N.J. woman ordained as a priest in controversial ceremony

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PHILADELPHIA – Last July, Mary Ann Schoettly was automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church after a ceremony that she says made her a deacon – a ceremony conducted in willful defiance of her religion’s ban on ordaining women.

Today, in the eyes of a small group of renegade Catholics who believe women should be allowed into the Catholic priesthood, the 66-year-old Sussex County resident was ordained a priest, in a controversial ceremony held at a synagogue.

“It’s a very fulfilling experience,” said Schoettly, a retired high school biology teacher and the 47th female priest associated with the international group Roman Catholic Womenpriests. “It is something that I have recognized in myself for years and haven’t been able to follow.” …

Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, denounced today’s ceremony as a “pseudo-Ordination” that was not genuine and worried that it may confuse Catholics about church teachings.

“Such a ceremony,” Rigali said in a prepared statement, “is in violation of the constant teaching of the Church, based on Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Both clearly indicate that Jesus called only men to follow him as Apostles, and the Church has always regarded his choice in this matter as normative for all time.”

Full text nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/nj_woman_is_ordained_as_a_prie.html
 
Please don’t flame me for my reply - I’m kind of with you but not on this.

I agree with the ordination of women - I am Anglican, and my faith allows it.

HOWEVER - you can’t become a priest of a faith that doesn’t accept you and you don’t believe wholey, it doesn’t make sense.

Why be ordained in a faith you don’t accept? How can you hold a faith but not agree with it? I agree with my Anglican teachings; I think there’s some things we loose a little bit, because it’s such a diverse church, but generally it’s good. We make up what we loose in personal devotion as is fitting; that is my main source for Mary within my faith… but to go against it? It just doesn’t make sense…

If the Holy Spirit moves in her I hope she is taken to great, wonderful, blessed things; but I just don’t understand!

i.e I don’t understand why she would - I understand the issue.
 
What do you not understand? This goes against clear Church teaching. Pope John Paul II addressed it directly. Some people obviously believe, incorrectly, that they can do what they want. That’s all you need to understand.

Peace,
Ed
 
edwest2 said:
What do you not understand? This goes against clear Church teaching. Pope John Paul II addressed it directly. Some people obviously believe, incorrectly, that they can do what they want. That’s all you need to understand.

Peace,
Ed
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I understand that; which is why I don’t understand her motivation to do so… my point was, a not quite faith is not a faith to be ordained in. If she doesn’t believe every word, every dogma, every practice of the church, why does she practice it let alone wish to be (falsely) ordained in it?

Sorry if I never came across clearly.
 
Rita88 said:
I understand that; which is why I don’t understand her motivation to do so… my point was, a not quite faith is not a faith to be ordained in. If she doesn’t believe every word, every dogma, every practice of the church, why does she practice it let alone wish to be (falsely) ordained in it?

Sorry if I never came across clearly.
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Perhaps because if a person can’t realize their dream, then sometimes they accept a facsimile, or a less than ideal replacement. Either that, or she hopes her actions will allow another person sometime in the future to realize her dream in her place. I would think, though, that if she believes in transubstantiation with all her heart, then she may find some pain in trying to do it herself. I know that if I were somehow in her shoes, I would be unable to believe that anything I tried to confect was truly confected.

I’m just guessing, of course. I can’t know how she feels inside, where no one but God looks. I can only wonder how I might feel in her place.
 
Rita88 said:
Please don’t flame me for my reply - I’m kind of with you but not on this.

I agree with the ordination of women - I am Anglican, and my faith allows it.

HOWEVER - you can’t become a priest of a faith that doesn’t accept you and you don’t believe wholey, it doesn’t make sense.

Why be ordained in a faith you don’t accept? How can you hold a faith but not agree with it? I agree with my Anglican teachings; I think there’s some things we loose a little bit, because it’s such a diverse church, but generally it’s good. We make up what we loose in personal devotion as is fitting; that is my main source for Mary within my faith… but to go against it? It just doesn’t make sense…

If the Holy Spirit moves in her I hope she is taken to great, wonderful, blessed things; but I just don’t understand!

i.e I don’t understand why she would - I understand the issue.
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No flaming from me. I totally agree.

What I think she should have done was to be ordained in a faith that both accepts her and that she accepts. By claiming to be ordained in the Catholic faith she is simply grandstanding for the public and not expressing the true faith. This alone is troublesome.
 
Rita88 said:
I understand that; which is why I don’t understand her motivation to do so… my point was, a not quite faith is not a faith to be ordained in. If she doesn’t believe every word, every dogma, every practice of the church, why does she practice it let alone wish to be (falsely) ordained in it?

Sorry if I never came across clearly.
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She probably believes that the Roman Catholic Church is somehow the true Church, yet has been taken over by men who use theology to avoid sharing power with women.

