Maryknoll priest denies excommunication, continues to uphold women's ordination

August 10, 2009

A Maryknoll priest who was warned last year that he faced excommunication because of his involvement in "Womanpriest" ceremonies attempting the ordination of women as Catholic priests has refused to renounce his stance in favor of women's ordination. Father Roy Bourgeois claims that he remains a priest in good standing-- despite the fact that participation in such "ordination" ceremonies carries the automatic penalty of excommunication, and despite an announcement from the Maryknoll order acknowledging the Vatican notice on the priest's excommunication. Father Bourgeois-- who still claims the full backing of the Maryknoll order for his efforts to close down a military training school in Georgia-- compared Vatican officials to Iranian ayatollahs, mocking them for their confidence that they know the truth. But he himself showed equal confidence in his own ability to know the truth, saying that the ordination of women is inevitable.

 

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Further information:

• Priest: Ordination of women inevitable (Lower Hudson Journal-News)
• Excommunication for US Maryknoll: likely, but not yet (CWN, Dec 18, 2008)