holy Communions, Confirmations, Weddings, Forgiveness of sins, Anointing of the Sick, and Ordinations would all be invalid.)
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Not to give any support to the other side…but baptisms would still be valid, if the form and intent are correct. A valid baptism can be done by an atheist, heretic, etc – anyone, actually.
 
In referring to “Roman Catholic Womenpriests” group, a phrase from childhood comes to mind.

“Liar, liar, pants on fire.”

Even the clothing reference seems appropriate.
 
Satan is alive and well in Boston. He is the father of lies, and these women and those who “ordain” them have bought into the lies hook, line and sinker. Pope St. Pius X, ora pro nobis.
 
Let’s stand back for a moment and look at the broader picture.

Go to your typical parish for Sunday Mass and what do you see?
  1. Altar girls serving Mass,
  2. Women lectors doing the reading and leading the people in prayers.
  3. Women extraordinary ministers handling the ciborium, chalise and tabernacle while preparing for communion.
  4. Women extraordinary ministers distributing the Body and Blood and blessing people.
  5. Sometimes you’ll even see women making speeches and announcements, which are merely disguised homilies.
So when you go to a typical parish, the sanctuary is filled with girls and women doing things that which were once associated with priestly duties.

Why won’t some women make the misguided conclusion that, “Well we’re already doing everything else. Why can’t we be deacons and priest?”
 
richard_wang said:
Let’s stand back for a moment and look at the broader picture.

Go to your typical parish for Sunday Mass and what do you see?
  1. Altar girls serving Mass,
  2. Women lectors doing the reading and leading the people in prayers.
  3. Women extraordinary ministers handling the ciborium, chalise and tabernacle while preparing for communion.
  4. Women extraordinary ministers distributing the Body and Blood and blessing people.
  5. Sometimes you’ll even see women making speeches and announcements, which are merely disguised homilies.
So when you go to a typical parish, the sanctuary is filled with girls and women doing things that which were once associated with priestly duties.

Why won’t some women make the misguided conclusion that, “Well we’re already doing everything else. Why can’t we be deacons and priest?”
Click to expand...
So sad but so true.
 
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