Roy Bourgeois in princely company on women priests
The debate over ordaining women is hardly confined to Roy Bourgeois, the apparently soon-to-be ex-Maryknoll priest who we discussed here. In late June, Cardinal José da Cruz Policarpo of Portugal made waves when he told a Portuguese legal magazine that there will be women priests “when God wills” and that for the moment it is better “not to raise the issue” because of Vatican statements on the topic.
As to the apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (1994), reaffirming the church’s ban on ordaining women, the 75-year-old Policarpo added, according to Andrea Tornielli’s account:
“I think that the matter cannot be resolved like this. Theologically there is no fundamental obstacle (to women priests, ed.). Let’s just say that there’s this tradition: it has never been done otherwise.”
“I think that there is no fundamental obstacle. It is a fundamental equality of all members of the Church. The problem is a strong tradition that comes from Jesus and the ease with which the Reformed churches have granted priesthood to women.”
As John Allen notes in his piece, Cardinal Policarpo was considered a dark horse in the 2005 conclave, though I liked him because he reportedly violated conclave rules by sneaking outside the Domus Marta residence to smoke a cigar. That alone would disqualify him for many Americans.
A week after making his statements on women priests, the cardinal retracted them, and today Catholic World News relays word of how Cardinal Policarpo got the full-court press after his remarks — a visit to Cardinal Levada at the Holy Office in Rome, and an encore with Secretary of State and papal No. 2, Cardinal Bertone at Castel Gandolfo, the pope’s summer woodshed, er, residence.
Eppur…?
Old guys have an implicit license to be undiplomatic. Popes understand.
What is happening? Here is another bishop (a Mexican) who has publicly disagreed with the Vatican to such extent that some blankets were hung from his cathedral with the painted message, “We want a Catholic bishop”. (He is suing the perpetrators!)
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/mexican-prelate-files-lawsuit-in-response-to-calls-for-a-real-catholic-bishop/
Bishop Lopez supports the decriminalization of abortion and the homosexual lifestyle, or so some say.
Certainly Fr. Bourgeois has the right to his opinions, and the right and even duty under canon law to respectfully bring his disagreements to the proper authority within the church. What seems to be most at issue here is his way of doing that, i.e., openly attending and preaching a homily at an ordination ceremony that was obviously contrary to church teaching and practice. Most of us who are bound by religious promises of obedience in the church learned a long time ago that we aren’t always going to get our way. I’m not terribly sympathetic.
The last defense: those old men are not thinking straight any more.
That was the explanation advanced by the church when Abbé Pierre, in an interview with a journalist, was asked about celibacy and said that during his life he mostly respected the rule, with a few exceptions, but that those exceptions were few and far between, and that he always did the best he could to respect his promise of celibacy. Scandal! Outcry! Answer from public relations representatives of the church: That’s absurd. Abbé Pierre is so old that he does not always know what he is saying any more. One should not pay attention to those words, it is clearly not the truth. I thought: oh, the hypocrisy!
That’s not what I meant, Claire. I meant that the cardinal was probably saying something that by common consensus members of the hierarchy usually don’t say. It’s thought, I’m sure, but generally not said aloud.
In life in general, old guys, who have usually moved to the sidelines, away from active responsibility, sometimes feel free to say what younger people, who are still held publicly accountable for their words, are not free to say.
How possible was it that this guy could have been elected pope?
David S. –
I agree that the oldies (us) are inclined to speak our true minds. It often happens after retirement income has kicked in. What can they do to us? Burn us at the stake? (hee hee)
Ann O.
It’s things like this that makes me seriously doubt whether there can be anything like a “Universal Ordinary Magisterium” of the bishops, and certainly doubt whether it can be considered infallible. If, as David Smith says, may bishops probably think this way but keep their mouths shut for fear of rebuke, then we have no way of discerning what is actually going on. Are these teachings as universal as Rome likes to claim? If we seriously asked the world’s bishops (and got the truth) about gay marriage, contraception, women priests, would Rome have any leg to stand on?
And if Rome’s use of authority is used to stifle the genuine thinking of bishops on these matters, aren’t they sacrificing truth (not to mention their own credibility) to a veneer of uniformity? Say what you want about the Anglicans, they’re much more committed to truth and honesty on these matters than the Catholic hierarchy.
” Are these teachings as universal as Rome likes to claim?”
Andy –
Right. The latter-day dogma of infallibility rests on the assumption that Rome/the pope has in fact known what bishops have believed about this matter or that matter. But Rome simply doesn’t have sufficient historical evidence to generalize about the bishops’ beliefs, except for universal councils, and even then there was often a lot of disagreement in the councils — the beliefs were not universal
Not only that, but the current popes/hierarchy are dependent on the testimonies of historians who are not themselves infallible, so how can Rome ever say it *knows* what the universal beliefs have bee at all times?
This is not to say that there are no infallible truths taught by the Church. There is the infallibility of Revelation given to us by the Holy Spirit, and He has promised to help us get at the truths He has revealed. Yes, there is strong reason to believe that the popes and bishops do have special charisms to seek and teach the truths as they see them, but this does not guarantee that they speak infallibly or total accurately on any matter.
-Old guys have little patience with silly posts.
-Did someone say grace builds on nature?
Ann..Re old guy/gals ” It often happens after retirement income has kicked in. What can they do to us? Burn us at the stake? (hee hee)”
Right.. Why do you think VOTF was all gray haired.? Why do you think the TP/GOP want to reduce entitlements.. Could there be a grand conspiracy to have black helicopters round up the retired… and are ‘camps’ already being readied? Please don’t take me to Texas.
On behalf of old folks (M & F), some things take a while to learn:
- Universal statements about people are always wrong.
- Any assertion about “the Church” can be countered by an assertion using a different definition of “the Church”.
Good news, Ann, is that present environmental pollution regulations preclude burning at the stake.
There ought to be something un-Christian about digging a man’s grave for him and then standing there, waving him into it, to help bring about that smaller, purer crowd.
Quick question: does “full court press” indicate power and control?
If “court” means papal as well as basketball, my answer is “Yes”.
If I were a 75-yr-old cardinal, I suspect I’d have told the Vatican to “kiss off”.
Just more foolish behavior from Rome (really, folks, you can’t make up this stuff :-)
RELATED TOPIC: Catholic Culture reports that several thousand Australians have written to their bishops about the need for revising some Church teachings, and the bishops have forwarded the letter to Rome without their taking a stand on the demands. Hmm. Can it possibly be that some bishops are starting to show some spunk? No doubt Fr. Bourgeois will be encouraged by this.
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=11375
It wouldn’t be the first time bishops from the Eastern hemisphere talked back to Rome. A few years ago a group of Oceanic bishops did some complaining. Does distance loosen the tongue?
When one’s computer is sick, what DOES on do? Well, read a really book for one thing. During my recent 17 day hiatus I re-read Morris L. West’s “Eminence” and I think that Cardinal Policarpo might fit into the group of “good guys” (small though they were) in that book.