Impromptu gathering

After word went out yesterday via email to Society members about the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith dismissing Roy Bourgeois from Maryknoll and laicizing him, Fr. Jim Lynch, vicar general, invited Society members to an impromptu meeting in the Asia Room at 7:00 p.m.

Word of mouth informed those who, like me, hadn't yet checked my email, and 45 of the house's 85 residents attended (many having already left for the holiday.)

So we'd all be on the same page, Jim read the official Maryknoll statement to those present. Then he opened the floor to questions.

The mood ranged from sadness to anger, but I don't think anyone was surprised. The anger, too, was spread around from anger at the Vatican for taking this extraordinary step to anger at Roy for dragging Maryknoll through this mess. Several points of clarification surfaced.

• As with other members who leave the Society, Maryknoll will continue to financially assist Roy "in his transition" (meaning for as long as Roy needs and requests it).

• Although Maryknoll is under the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples, because of Roy's public action at the "attempted ordination" of a  woman, the CDF felt it had cause to directly intervene in his dismissal and laicization, even though the canonical requirement of a "decisive majority" of Council Members (two to dismiss, three abstentions) had not been met.

• Since Roy gave up directing the School of the Americas Watch some time ago, the action by the CDF should not prevent the SOAW from requesting funds to help with their many newsletters, all of which emphasize peace and justice issues in the Latin America.

• We do not know what canonical recourse Roy has and only he can answer whether he will continue to employ the services of Fr. Tom Doyle as his canon lawyer.

For what it's worth, Roy has already changed his voicemail message, stating his affiliation with the School of America's Watch and WomenChurch

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Here is the Maryknoll statement:

The Congregation For The Doctrine Of The Faith
Canonically Dismisses Roy Bourgeois

Maryknoll, New York – November 19, 2012 – The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on October 4, 2012, canonically dismissed Roy Bourgeois from the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, also known as the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers. The decision dispenses the Maryknoll priest from his sacred bonds.

As a priest during 2008, Mr. Bourgeois participated in the invalid ordination of a woman and a simulated Mass in Lexington, Kentucky. With patience, the Holy See and the Maryknoll Society have encouraged his reconciliation with the Catholic Church.

Instead, Mr. Bourgeois chose to campaign against the teachings of the Catholic Church in secular and non-Catholic venues. This was done without the permission of the local U.S. Catholic Bishops and while ignoring the sensitivities of the faithful across the country. Disobedience and preaching against the teaching of the Catholic Church about women’s ordination led to his excommunication, dismissal and laicization.

Mr. Bourgeois freely chose his views and actions, and all the members of the Maryknoll Society are saddened at the failure of reconciliation. With this parting, the Maryknoll Society warmly thanks Roy Bourgeois for his service to mission and all members wish him well in his personal life. In the spirit of equity and charity, Maryknoll will assist Mr. Bourgeois with this transition.

Maryknoll votes on Bourgeois' dismissal from order

Maryknoll votes on Bourgeois' dismissal from order

Well, troops, the above article in the National Catholic Reporter (click the headline to read) certainly shattered the cyber and actual silence around Maryknoll these past few days.

U.S. Regional Superior Mike Duggan returned from an otherwise uplifting meeting with other religious superiors and Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany only to learn his (Mike's) name was quite prominently and erroneously linked to certain quotes in the NCR article.

Long story short, ignoring that the vote was supposedly a secret ballot and who exactly voted how and that Fr. José Arámburu and not Fr. Paul Masson is our vicar general and who said what to whom and when, the fact remains: Yes, a vote was taken last December 12 (The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, if you're into irony) on whether or not to dismiss Fr. Roy Bourgeois from Maryknoll and the result was two votes for dismissal and three abstentions.

How does canon law regard abstentions?  If they don't count at all, do two "yes" votes constitute an "absolute majority" of those present?

The upshot of this continued ambiguity is that the proverbial ball (or long knife, if you will) is now back in the Vatican's court, as only they have the final word.

