women's ordination

An email from one of my profs for those of you who are interested:

Everyone,
No matter which side you are on, this should be of interest. Action steps
appear at the bottom.
A few months ago Fr. Roy was the first active priest to celebrate mass with
an ordained woman in a public Catholic ceremony.
He is the person who lives outside the gate of the school of the Americas,
John
----- Forwarded by John A Inglis/A&S/FacStaff/UDayton on 11/11/08 08:58 PM
-----


PLEASE READ AND CIRCULATE

Friends:
Here is the latest communication, dated November 7, 2008, from
Fr. Roy Bourgeois regarding the threat of excommunication by
Rome for refusing to stop speaking out in favor of Women
Priests in the Catholic Church.

I have also enclosed some action items with addresses where
people can write. Please take the time to read this and take
action. Please feel free to send this to all the justice
people you know.

Justice and Peace,
Bill Quigley



Rev. Roy Bourgeois, M.M.
PO Box 3330, Columbus, GA 31903
November 7, 2008

TO THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, THE VATICAN

I was very saddened by your letter dated October 21, 2008,
giving me 30 days to recant my belief and public statements
that support the ordination of women in our Church, or I will
be excommunicated.

I have been a Catholic priest for 36 years and have a deep love
for my Church and ministry.

When I was a young man in the military, I felt God was calling
me to the priesthood. I entered Maryknoll and was ordained in
1972.

Over the years I have met a number of women in our Church who,
like me, feel called by God to the priesthood. You, our Church
leaders at the Vatican, tell us that women cannot be ordained.

With all due respect, I believe our Catholic Church’s teaching
on this issue is wrong and does not stand up to scrutiny. A
1976 report by the Pontifical Biblical Commission supports the
research of Scripture scholars, canon lawyers and many faithful
Catholics who have studied and pondered the Scriptures and have
concluded that there is no justification in the Bible for
excluding women from the priesthood.

As people of faith, we profess that the invitation to the
ministry of priesthood comes from God. We profess that God is
the Source of life and created men and women of equal stature
and dignity. The current Catholic Church doctrine on the
ordination of women implies our loving and all-powerful God,
Creator of heaven and earth, somehow cannot empower a woman to
be a priest.

Women in our Church are telling us that God is calling them to
the priesthood. Who are we, as men, to say to women, “Our call
is valid, but yours is not.” Who are we to tamper with God’s
call?

Sexism, like racism, is a sin. And no matter how hard or how
long we may try to justify discrimination, in the end, it is
always immoral.

Hundreds of Catholic churches in the U.S. are closing because
of a shortage of priests. Yet there are hundreds of committed
and prophetic women telling us that God is calling them to
serve our Church as priests.

If we are to have a vibrant, healthy Church rooted in the
teachings of our Savior, we need the faith, wisdom, experience,
compassion and courage of women in the priesthood.

Conscience is very sacred. Conscience gives us a sense of
right and wrong and urges us to do the right thing. Conscience
is what compelled Franz Jagerstatter, a humble Austrian farmer,
husband and father of four young children, to refuse to join
Hitler’s army, which led to his execution. Conscience is what
compelled Rosa Parks to say she could no longer sit in the back
of the bus. Conscience is what compels women in our Church to
say they cannot be silent and deny their call from God to the
priesthood. Conscience is what compelled my dear mother and
father, now 95, to always strive to do the right things as
faithful Catholics raising four children. And after much
prayer, reflection and discernment, it is my conscience that
compels me to do the right thing. I cannot recant my belief
and public statements that support the ordination of women in
our Church.

Working and struggling for peace and justice are an integral
part of our faith. For this reason, I speak out against the
war in Iraq. And for the last eighteen years, I have been
speaking out against the atrocities and suffering caused by the
School of the Americas (SOA). Eight years ago, while in Rome
for a conference on peace and justice, I was invited to speak
about the SOA on Vatican Radio. During the interview, I stated
that I could not address the injustice of the SOA and remain
silent about injustice in my Church. I ended the interview by
saying, “There will never be justice in the Catholic Church
until women can be ordained.” I remain committed to this
belief today.

Having an all male clergy implies that men are worthy to be
Catholic priests, but women are not.

According to USA TODAY (Feb. 28, 2008) in the United States
alone, nearly 5,000 Catholic priests have sexually abused more
than 12,000 children. Many bishops, aware of the abuse,
remained silent. These priests and bishops were not
excommunicated. Yet the women in our Church who are called by
God and are ordained to serve God’s people, and the priests and
bishops who support them, are excommunicated.

Silence is the voice of complicity. Therefore, I call on all
Catholics, fellow priests, bishops, Pope Benedict XVI and all
Church leaders at the Vatican, to speak loudly on this grave
injustice of excluding women from the priesthood.

Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador was assassinated because
of his defense of the oppressed. He said, “Let those who have
a voice, speak out for the voiceless.”

Our loving God has given us a voice. Let us speak clearly and
boldly and walk in solidarity as Jesus would, with the women in
our Church who are being called by God to the priesthood.

In Peace and Justice,
Rev. Roy Bourgeois, M.M.
PO Box 3330, Columbus, GA 31903




++++++++++

ACTIONS TO SUPPORT - Rev. Roy Bourgeois - 11/08

Some have asked for addresses to write their support of Fr. Roy
and to ask that he not be excommunicated. Petitions are also
appropriate.

Please write or fax or email to Pope Benedict XVI, and/or the
Pope’s Ambassador to the U.S., the Apostolic Nuncio, and/or the
Congregation for Doctrine of Faith, the group that is moving
toward excommunication of Fr. Roy Bourgeois, and/or the leaders
of the Maryknoll Order. Their addresses are below.

Please send a cc of any message or petitions you send to:
Bill Quigley – Attorney for Fr. Roy
7214 St. Charles Avenue, Box 902
New Orleans, LA 70118 or
duprestars@yahoo.com

ADDRESSES TO WRITE:

Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio
3339 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W, Washington, DC, USA
Telephone: (202) 333-7121
Fax: 337-4036

Pope Benedict XVI
00120 Via del Pellegrino
Citta del Vaticano, Europe
The Pope’s email address (for English correspondence) is:
benedictxvi@vatican.va
FAX from USA:
011-39-06698-85378

Congregation for Doctrine of Faith
Piazza del S. Uffizio, 11,
00193 Roma, Italy
Telephone: 06.69.88.33.57; 06.69.88.34.13
Fax: 06.69.88.34.09

Superior General, John Sivalon at jsivalon@maryknoll.org
and to the three-member Maryknoll Council at
mklcouncil@maryknoll.org and/or fax to 914-944-3600
Write to: Maryknoll Council P.O. Box 303 Maryknoll, NY 10545

Again, please send a cc of your message to
Bill Quigley – Attorney for Fr. Roy
7214 St. Charles Avenue, Box 902
New Orleans, LA 70118
duprestars@yahoo.com
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