Maryknoll gives Bourgeois notice of removal from order

I am not convinced that Maryknoll itself is "threatened" by Fr Bourgeois's support for women's ordination. I do, however, believe that Vatican and the US Bishops are pressuring individual priests/sisters/ brothers and on the religious orders to speak in absolute public lockstep with the Vatican and the Bishops.

There is no way for most of us to know what dictums and/or Maryknoll may have received from the Vatican and from Bishops where any Maryknoll priest/sister/brother serves. It is entirely possible that the entire order and its missions could be threatened - explicitly or implicitly -by the Vatican and Bishops if Maryknoll as a whole does not take this position.

I am sick with grief that the Vatican and the Bishops ----- as they pursue this agenda of silencing the Christ-centered, mature, faithful and well-formed Catholic consciences of so many priests/sisters/brothers ------ also places religious communities in the position that Maryknoll and other congregations have faced when members speak and act according to conscience.

My prayers are with Fr Roy and with the Maryknoll community. I do not believe I hear in Maryknoll's words here anything other than deep and profound pain over their position as the "middleman" in the Vatican's pursuit of lockstep.

Jean

If Father Roy loses his faculties as a Catholic priest over this, it is time for him to file a civil law suit against the Superior General of Maryknoll as well as the Maryknoll Congregation for a violation of his civil rights like freedom of speech. It is about time that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church be held accountable for our civil laws as well as their canon law. Had our bishops and cardinals respected US civil law, the Catholic church would not have had all the sex abuse cases, violations of children, and costly coverups by the bishops. Father Roy is a man of deeply held Christian principles and has all his adult life fought for the most important issues. Get the U.S. courts involved in this and it will turn the tide in favor of the people and not in favor of the brotherhood of male Catholic priests and and their bishops.

We need to be united in faith. Everyone attacks the Roman Catholic Church bashing her on every side.This man is lost. The mother of Jesus was not a priest. How can any women be better than her??? Please wake up the signs of the times are all around us. This is the mind set of the antichrist. The end of time in upon us. The truth will set you free. For 23 years I've prayed for the world and offer all of my sufferings to Jesus Christ for everyone to be in heaven yet the world begs for the warth of God almighty. Please someone help me hold back the justice of the Lord. I know God's goodness is greater than all the sin in the world.Only the world is hell bent. Hell is a place and none of us want to go there. Real Christians it is time to stand up for Christ by our lives,prayers,and words. The Roman Catholic Church is the one Jesus Christ made. Look it up in world history online. Yes the truth is there. Love and prayers to all people, Paul

There is definitely something seriously wrong here. The superior general and the vatican are completely out of touch with reality and what Jesus was about. Shame on them. Don't stand down Father Roy, we need priests like you.

What do the two things have to do with eachother? Suffering in Japan is one thing. Heresy against revealed Catholic teching is another. They are not releated. Without discipline in the Church there would be chaos. This priest needs to be shown the door.

Why are we going to have 900 Anglicans joining the Catholic church this Easter and many Lutherns because they do not want women priest. It does not work. Men are not entering their order

I agree. Father Bourgeois is to be applauded. I support him 100 %.

Dear M. Crowley, So now we have a new definition of courageous integrity; just disobey GOD and the immediate Superior to whom Fr. Roy made vows of Obedience and he is deemed courageous. In my formative years these persons were looke upon as cowards. Must be the new evolving Christianity.

Let's put things in perspective - Japan, Haiti, Katrina etc, etc, etc. and this good man, Father Roy, wants to pay attention to us lowly women. Wants to stand behind women desiring to be priests. More power to you, Father Roy and keep it up. More than you can imagine stand behind you. And Catholic women appreciate and deserve your love and recognition. Too bad your Maryknoll brothers as well as your brothers in Rome don't know that Jesus loved and respected us too. It rattles my mind that they are so narrow-minded.

I stand behind your actions and respect your decision.

I disagree with you - Fr. Roy might be walking "the same path that Jesus walked," but we are talking about the Church of Jesus Christ, NOT the church of Fr. Roy, right?

Crucifixion in the Church continues. How sad!

Totally agree!

Amen, Amen, Amen.

Jesus did NOT ordain women. The views this priest and the priestesses hold is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church. I would invite them to join the Episcopalian Church, where I am sure they will feel more welcome.

The last paragraph of Sacerdotalis Ordinatio states that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful.

That sounds, and in fact, is a dogmatic statement by the Holy Father.

Get over it.

Yes, grow up and realize that the Church will not twist herself to the will of people like you and "Fr." Roy. Love it or leave it!

How exactly is "the institutional hierarchical church deny the humanness of women"? Do you mean to say that now one must be an ordained priet in order to be recognized as human? What a poor reason! Your contradiction and ignorance are evident, and you may do well to educate yourself before posting on here. being human has nothing to do with whether one is or not an ordain priest.