But just for the record, as I have read all kinds of misinformation on the blogosphere:

1) Fr. Roy's excommunication has already occurred "in latae sententiae" (automatically, on performance of a forbidden act). In this case, it was his active participation in the attempted ordination of a woman to the Roman Catholic priesthood back in 2008. The two warning letters were sent to fulfill canonical mandates in order to drive home the seriousness of the action. There is no "formal declaration of excommunication."

2) Our constitutions notwithstanding, Maryknoll will not deny Fr. Roy his living allowance and health coverage. I heard this directly from our superior general himself. I blogged this and posted this on NCR's comments section after several notable people expressed shock and disappointment that Maryknoll would "cut Fr. Roy loose" after decades of dedicated service. The cynic in me would suggest that such an allegation only serves to garner sympathy and evoke outrage by casting the Society as the villain. Our constitutions state that a dismissed member has no claim on support for past services, they do not prevent the Society from acting in a compassionate way toward a former member.

3) If the dismissal is approved by Rome, and there is still some doubt given the inconclusive vote, the only thing that will actually change is the addition of the word "former" to Roy's title of Maryknoll Father.

4) The question of women's ordination will not go away or die.

(And I'll bet some of you wish I had maintained cyber silence even longer.)

I stand corrected...sort of

A phone call today from a concerned and well-informed Maryknoller convinced me my contention that L'Affair Bourgeois is all about our oath of obedience and not women's ordination is not quite accurate. Or may not be accurate at all.

He deftly laid out the case that MANY Maryknollers over the years have disobeyed orders from superiors and then went on to enjoy blissfully undisturbed lives sans threat of dismissal. He also mentioned that those few Maryknollers (four, by my count) who were dismissed in recent years had other issues and extenuating circumstances.

He contended that had the Super G actually ordered Roy either to return to the Center or take an overseas assignment and then had Roy refused, the disobedience card might have been more convincingly played. What removes the disobedience fig leaf (my words, not his) from the argument is the double whammy of dismissal AND laicization. Other guys who were dismissed were not laicized, even though most did not join another diocese or order. This lays to rest the apparently false notion that a dismissed priest must be laicized because you can't have priests freelancing, as it were.

My caller insists it's all about Rome equating ordination of women with child molestation as equally offensive to the Church and wanting to make an example of him by putting the screws to Maryknoll (again, I am paraphrasing).

OK, so it's not about obedience. But the anger remains among some Maryknollers (I never took a poll) who resent Roy's consistently dragging Maryknoll's name into his crusades, from his disappearing act in El Salvador in the 1980's to his inviting a woman to concelebrate Mass in Minneapolis to the more widely publicized actions of recent years.

They point to Father Miguel D'Escoto's equally impressive actions on behalf of justice with nary a mention of Maryknoll's name and wonder why Roy didn't or couldn't do that.

Then we have the canonical conundrum that the unanimous votes for dismissal might not even be there. Perhaps that's the strategy. Father General could then tell his superiors in Rome that he did all that canon law requires and if they want to be rid of this "meddlesome priest" (a la Thomas Becket) they might have to do the deed themselves.

Granted the Fourth of July is a slow news cycle, but the drama contues.

Message from polite protesters

As promised, here is the content of the flyer passed out yesterday by the group of about 12 protesters who peacefully expressed their support outside during our Centennial Mass in favor of Fr. Roy Bourgeois and women's ordination. As a side note, U.S. Regional Superior Mike Duggan commented that somehow this protest was quintessentially Maryknoll, that has so often been the source of protests overseas.

*************************

June 29, 2011

Dear Supporter of the Peace and Justice Movement,

As the Maryknoll Order celebrates their 100 year anniversary we reflect on the contributions this organization has made to peace and justice throughout the world and applaud their continued commitment to serving the poor and oppressed. However, we cannot ignore Maryknoll's position in regards to women's ordination. We encourage the leadership to reflect on this issue and examine their consciences as one of their most cherished members, Father Roy Bourgeois, has done: "as priests we say we are called by God. Who are we to say that God would not calla woman."

