Catholic Group Based in Chicago Leads Protest Against Church

[1holycatholic]

Catholic Group Based in Chicago Leads Protest Against Church

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
The Roman Catholic Church in the United States is divided on the ordination of women. The group Call to Action, based in Chicago, supports such a policy.

By DIRK JOHNSON
Published: July 30, 2011

It’s a long way from the Vatican to Roscoe Village, but a group based in that North Side neighborhood is leading a high-profile protest among American priests that challenges the Roman Catholic Church’s ban on ordination of women.

The group, Call to Action, an organization for reform-minded Catholics, has collected signatures of more than 150 priests — including 8 in Chicago — on a petition defending a liberal priest, the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, who is being threatened with dismissal for his public support for ordaining women. In an increasingly conservative church, the rebellion has been hailed as a remarkable moment for liberals in the church.

“We just got on the phones and started telling priests, ‘We’ve got to support Father Roy,’ ” said Nicole Sotelo, 33, a leader of Call to Action, which bills itself as the nation’s largest organization for reform-minded Catholics.
…

The Church is not divided on the “ordination of women.”

 

[Corki]

on a petition defending a liberal priest, the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, who is being threatened with dismissal for his public support for ordaining women

Translation = on a petition defending an **excommunicated **priest, the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, **who is awaiting final word on dismissal from his order ** for his public **participation in a fake ceremony that attempted unsuccessfully to ordain a woman **

I thought CTA had gone the way of the dinosaurs.

The good news - out of the hundreds of priests in Chicago only 8 are crazy enough to throw in with this lot.

 

[SteveGC]

I wonder why these organizations don’t realize that the Magisterium cannot allow the ordination of women, EVEN IF THEY WANTED TO.

It’s not something possible to change, even if every Catholic in the world thought it should be done, including the Pope.

My guess is that they don’t realize it because they’re essentially Catholic in name only.

 

[Fink]

I thought CTA had gone the way of the dinosaurs.

Give `em a few more years, and they will have.

What a sick joke: showing rosary beads!
CTA`d be the last lot to use them!
Good one, NYT!!!

 

[manualman]

This is good news. Please, if you are a priest and actively support the ‘ordination’ of women, sign the petition and make sure it is sent to the Vatican.

It will be a useful tool the Vatican can use to improve the vetting of priests nominated to the episcopacy…

 

[Mimi]

This is good news. Please, if you are a priest and actively support the ‘ordination’ of women, sign the petition and make sure it is sent to the Vatican.

It will be a useful tool the Vatican can use to improve the vetting of priests nominated to the episcopacy…

 

[ConfusedTim]

There’s also the question of what was being signed up to. Some might have been merely saying they support free speech but not the actual act of women’s ordination. People often like to spin information and do this by not presenting clear facts.

 

[spunkydog]

The second psalm comes to mind. It is nothing new that the haughty of the world rail against God. They lack both an understanding of the Church and the teaching of Christ. Their motives are hardly christian and are based more on secular grounds of ‘justice’. One does not see them railing against the Constitution’s ban on those not born in this nation of immigrants from holding the office of the President. And to the Church’s ‘ban’ on ordination of women, Jesus gave Peter the keys of the Kingdom and gave Him as well as the other apostles the power to bind and loose. We are called to accept the rulings of the Church with humility and acceptance. We are also called to pray for the Church. If we find ourselves in opposition to some church ruling, we should look to ourselves to see why this is so. Is there some pride or ignorance we could address so that we might understand what we are against better?

 

[Tigg]

I wish articles about Call to Action would not appear on this forum. We all know by now their credibility is, at best, questionable, as is their brand of Catholicism - that their membership is heavily infested with feminist nuns, gays, former priests and dissident theologians and that they wish to radically change the traditions and doctrines of the Church.

May they all be gone elsewhere - hopefully to start a church of their own choosing.

 

[Teelynn]

The second psalm comes to mind. It is nothing new that the haughty of the world rail against God. They lack both an understanding of the Church and the teaching of Christ. Their motives are hardly christian and are based more on secular grounds of ‘justice’. One does not see them railing against the Constitution’s ban on those not born in this nation of immigrants from holding the office of the President. And to the Church’s ‘ban’ on ordination of women, Jesus gave Peter the keys of the Kingdom and gave Him as well as the other apostles the power to bind and loose. We are called to accept the rulings of the Church with humility and acceptance. We are also called to pray for the Church. If we find ourselves in opposition to some church ruling, we should look to ourselves to see why this is so. Is there some pride or ignorance we could address so that we might understand what we are against better?

Well said. I would say there is a lot of pride at the heart of this movement. False pride of which is sinful. The Church is not a “Democracy”…never has been…never will be. But people wanting to change it are really asking to destroy what Christ has ordained. OBEDIENCE is a BIG DEAL to Christ and His Church.

