What do you call an excommunicated Catholic priest, ignorant of the sacraments, who openly calls for the ordination of women? If you're the Boston Globe, you call him a "prominent priest" who is "in good standing." Then, for good measure, you entitle the article about the priest, "Priest takes church to task for not ordaining women." Good ... grief.
The paper profiles dissident ex-priest Roy Bourgeois, a man ignorant of the teachings of the Church to which he was ordained. And the author of the slanted piece, Globe religion reporter Michael Paulson, fails to fully "take Bourgeois to task" for being so oblivious of such a fundamental facet of Church teaching.
While Paulson accurately quotes John Paul II's 1994 letter "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis" that "the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women," Paulson neglects a very important fact. In the Catholic faith, "Holy Orders" is a sacrament, and sacraments were instituted by Jesus himself. This is the important reason why the Church simply does not have the authority to change something Jesus instituted. For example, the Church could not decide tomorrow that it will baptize with goat milk instead of water. It just can't do that. The reason is much deeper than just "tradition and the fact that Jesus' apostles were male." Got it, Michael?
To read more about the misguided and unmindful Bourgeois, check out "Roy Bourgeois, aka Jimmy Carter with a Roman collar," by Carl Olson at the Ignatius Press blog.
Finally ... The fact that Paulson comes across as cheerleading for Bourgeois' cause does nothing for the reputation that the Boston Globe has a long and deep animus for the Catholic Church. (And this reputation goes back waaaay back before the scandals hit in 2002.)
—Dave Pierre is the creator of TheMediaReport.com and a contributor to NewsBusters.
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Mr. Dave
August 28, 2009 - 21:17 ET by LiberalliesMr. Dave Pierre,
Hmmmm....a person who was a priest and is then excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church is NO LONGER A PRIEST.
There is no such thing as an excommunicated Catholic priest. There is such a thing as an excommunicated man who used to be a Catholic priest.
You make the same error as the Boston Globe. The title of your article should be: Excommunicated man, who was once a Catholic priest, is erroneously referred to as a priest by the Boston Globe and said to be "Prominent" and in "Good Standing". A bit of a longer title, but it is accurate and it goes along more with the argument against the Boston Globe that you present in your article.
A Catholic priest who is excommunicated is no longer a Catholic priest.
ooops, I should have read
August 28, 2009 - 21:36 ET by Liberalliesooops, I should have read the whole article. You do speak of ex-priest. A rush to judgement on my part....
close but no havana
August 29, 2009 - 00:16 ET by konoYou're closer than most people tend to be on this, but not quite, since Holy Orders represents an ontological change that isn't 'undone' by excommunication.
Excommunication will strip a priest of his faculties to minister on the Church's behalf. That means any sacramental work he does would be illegal, but not sacramentally invalid. There's a connection between the movement of grace in the sacraments and the authority to minister in the Church; but there isn't a contingency.
For a priest to no longer be capable of administering a sacrament (i.e. for a priest to become a non-priest), he has to be laicized by Rome.
(Numerous priests over the centuries have been excommunicated for disobedience or heretical preaching, and those who were eventually restored to good standing haven't had to be re-ordained.)
Kono, Thank you for the
August 29, 2009 - 01:41 ET by LiberalliesKono,
Thank you for the enlightment. You have brought me back to my high school theology courses.
and you are very right. Excommunication of a priests means that you should not be administring the duties of a priests (besides the obvious of being kicked out the Church), but if you do so, the sacrements are still valid.
I knew that if a person leaves the priesthood, walks away, they are in fact still a priest and still tied to all that comes with being a priest, including vows of poverty and celibacy. I also knew that the only way that a priest stops being a priest is laicized, but I also believed that a priest was automatically laicized if he was exocommunicated. I stand corrected.
In good standing???
August 28, 2009 - 22:36 ET by motherbeltI do not think it means what you think it means! -Inigo Montoya
A couple of thoughts on the article:
Bourgeois, 70, a Louisiana native, said he has stopped wearing a
clerical collar and celebrating the Eucharist and other sacraments out
of respect for the church’s view that he has been excommunicated.
I guess he can say "I am a priest."
Psalm 110:4 The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek."
However, he is forbidden to perform the sacramental duties of a priest.
Regarding the woman who said she believes the Catholic Church will change its position on women’s ordination, saying, “it has to, or it will fall.’’
It will not fall. Jesus Himself said the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. -Matthew 16:18
What do you call
August 29, 2009 - 00:49 ET by jdhawkWhat do you call a newspaper that runs an article about an excommunicated Catholic priest, ignorant of the sacraments, who openly calls for the ordination of women?
Going bankrupt . . .
'Prominent' in Kennedy’s funeral?
August 29, 2009 - 09:23 ET by needleI avoid reading the Boston Globe as much as possible, so I am left to wonder if the particular excommunicated priest referred to as being 'In Good Standing' is 'Prominent' in Kennedy’s funeral related events.
If so, that could help explain a thing or two.
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