Just a guess. Does that help explain?

I certianly don’t agree with her.
 
No more guessing. Here is what they claim:

romancatholicwomenpriests.org/

This is a heretical sect that has no backing from the Catholic Church and is acting in defiance of the statement by Pope John Paul II that the Church has no authority to ordain women to the priesthood. Something which he said must be definitively held by all the faithful.

They appear to want to follow the heresies of modernism which includes the term inclusive and “model,” which are human concepts that do not describe Christ’s Church.

Peace,
Ed
 
I agree with Rita88 in that this sort of thing really makes no sense. Catholic sacramental theology has always considred women not proper “matter” for ordination. That will not change.

So, she’s not ordained.
She’s excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

What did this accomplish except a bit of play acting?

Why not join a church whose beliefs she accepts?
 
Gosh what a decision to make … it makes my heart hurt with even the thought of being excommunicated …😦
 
melensdad said:
No flaming from me. I totally agree.

What I think she should have done was to be ordained in a faith that both accepts her and that she accepts. By claiming to be ordained in the Catholic faith she is simply grandstanding for the public and not expressing the true faith. This alone is troublesome.
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JimG said:
I agree with Rita88 in that this sort of thing really makes no sense. Catholic sacramental theology has always considred women not proper “matter” for ordination. That will not change.

So, she’s not ordained.
She’s excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

What did this accomplish except a bit of play acting?

Why not join a church whose beliefs she accepts?
Click to expand...
Hehehe - I quoted these cos it’s not often I’m agreed with so thank you 🙂

I think, that all of us as fellow Christians, should turn to God in prayer over this, and ask for His will to be done. God has a purpose for everyone let’s just pray she serves hers? After all, that’s what we are here for.

It’s sad she’s in this weird love-hate relationship with the Catholic Church, loving all the dogma except one, and that’s the one she’s going to get excommunicated with, is a big burden for her to bear… regardless of how we may think she’s either right or wrong.

God bless everyone 🙂
Rita
 
Rita88 said:
I think, that all of us as fellow Christians, should turn to God in prayer over this, and ask for His will to be done. God has a purpose for everyone let’s just pray she serves hers? After all, that’s what we are here for.
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I will give a big Amen to that. Trying to do God’s will for us rather than our own is always a challenge. But if we were all able to do it, the world would be a happy place.
 
Brian777 said:
That’s right, no sacrament here at all.
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I think that’s the danger - she is both allowing herself and others to think that she is in a faith that says she’s not. That’s going to be quite damaging to everyone involved because either they endorse the situation or they aren’t fully aware of it. i.e. a Catholic child may think she’s a “proper priest” when she’s not - how confusing would that be? Continued prayers for this situation…

In the Church of England we have debates raging about Women becoming Bishops. I fully believe and practice the Anglican faith, and I agree with the ordination of women into our priesthood; some of the best priests I have met have been women… we are in a different situation to the Catholic church because we are being selectively discriminative (and I disagree with it) I think that since women can be priests in our faith, there should be nothing preventing their inclusion into the Episcopate.

Since the Catholic church does not agree with the ordination of women; then you can not be a female catholic priest, it’s as simple as that. You can fight for the ordination of women, and you can even choose not to agree with the church’s dogma, but the (so-called) ‘ordination’ is still void.

I wondered though, is she celibate?
 
I have just read this:

Response Regarding Excommunication Decree
Roman Catholic Womenpriests reject the penalty of excommunication issued by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith on May 29, 2008 stating that the “women priests and the bishops who ordain them would be excommunicated latae sententiae.” Roman Catholic Womenpriests are loyal members of the church who stand in the prophetic tradition of holy obedience to the Spirit’s call to change an unjust law that discriminates against women. Our movement is receiving enthusiastic responses on the local, national and international level. We will continue to serve our beloved church in a renewed priestly ministry that welcomes all to celebrate the sacraments in inclusive, Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered communities wherever we are called.

I am am a little confused…

How can they be loyal, when they are going against their own dogma?

Are they really “Roman” Catholic if they are disregarding the Vatican Council, and their Excommunication Decree?

I should point out, I’m not saying I’m against the ordination of women at all… I would say I’m not qualified to say such things about the RC faith, because I am not one. I leave that one to you guys - you’re the experts. My issue, as I keep saying, is that they are identifying themselves with a faith that they neither accept nor accepts them. I am assuming the way they would testify to being ordained is that it’s the Apostolic Succession and bestowed by Ordained RC Bishops (but possibly no longer considered to be), and have gone through the same/similar services as legitimate male RC priests???

Still, the issue remains, until it’s accepted as ordination by the Vatican then it’s not.
 
They are not priests. The Vatican doesn’t recognize them as such, and if yo ask me they aren’t Catholics either…Catholics obey the Holy Father
 
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