 

[JimG]

I think that for the most part, Call to Action is composed of aging leftists.

 

[JaMc]

If they want the ordination of women, “tolerance” of “alternative lifestyles,” abortion, etc., liberal positions on all manner of social issues, and all of that, but still want to go to something that resembles an Ordinary Form Mass on Sunday morning, they should check out this link: episcopalchurch.org/

They don’t even have to get there early to find a empty seat!

 

[barb_finnegan]

Well said. I would say there is a lot of pride at the heart of this movement. False pride of which is sinful. The Church is not a “Democracy”…never has been…never will be. But people wanting to change it are really asking to destroy what Christ has ordained. OBEDIENCE is a BIG DEAL to Christ and His Church.

What you said, Teelyn! Way to go!

That’s the thing-HUMILITY AND OBEDIENCE!

And you’re right-‘The Church is not a ‘Democracy’…never has been…never will be.’

Truer words were never spoken, as the saying goes…

CTA is just a group of aging dinosaurs…just seeing a picture of them at their meetings, the predominant color is GRAY…

They sure have a lot of nerve (or a better word, ‘CHUTZPAH’…Hebrew for GALL, btw) holding up Rosaries in that picture! Sheesh…

 

[SummitJim]

This is really so basic: God makes the rules, we get to follow them. Even when we don’t like them. We don’t get to “vote” on changing them. So many Protestants seem to have forgotten this; and yes, perhaps a few Catholics need to be reminded of this.

 

[Tigg]

I think that for the most part, Call to Action is composed of aging leftists.

Yes…and feminist nuns and dissident theologians.

When Bishop Bruskewitz ordered Catholics within his diocese to sever ties with CTA, the group wrote to the Vatican. The bishop’s stance was upheld and The Prefect for the Congregation of Bishops wrote back and said “The judgment of the Holy See is that the activities of Call to Action in the course of these years are in contrast with the Catholic faith due to views and positions held which are unacceptable from a doctrinal and disciplinary standpoint.”

So…why is this group still around to cause all this trouble?

 

[Dale_M]

“The judgment of the Holy See is that the activities of Call to Action in the course of these years are in contrast with the Catholic faith due to views and positions held which are unacceptable from a doctrinal and disciplinary standpoint.”

So…why is this group still around to cause all this trouble?

Because the Congregation for Bishops simply ruled that Bishop Bruskewitz was within his rights to ban the organization from his diocese. The Congregation was not making a judgment about the organization’s standing within the worldwide church. Such a matter is beyond the Congregation’s responsibility.

Here is the full text of the letter from Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=7351

 

[Tigg]

Because the Congregation for Bishops simply ruled that Bishop Bruskewitz was within his rights to ban the organization from his diocese. The Congregation was not making a judgment about the organization’s standing within the worldwide church. Such a matter is beyond the Congregation’s responsibility.

Here is the full text of the letter from Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=7351

You missed my point. Granted each bishop has control over his own diocese, but this does not clarify the big picture. The Vatican stated:

that the activities of “Call to Action” in the course of these years are in contrast with the Catholic Faith due to views and positions held which are unacceptable from a doctrinal and disciplinary standpoint. Thus to be a Member of this Association or to support it, is irreconcilable with a coherent living of the Catholic faith.

The point is that there should be one concerted voice - all the bishops united with the Holy See which would oust such a dissident organization that is “irreconcilable with a coherent living of the Catholic Faith.” What does it say that this group still manages to extend influence in the lives of Catholics outside the diocese of Lincoln? Are we not all one Church, one body, one faith? (Discern this, faithful Catholics, 'cause I sure know what it says to me!)

 

[adrift]

Call to Action was founded in 1976 by Dan and Sheila Daley, a priest and nun who had met at St. James Church and school (he was associate pastor, she was a teacher) and then fell in love and married. The Daleys retired from the organization in 2008.

The origin of this group needs no further explanation.

Father Bourgeois was excommunicated latae sententiae for his participation in a women’s ordination ceremony in August 2008.

The article never mentions that he has been excommunicated.

 

[Dale_M]

What does it say that this group still manages to extend influence in the lives of Catholics outside the diocese of Lincoln?

Does it have influence anywhere, other than the news media? My sense is that the organization is moribund, and stuck in the concerns and mentality of the 1970s. I think its influence has been waning for the past 20 years, unable to attract a new generation of members.

 

[1holycatholic]

Does it have influence anywhere, other than the news media? My sense is that the organization is moribund, and stuck in the concerns and mentality of the 1970s. I think its influence has been waning for the past 20 years, unable to attract a new generation of members.

The Church has had dissenters for two millenia. When a a group of dissenters dies off there’s always another to take their place.