We are dismayed at Maryknoll's dismissal of Father Roy for his support of women's ordination. How can an organization that promotes peace and justice worldwide turn its back on this Viet Nam vet turned Maryknoll priest, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, is the founder of the School of the America's Watch, and is the epitome of everything we thought Maryknoll stood for?

For mor information about Fr. Roy Bourgeois and Women's ordination: http://www.womensordination.org/content/view/108

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Father Roy Bourgeois' response to Maryknoll leadership:

In his response, Fr. Roy stated, "It is my conscience that compels me to say publicly that the exclusion of women from the priesthood is a grave injustice against women, against our Church and against our God who calls both men and women to the priesthood... In essence, you are telling me to lie and say I do not believe that God calls both men and women to the priesthood. This I cannot do, therefore I will not recant."


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[Blogger's note: Once again, for the record, Fr. Roy is NOT being threatened with dismissal because of his support of women's ordination. Were that the case, I would also have been dismissed for my editorial in the May 1993 MARYKNOLL magazine that raised the same issue. When Orbis published a compendium of my editorials ("Good News for Today") in 2007, then Superior General John Sivalon suggested that the controversial editorial not be included. I then asked newly elected and current superior Fr. Ed Dougherty about this and he also thought that editorial's inclusion would not be helpful, so I acquiesced. I had made my point and further action on my part would have hurt Maryknoll more than

For publicly and actively participating in the attempted ordination of a woman in 2008, Roy was excommunicated. Even then, Maryknoll leadership kept Roy on as a member and only asked that he refrain from future PUBLIC actions and comments on this topic. He repeatedly refused this order from our superior. EVEN NOW, Maryknoll leadership has agreed to continue giving Roy his monthly allowance and providing for his healthcare.

My previous posts on this do not even begin to capture the sadness and angst this whole episode is causing among our membership. Reading the thread following my article in a recent NCR clearly shows that most people neither appreciate nor understand the importance of the oath we Maryknollers take to "obey our legitimate superiors".

There is a conversation that needs to be had in Maryknoll and in the Church. The topic will not be easily suppressed nor go away.

A group discussion with Father Roy Bourgeois, M.M.

Father Roy Bourgeois addressed an impromptu gathering of Maryknollers this evening, following the opening day of the U.S. Regional Assembly. About 38 members attended.

He started with some background as to how he got involved in the issue of women's ordination in the Roman Catholic church. He linked this with his own process of discernment of his priestly vocation.

Next he reviewed his work with closing the School of the Americas (SOA-Watch) in Fort Benning, GA.

In the last ten years in going around the country talking about injustices in Central America, he became more aware of injustice in the Church, namely devout Catholic women who feel called to priesthood but who are denied their vocation.

Until the 1960s, racial segregation was an accepted tradition in this country, especially in the South, until it was rightly challenged and overturned. Similarly, Roy feels, the exclusion of women from the Catholic priesthood is an unacceptable and unjust tradition. "Who are we (men), to say our call is authentic and valid but yours (women's) is not?"

He felt in his heart and conscience he could no longer keep silent on this issue.

"The hammer came down swiftly," he said, in the letter from Rome demanding he recant or face excommunication. In discerning a response, Roy said, "My biggest concern was my family."

His family, included his elderly father, expressed their support and blessing.

He continued his work with SOA Watch until the letter came from Maryknoll leadership asking him to recant or face dismissal from the Society. This letter was more devastating to him than the threat of excommunication, he said.

He expressed sadness because now, "I am in big trouble."

In closing he said he is finding broad support around the country for women's ordination and to be told we cannot even talk about this is highly offensive. He is hoping more people step forward to participate in this important conversation. For Roy this is a matter of justice and a matter of conscience.

Roy invited questions and comments.

Father Dennis Moorman said that Roy's actions also impacted Maryknoll and he asked what consideration Roy gave to this before speaking or acting in this regard.

Roy's response was rambling and vague, IMHO, about how he did development work and people expected Maryknoll to be involved in peace and justice issues. He mused what would it be like if all the priests, and especially Maryknollers, who supported women's ordination were to come forward, speak out, perhaps sign a petition. "But the atmosphere is one of fear."

