Get out your bells, books, and candles! Canada: another attempted ordination

Holy Church doesn’t promulgate laws about censures simply for the heck of it. There is long experience behind censures. Laws have theological grounding.

The tougher censures are applied when the matter concerns something closer to the heart of who and what the Church is.

This is why the story I posted last night about the CDF confirming the excommunication of those involved in the attempted ordination of a woman. Also, the CDF confirmed the excommunication of those involved in a rebel parish in St. Louis.

Now read this story from Victoria, Canada:

B.C. Catholic group ordains woman, married man

Katie DeRosa
Canwest News Service

Thursday, May 29, 2008

VICTORIA – The Roman Catholic Womenpriests Movement ordained two people, James Lauder of Victoria and Monica Kilburn-Smith of Calgary, as priests [Nooo… they didn’t….] Thursday at St. Aidan’s United Church in Victoria.

Lauder, who is married, is the first man ever ordained by Womenpriests. [What a distinction!]

"The movement, on purpose, chooses to break an unjust law that discriminates against women," said the group’s spokesman Francois Brassard. While the group can ordain someone as a priest, the Roman Catholic Church does not legally recognize the appointment, he
said.

[Lot’s of confusion here. First, what you find in Canon Law about ordination of men only, is not arbitrary. This is divine law, which the Church knows to be infallibly taught. It is impossible to ordain a woman because it is contrary to God’s will. That is why there is a law. The law is not just some arbitrary invention. It reflects a deeper theological reality. So, their bluster about "unjust" and "legally" and "appointment" (and that is not what an ordination is) seriously misses the mark.]

Once ordained, the individual can hold mass and practise the sacraments in small-faith communities outside the official walls of the church, he added. [No they can’t. They can’t celebrate Mass because the are not priests.] Brassard calls it a "new way of doing priestly ministry among the marginalized." ["A new way of doing priestly minsitry". Okay… look at that carefully. Above, the spokesman called this an "appointment". I am pretty sure that what we have here is a view of priesthood much like that the Eduard Schillebeeckx: the community calls forth people who best represent them, and effectively appoint them as their priest for however long necessary. This undermines the sacramental understanding of priesthood, the ontological reality, what happens in the soul of the one ordained. This reduces priesthood to a function. Secondly, this statement smacks of a Marxist approach, which very often informs feminist views of the Church.]

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, excommunicated a group of women, called the Danube Seven, after they were ordained [No.] in Europe in 2002. The group has ordained [No.] more than 50 women and has more candidates in training, said Brassard. Married or gay men, who would not otherwise be accepted as priests in the church, can also be ordained [No.] under the movement.

"I think we offer a sense of hope for those who do feel disenfranchised," said Lauder. [And, while lying to them, lead them toward the eternal torments of hell.]

The group’s aim is not political mudslinging against the church, [B as in B. S as in S. I would wager there are strong Marxist tendencies amongst these people. But, their thought is so shallow as to focus on the word "political", which they think is a :abd word". Therefore, they claim they are not "political".] but sending a message of inclusively and equality, he said.

The group will participate in the Catholic Network for Women’s Equality’s national conference – held for the first time in British Columbia – today and Saturday at the University of Victoria. [They can read together the CDF decree!] Conference co-ordinator Michele Birch-Conery, herself the first female Roman Catholic priest [No.] in Canada, said she hopes it will raise interest in creating a B.C. chapter for the network.