double reverse

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Jun 18, 2009

Nouwen Catholics-Kenya, which describes itself as "a group of LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans gender and Intersex) Catholics," is unhappy with Archbishop Karl Raymond Rodix.

So, you might ask, what else is new? Gay activists are constantly at odds with archbishops, insofar as archbishops-- excepting certain archbishops emeriti from Wisconsin-- advance the teachings of the Catholic Church with regard to the intrinsic immorality of homosexual acts.

But this is a different sort of story. You won't find Archbishop Karl Raymond Rodix listed in the Annuario. He's the self-proclaimed leader of the Ecumenical Catholic Church-- a.k.a. the Reformed Catholic Church. That peculiar institution, which has ties to the inimitable Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, strongly believes that priests should be free to marry. The Ecumenical (or Reformed, if you prefer) Catholic Church professes loyalty to the Roman Pontiff and the universal Church, but shows that loyalty in unusual ways-- such as following an excommunicated prelate (Milingo), taking cues from a non-Christian sect (the Moonies), and ordaining its own bishops without a mandate from the Holy See.

It's the episcopal ordinations, performed in Africa, that triggered an angry reaction from the Nouwen Catholics. The LGBTI group announced that Archbishop Rodix and his uxorious band "made what can only be described as an open attack on the Roman Catholic Church by ordaining Fr. Geoffrey Shiundu as a bishop and five priests."

[Let me pause here and interject that I strongly suspect the misguided archbishop ordained Father Shiundu as a bishop, and ordained five other men as priests. Despite the wording of the Nouwen Catholics' release, I don't think that Shiundu has the versatility necessary to act as one bishop and five priests all by himself. But you never know…]

So the Nouwen Catholics, who aren't the marrying kind, strongly object to the priests who are the marrying kind. Got it?

To be perfectly honest I'm not sure whose side I'm on in this debate, but you've gotta admit it beats the usual boilerplate.