Father Phil Erbland mentioned a show on TV where a priest left the priesthood in order to push for an overall over-haul of the very structure of the Roman Catholic Church. "Our discussion should be wider (than women's ordinations)," he said.

Roy responded that many, many Catholics are leaving the Church out of anger, especially for its discrimination against women, gays and lesbians. He says the pope and some bishops are trying to undo the progress of Vatican II.

I expressed being conflicted vis-a-vis Roy's situation. I support and agree with his position on women's ordination but cannot understand how he can ignore a direct order of our superior, given our oath of obedience.

Roy answered that his conscience compels him to continue to speak out and ask basic questions, much like people did during the Vietnam war. The debate or discussion will not stop, Roy maintains, just like opposition to the abolition of slavery and women's suffrage could not stop these movements. "We (Maryknoll) are on the wrong side of history on this issue," he said. "Unless we change, we are going to die."

Father Dave LaBuda says he honestly believes in and respects Roy's conscience but he (Roy) also publicly represents the Maryknoll community and there has never been a discussion of his position with the wider membership or any consultation with us. Dave used the analogy of a man deciding on his own to move to another country and expecting his family to go with him, without consultation.

"In the wider world church, is this even an issue?" David asks. "The church in the U.S. is different than the one we knew when we first went oversees. The reality is very different." Dave wants to know how Roy jives his conscience with the (Maryknoll) community, and how does he jive his message with the younger generation of Catholics which tends to be more accepting of the institutional church?

Roy says his experience has been different (than Dave's) because he sees signs of hope and enthusiasm among the young people he speaks with.

Dave tried valiantly to get back to the issue of Roy jiving his personal conscience and subsequent actions with that of the larger Maryknoll community. Again, Roy gave an impassioned reply about sexism and power but did not answer the question, IMO.

Father Larry Murphy sees a larger issue as a problem of authority in the Church, of which the ordination of women is just one area that we might be in disagreement with current Church leadership. "How do we, with what little power we have, influence the Church and not leave it over just one issue?"

Former superior general, Father John Sivalon, says there had been some consultation between Roy and the previous administration.

Father Steve Taluja asks why we here at Maryknoll haven't gotten together to discuss just where we stand on this topic. He says it's not fair to lay all the blame on Roy.

Father John Felago said he suspects he is part of a silent majority, in Maryknoll if not in the Church, who supports Roy's position. He invoked Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and the Freedom Riders whose actions lead to the fall of the walls of prejudice and discrimination. Perhaps this issue would precipitate the changes we are desiring.

Brother John Blazo says there is also the question of power and money that the current structure supports and will vigorously defend. Maybe the ordination of women is something just for this country to address and does not necessarily have to apply to other countries or cultures.

Father Tom Marty said patriarchy and the abuse of power in the Church must be dealt with. But, he said, he disagrees with Roy's tactics, especially participating in the (illicit) ordination of a woman. Plus, ordination is not a right, like a human right, Tom said. "One can feel called to priesthood but one does not have an automatic right to ordination."

Brother Ray Tetrault first encountered justice issues following his return from Japan. This issue of women's ordination has provoked new feelings and challenges about where he stands on this. "Maybe we should be imitating the Acts of the Apostles," he said, when they relied on the Holy Spirit to address important issues with faith and love.

Fr. Bill Donnelly says, "If the Church (eventually) says it wants to ordain women, great." He says Roy has now made his point, especially with Rome, and there is nothing to be gained by continuing to speak out. Roy's battle is going nowhere. Bill said he would hate to see Roy dismissed from Maryknoll, which would solve nothing.

Fr. Mike Bassano said he is saddened by how the institutional church is treating Roy and our General Council not being more compassionate but rather threatening dismissal.

Fr. John Barth said he wished this discussion could be a part of agenda of the Regional Assembly, instead of just an impromptu gathering.

I (Fr. Joseph Veneroso) asked where Roy now stood vis-a-vis Maryknoll and the dismissal process.