Yes, that must be it. Once they realize that women can image bridegrooms and well as brides, then there will be no obstacle to the unisex universe and unisex church. All hail the brave new world of fantasy gender and religion!

Why do people insist of rejecting the womanness of woman? This isn't a case of whether or not women are human or not. It is a case of what makes a woman a woman (and not a man). Doesn't fecundity mean the ability to reproduce? It is modernity that not only fears woman's ability to reproduce, but goes out of its way to repress it (birth control) and circumvent it (abortion).

Excuse my ignorance, but where exactly do you see the faith and dedication of this priest, who has chosen to go agains Church teaching of ordaining men and men only as priests? So he's arrogant enough to believe he's got it right and the Church doesn't? Way to be faithful and dedicated!

As for the "bishops and priests who support women's ordination" and don't go public, they better change their minds and hearts to preach the authentic Gospel. The Pope will do good excomunicating these unfaithful servants; the Church will be better off with less priests who are faithful than with many who are not.

There are plenty of male priests being made as we speak in third world country priest factories. The Vatican will keep this a male dominated Church even if every last male priest in the US stood up in rebellion. Green cards from the United States are hard to come by these days.

Most of our priests and bishops are so tied into the "good old boy" society that they would not stand up for Christ himself if the Pope said not to. In fact, that is exactly what they are doing because priests like Roy are the embodiment of Christ in action.

The Blessed Mother was Jesus' first disciple, the Theotokos (bearer of God), obedient to the Holy Trinity, and women in the Roman Church may not be ordained!? She was present at the Pentecost with the other Apostles, and like them and other women disciples continued to spread the Gospel, but the Roman Church will not ordain women.

The numbers of Male priests are dropping like flies, yet qualified women cannot say the Divine Liturgy or consecrate the Host.

Now if Fr.Roy were a pedophile he could stay many more years in many different locales. Had he also emptied the coffers of a parish church, only the Bishop and his select aides would ever know.

But Fr. Roy spoke for women's ordination. That and falling in love in a heterosexual relationship are the fastest ways a priest (for life)can find his bags on the sidewalk and nobody at the Chancery who will take his calls.

If only the priests who were pedophiles and stained by scandals were so dispatched.

God bless you Fr. Roy

--Anonymous this one time.

Mary has a role. She's the Mother of God, Mother of the Church, Queen of Heaven. I think Jesus made a point of choosing a sinner like Peter to head the church. The point is that Jesus' Love and Grace is greater than any one man's sinfulness. The weaker he is, the greater the glory to God. No, sinfulness isn't the problem here.

So do you imply that those who were at the foot of the cross were "ordained" by Jesus to be priests? That's an odd development of the theology of the pristhood; your idea will not fly because it misses the point. As for your accusation that the Church has "paranoia over sex, and the fact that many of the pagan rites of Biblical times used female priests," check our American culture and tell me where this pansexualization comes from: it's not from the Church, I assure you. And could you please give me any examples from the Old testament where "female" priests carried out priestly duties? I might have forgotten all about it, but male and only male were chosen to go into the sancta sanctorum; women in the OT, my friend, were not even allowed into some areas of the temple. Again, give me the citations where the Bible tells us of any female priestesess - if you can find any.

And there were surely women at the last supper. I don't it was catered.And Jesus would have spoken to all of the gathering. If 5 women were sitting at a table in 215, and said the blessing, would not Christ be there?

The claim that Paul hated women is ignorant and, frankly, somewhat odd since it reflects an uncritical acceptance of the Pauline authenticity of the pastoral epistles. In his authentic letters, he spoke very highly of women and their roles during the liturgy, and he indicated that he learned a great deal about the faith from Priscilla (wife of Aquila). In the pastoral letters, which clearly were not authored by Paul, you see condemnations that are in stark contrast to his authentic writings (also, some of his writings that were used by gnostics were directly refuted in the pastorals, another clue).

Sir, you are comparing apples to oranges. These are two very different issues. Check you canon law before posting your biased opinions.

Excellent point, Cornelius! So right you are!!!

Let's test your logic. If there were women priests and married priests, there would be less pedophiles. Hmmm let's examine that.

1. How do you account for the instances of sexual abuse by members of LCWR orders??

2. Last time I checked women were allowed to be public school teachers and administrators. Married men and women were allowed to be teaches and administrators. And yet, there have been more confirmed cases of sexual abuse at the hands of those working in public schools in the last ten years as accusations against clergy of every denomination in the last 60!

I would love to hear your response.

The largest group of sexual abusers is married men, and the largest institutional group of sexual abusers is public school teachers. To use logic, if teachers were only men and celibate there would be less sexual abuse!!!

Isn't that an interesting irony- that Bishops who covered up the crimes of hild abuse face/d no discipline much less excommunication. But a priest who speaks out for women's ordination will be sanctioned with excommunication! There is something very wrong, immoral and hipocritical about this picture.