Call to Action rallies support for excommunicated priest
July 25, 2011
Call to Action, the Chicago-based dissident Catholic group, has released a statement signed by 157 priests in support of Father Roy Bourgeois, the Maryknoll priest who has been excommunicated because of his involvement in a ceremony at which women claimed to be ordained as Catholic priests.
Bourgeois now faces the possibility of being formally dismissed from the Maryknoll order. The 157 priests wrote to Maryknoll superiors saying that they support Bourgeois’ “right to speak his conscience.”
The letter itself did not explicitly support Bourgeois’ stand in favor of women’s ordination; the New York Times noted that this “cautious wording probably enabled more to sign.”
The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, a group representing 500 American Catholic priests and deacons, issued its own statement of “fraternal correction,” rebuking the priests who had signed the Call to Action letter. “We remind our brethren that this priest blatantly attended and participated in the invalid pseudo-ordination of a woman. Such actions risk the canonical penalty of excommunication and are injurious to the common good of the Mystical Body of Christ,” the group said.
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Further information:
- In 3 Countries, Challenging the Vatican on Female Priests (New York Times)
- 157 Catholic Priests Rise Up to Support Fellow Embattled Priest (Call to Action)
- Clergy Disavow Disobedience Among Themselves (Christian Newswire)
- The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy
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Posted by: claire5327 -
Jul. 25, 2011 11:11 PM ET USA
if we believe that Jesus' words and works are the same as the Father, then, bear in mind that if there is to be priestess in the Christian Faith He would had installed His Mother Mary and St. Mary Madeline as Apostles and they would be on the Last Super's Table when He instituted the Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood! Either we follow Him 100% or none at all! "Be thou hot or cold, thou art luke warm, I will vomit thy out from My mouth!"
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Posted by: -
Jul. 25, 2011 10:59 PM ET USA
A gleam of light and encouragement in this story is the 'fraternal correction'laid on CTA by the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy as a rebuke for their cheeky support for Fr. Bourgeois. keep up the good work Confrats!
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Posted by: jeremiahjj -
Jul. 25, 2011 8:43 PM ET USA
Call to Action is a left-wing anti-Catholic organization and those 157 priests knew exactly what they were doing. The sooner they hook up with one of the dissent Anglican religions, the better off Holy Mother Church will be.
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Posted by: fr.dennis5661 -
Jul. 25, 2011 6:21 PM ET USA
Let's see if the bishops have the courage to suspend these dissident priests who have "risen up" to support this Maryknoll priest. These kind of priests have done such grave harm to the Church over the past number of years. It's time to clean house.