Roy said he learned there would not be a lot of discussion with the Council. The Second Letter has not yet arrived, but it may arrive any time. Many Maryknoll Sisters and Society members have appealed on Roy's behalf. He got a whole stack of support letters and a relative few calling for him to be burned at the stake. He is hoping that we at Maryknoll might still have this important discussion.

Former superior general, Father Jim Noonan, said this evening has been a real grace. The one thing he found himself doing is praying for both Fr. Ed Dougherty, superior general, as well as for Roy. "Ed is in a very, very difficult position."

Jim asked, "How can we continue to live in harmony as brothers and sisters in Maryknoll?"

Indeed.

Holy Week Vocation Retreat

One sure sign of the End Times was seeing 25 guys at Morning Prayer today. Even if you subtract the 13 men here for the discernment retreat, that still means 12 Society members deigned to gather for the Liturgy of the Hours. Surely the End is near.

It was great welcoming the retreatants from all over the country (world, actually, if you count the one from India and Nigeria, and don't consider Texas a foreign country.)

Their presence here since last evening certainly interjected energy into our community and lowered the average age down to about 43 from its current 77.

The guys represent various backgrounds: lawyer, army captain, opera singer, parish administrator, personal trainer, college students and even high school seniors.

Speaking of Call To Action (?), there were indeed many phone calls --about 515-- from those supporting Fr. Roy Bourgeois and asking our superior general to reconsider the formal dismissal for breaking his vow of obedience by continuing to publicly speak out on behalf of women's ordination.

Which brings us to Holy Thursday and the institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood. Although my observation stands: if woman cannot be priests because not was present at the Last Supper, why do they receive Communion?

I guess consistency is not a characteristic of contemporary Carholicism.

Sent from my most excellent iPhone

On Conscientious Objection

Back in my college days in the mid 1960s, I joined the War Resisters League, founded by Mahatma Gandhi, to combat the predominant mentality in society that violence and war can solve our problems. We took a pledge never to refer to another human being in anything less than human terms. No "pigs". No "gooks". No "monsters."

The strength of the movement lay in its followers being willing to participate in acts of civil disobedience against selective laws deemed unjust, and then willingly accepting the consequence of their action. Gandhi clearly stated such action must be selective. If laws are broken habitually then the focus of the injustice is lost. Similarly, Gandhi thought it essential to willingly accept the punishment for the infraction, thus underscoring just how injust, if not absurd, the particular law in question is.

I bring this up in this week before Holy Week as Maryknoll on the one hand prepares to celebrate the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord (the cosmic example of a conscientious objector) while on the other hand preparing to expel (excuse me, DISMISS) Fr. Roy Bourgeois from our Society. [Our resident canon lawyer insists Roy is being dismissed, not expelled. I think the nuance depends on whether or not you open the door before booting someone out through it.]

Like many Maryknollers, I feel saddened, angry yet resigned to the inevitable and unavoidable consequences to Roy's actions these past several years. Let me be honest in the interest of full disclosure: I like Roy, I consider him my brother, and I totally agree with his opinion of women's ordination. I do not, however, agree with his strategy.

By dragging Maryknoll into his cause and putting us on a collision course with the hierarchy and official Church teaching, he forced Superior General Fr. Ed Dougherty's hand. One Maryknoller wanted to pose this question to Roy: would you force a busload of protesters at the annual SOA protest to cross the line and get arrested against their will? This Maryknoller says what Roy did was essentially to hijack Maryknoll and force us over the line.

When Roy was excommunicated in 2009 for participating in an attempted ordination of a woman to the Roman Catholic priesthood in 2008, he acted in the prophetic role of a conscientious objector by accepting the punishment for breaking what he feels in his heart of hearts is an unjust law. But by continually disregarding Fr. Dougherty's explicit instruction to make no further public statements and take no further action in support of women's ordination, Roy sealed his own fate and gave Doc an out to rid the Society of this "meddlesome priest" (cf. Thomas Becket and King Henry II, for those who are historically challenged.)

