I
read this morning, 4.28/13, that a 70-year-old Kentucky woman,
Rosemarie Smead, was ordained a priest on Saturday as part of a
dissident group operating outside of official Roman Catholic Church
authority. She said she
is not worried about being excommunicated from the Church - the fate
of other women ordained outside of Vatican law. "It has no
sting for me It is a Medieval bullying stick the bishops used to keep
control over people and to keep the voices of women silent. I am way
beyond letting octogenarian men tell us how to live our lives."
Not
being Catholic I really don't have a fish in this pond but that does
not precluded me from having opinions about how this fits in with the
human condition. To start with these 'old men' do not tell anyone
how to live their lives. These old men believe that this
is not a decision of men, but of God. God decided that women bring
men into the world. Jesus sent men to evangelize. There were women
with Jesus as well. The Gospel mentions a few of them: firstly, Mary,
the mother of Jesus; Mary Magdalene, His disciple and one of the
first witnesses to the resurrection; Mary and Martha, the sisters who
offered him hospitality in Bethany. The Priests of the Catholic
Church believe that they received of Jesus their own ministry. Mary
is the most perfect creature, she brought forth Jesus and gave Him
His human nature. They believe that salvation is born from her, yet
she was not ordained. The hold that women have other ministries in the Church, but
not the priesthood, because of the will of God. This is why the Pope
cannot change the Tradition. It's not his affair, but God's.
To
be a member of the Catholic in good standing you, like in all
Organizations, you have to abide by their doctrines, bylaws, or be
excommunicated, expelled, from the Church. Those that hold these
beliefs are antedated in today's world are free to leave the Church
and start their own church as St.
Andrew United Church of Christ in Louisville has done. They can call
themselves Catholics if they wish
but they are no more Catholic than any of the other Protestant
Churches are. They are protesting the Church’s tradition of men
only priests, and as such joined with Marten Luther schism. The very word 'protestant' means protest.
Rosemarie
was a nun in the Church, “Smead had to leave the rigorous
Carmelite life due to health reasons, and earned a bachelor's degree
in theology and a doctorate in counseling psychology. She taught at
Indiana University for 26 years, and works as a couples and family
therapist.“ (Reuters)
It seems to me that if her health was good enough to do all she did after vacating her vows that she used her health as an excuse to leave the Carmelite order where her opportunities were limited to say the least.
It seems to me that if her health was good enough to do all she did after vacating her vows that she used her health as an excuse to leave the Carmelite order where her opportunities were limited to say the least.
I read that “The woman priest movement
started in Austria in 2002, when seven women were ordained by the
Danube River by an independent Catholic bishop. Other women were
later ordained as bishops, who went on to ordain more women priests
and deacons.” Independent Catholic bishop would better read as a
rogue Catholic bishop, in other words not a Catholic at all as
priests are stripped of their holy orders for participating in
ordination ceremonies for women. I
do not believe that they will have the same success that Luther did
in forming a movement, but time will tell.
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