Fr. Bill celebrates Mass with woman
priest, Janice

My friend Father Bill Brennan S.J., 92, was penalized after celebrating an Eucharistic liturgy with a woman priest, one penalty is taking away his facilities to celebrate Mass in public. The woman priest who is also my friend and with others has helped understand that as the National Catholic Report wrote in his editorial today Ordination of women would correct an injustice

Someone told Father Bill that his action was a “sacrilege” and a friend of mine said it could lead to “schism” in the Catholic Church. I was planning to focus on the 1.1 million dollars of sales from three closed churches going to minister the needs of the poor in North Central Milwaukee were the Church was located and where the donors intended the money go. However, this question of woman’s priesthood gnaws on my conscience and I will need to address it as best as I can.

Actually I view the issue of closing Churches in North Central Milwaukee and using money for people in need in these neighborhoods be similar to the issue of women’s ordination. Catholic teaching is for equality of men and women and for “preferential option for the poor.”. However, the followers of the way of Jesus in the Roman Catholic tradition have developed a hierarchical male priest system. The hierarchy, teaching authority of the Roman Catholic Church some call the Magisterium, is all male priest. According to the Catholic male hierarchy women are not called by God to be priest and thus not fully equal to men. The all male hierarchy, all white male in Milwaukee, preaches equality of races and the option for the poor but in the past has made decisions in Milwaukee that has resulted in ‘institutional racism’ or segregation of the poor and African Americans in North Central Milwaukee.

The Magisterium, male hierarchy, has also made decisions, like considering gay and lesbians born with a “moral defect”, or keeping silence on wars, that in my opinion have harmed the Catholic Church and with the sexual abuse scandal has threaten the authority of male priest.

The truth will ultimately win out as it did when the Catholic Church considered slavery as morally okay. However, this is not an excuse for any of us to be silent on questions of conscience and faith. We need to Break the Silence on Women’s Ordination.

Comments

(:commentboxchrono:)