Perhaps Roy was acting in the style of Martin Luther ("Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir." ["Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me."]) Unfortunately, Doc's letter to Roy clouds the issue by casting the dismissal once again in terms of women's ordination and not explicitly in breaking the vow of obedience we take to our superiors. Inadvertently, then, our superior actually did Roy a favor by making the dismissal from Maryknoll a direct consequence of his public stand against the official Church's barring women from Holy Orders.

Murky ecclesial waters indeed. But for the above reasons, Roy's imminent dismissal from Maryknoll and forced laicization does refocus attention on the Church's ban on women's ordination. This apparent injustice in the Church is highlighted all the more by the recent report by the Boston-based Gavin group that found 55 dioceses are not compliant with the 2002 Dallas Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. Two dioceses, Lincoln, Neb. and Baker, Ore. refused to cooperate with the audit. Is it too much to ask the bishops to keep their own promises and be consistent in meting out ecclesial justice by slapping the recalcitrant dioceses with an interdict (a communal excommunication) until they reflect and repent the error of their ways? Or is it true that the official Church considers involvement in women's ordination as grave a sin as pedophilia? (I notice a strange silence about the gravity of the sin of those who permitted the abuses to continue by transferring offenders and hiding their crimes.)

Be that as it may, the Vatican has declared no women shall be called to Holy Orders, ostensibly because none was present at the Last Super when Jesus instituted the priesthood. But by that same logic, let us then be consistent and decree that henceforth no woman is qualified to receive communion.

So here we stand, we can do no other. In 100 years, I feel Maryknoll will be but an asterisk next to Roy Bourgeois name. Don't believe me? Can anyone name the superior general who dismissed Father Martin Luther? Didn't think so. God help us, indeed.

Letter from Roy Bourgeois

April 8, 2011

Rev. Edward Dougherty, M.M., Superior General
Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers
P.O. Box 303
Maryknoll, NY 10545


Dear Father Dougherty and General Council,

Maryknoll has been my community, my family, for 44 years, so it is with great sadness that I received your letter of March 18, 2011 stating I must recant my belief and public statements that support the ordination of women, or I will be dismissed from Maryknoll.

When I was a young man in the military, I felt God was calling me to be a priest. I later entered Maryknoll and was ordained. I am grateful for finding the happiness, meaning and hope I was seeking in my life.

For the past 20 years I have been speaking out and organizing against the injustice of the School of the Americas and U.S. foreign policy in Latin America. Over these years I discovered an injustice much closer to home - an injustice in my Church.

Devout women in our Church believe God is calling them to be priests, but they are rejected because the Church teaches that only baptized men can become priests. As a Catholic priest for 38 years, I believe our Church's teaching that excludes women from the priesthood defies both faith and reason and cannot stand up to scrutiny for the following reasons:

(1) As Catholics, we believe that we are created in the image and likeness of God and that men and women are equal before God. Excluding women from the priesthood implies that men are superior to women.

(2) Catholic priests say that the call to be a priest is a gift and comes from GOD. How can we, as men say: "Our call from God is authentic, but your call, as women, is not"? Who are we to reject God's call of women to the priesthood? I believe our Creator who is the Source of life and called forth the sun and stars is certainly capable of calling women to be priests.

(3) We are told that women cannot be priests because Jesus chose only men as apostles. As we know, Jesus did not ordain anyone. Jesus also chose a woman, Mary Magdalene, to be the first witness to His resurrection, which is at the core of our faith. Mary Magdalene became known as "the apostle to the apostles."

(4) A 1976 report by the Pontifical Biblical Commission, the Vatican's top Scripture scholars, concluded that there is no valid case to be made against the ordination of women from the Scriptures. In the Episcopal, Methodist, Lutheran, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian and other Christian churches, God's call of women to the priesthood is affirmed and women are ordained. Why not in the Catholic church?

(5) The Holy Scriptures remind us in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither male nor female. In Christ Jesus you are one." Furthermore, the Second Vatican Council's Pastoral Constitution on "The Church in the Modern World" states: "Every type of discrimination ... based on sex ... is to be overcome and eradicated as contrary to God's intent."

After much reflection and many conversations with fellow priests and women, I believe sexism is at the root of excluding women from the priesthood. Sexism, like racism, is a sin. And no matter how hard we may try to justify discrimination against women, in the end, it is not the way of God. Sexism is about power. In the culture of clericalism many Catholics priests see the ordination of women as a threat to their power.

Our Church is in a crisis today because of the sexual abuse scandal and the closing of hundreds of churches because of a shortage of priests. When I entered Maryknoll we had over 300 seminarians. Today we have ten. For years we have been praying for more vocations to the priesthood. Our prayers have been answered. God is sending us women priests. Half the population are women. If we are to have a vibrant and healthy Church, we need the wisdom, experience and voices of women in the priesthood.

As Catholics, we believe in the primacy and sacredness of conscience. Our conscience is sacred because it gives us a sense of right and wrong and urges us to do the right thing. Conscience is what compelled Franz Jagerstatter, a humble Austrian farmer, husband and father of four young children, to refuse to join Hitler's army, which led to his execution. Conscience is what compelled Rosa Parks to say she could no longer sit in the back of the bus. Conscience is what compels women in our Church to say they cannot be silent and deny their call from God to he priesthood. And it is my conscience that compels me to say publicly that the exclusion of women from the priesthood is a grave injustice against women, against our Church and against our God who calls both men and women to the priesthood.

In his 1968 commentary on the Second Vatican Council's document, "Gaudium et Spes," Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, said: "Over the pope ... there still stands one's own conscience, which must be obeyed before all else, if necessary, even against the requirement of ecclesiastical authority."

What you are requiring of me is not possible without betraying my conscience. In essence, you are telling me to lie and say I do not believe that God calls both men and women to the priesthood. This I cannot do, therefore I will not recant.

Like the abolition of slavery, the civil rights movement and the right of women to vote, the ordination of women is inevitable because it is rooted in justice. Whenever there is an injustice, silence is the voice of consent. I respectfully ask my fellow priests, bishops, Church leaders in the Vatican and Catholics in the pews to speak out and affirm God's call of women to the priesthood.


Your Brother in Christ,

(Signed)

Roy Bourgeois, M.M.
P.O. Box 3330
Columbus, GA 31903
Tel/Fax 706-682-5369
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Bourgeois update

By the time Yours Truly made the rounds table-hopping in the dining room, members were all abuzz about the news that Fr. Roy's days as a Maryknoller are numbered.

Fr. Jim Gilligan, our expert in canon law, was quick to clarify that as of today Roy is still in the Society, "but the process (of expulsion) has begun." According to Jim, a letter was sent to Roy giving him 15 days to publicly recant his position and activities promoting the ordination of women to the priesthood of the R.C. Church. Fifteen days after he receives that, if there is no recanting, a second letter is sent. Fifteen days after that, a formal letter of expulsion is sent to Roy and Rome is notified.

Reaction around the dining room to this news, first broke by NCR online, ranged from sadness to resignation to relief. No one was really surprised, although one priest was very upset.

Superior General Ed Dougherty explained that he was trying to keep his end of the agreement of maintaining silence while this process unfolded, but Roy contacted NCR and gave them a copy of Letter #1. "So I guess the cat is out of the bag," is how Doc reacted.

Among other things, now that mysterious email last week from internal auditor, Fr. Ed Szendrey, reiterating Maryknoll policy about individual Maryknollers deflecting inquiries from the press to Mr. Mike Virgintino, our media relations rep, suddenly makes sense.

Meanwhile, back in the dining room, guys were in agreement on two points: that, no matter what they thought of Roy personally or about his actions, Maryknoll leadership had been more than patient over the years, but especially since 2008. Also, once again it is Maryknoll which will probably suffer as a result. Indeed, the NCR article quoted a representative of the women's ordination movement calling for a letter campaign on behalf of Roy to our General Council.

One thing is clear to this blogger as he argued with Jim Gilligan as he split canonical hairs, if you know Roy, there is no way he will recant in the remaining days. Thus the headline of the original post remains: Bourgeois is out.