Women-priest fakers allow Protestants to define who Catholics are. There must be consequences.

When anti-Catholic ecumenical atrocities take place, Catholic bishops should act.

Here is an example which calls for consequences.

From WTAX in Kentucky:

Kentucky woman ordained as priest in defiance of Roman Catholic Church [Note either the carelessness or the bias? She was not ordained as anything.]

By Mary Wisniewski

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (Reuters) – In an emotional ceremony filled with tears and applause, a 70-year-old Kentucky woman was ordained a priest [No.  She went through a fake ceremony.] on Saturday as part of a dissident group operating outside of official Roman Catholic Church authority. [Liberals often use the word “official” as code.  Watch for code.]

Rosemarie Smead is one of about 150 women around the world who have decided not to wait for the Roman Catholic Church to lift its ban on women priests, but to be ordained and start their own congregations.

In an interview before the ceremony, Smead said she is not worried about being excommunicated from the Church – the fate of other women ordained outside of Vatican law.

“It has no sting for me,” said Smead, a petite, gray-haired former Carmelite nun with a ready hug for strangers. [What slop.] “It is a Medieval bullying stick the bishops used to keep control over people and to keep the voices of women silent. I am way beyond letting octogenarian men tell us how to live our lives.” [Wayyyy beyond.]

The ordination of women as priests, along with the issues of married priests and birth control, represents one of the big divides between U.S. Catholics and the Vatican hierarchy. [And it is the writer’s objective to widen the divide. Note also how the “issues” are not easily related.] Seventy percent of U.S. Catholics believe that women should be allowed to be priests, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll earlier this year.

The former pope, Benedict XVI, reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s ban on women priests [“ban  on women priests” requires the premise that there is such a thing as a woman priest.  There isn’t.] and warned that he would not tolerate disobedience by clerics on fundamental teachings. Male priests have been stripped of their holy orders [No.  That’s impossible.  Holy Orders confer an indelible mark on the soul that can’t be “stripped”.  They have been “stripped” of permission to function as a priest.] for participating in ordination ceremonies for women.

In a statement last week, Louisville Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz called the planned ceremony by the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests a “simulated ordination” in opposition to Catholic teaching.

“The simulation of a sacrament carries very serious penal sanctions in Church law, and Catholics should not support or participate in Saturday’s event,” Kurtz said.

The Catholic Church teaches that it has no authority to allow women to be priests because Jesus Christ chose only men as his apostles. Proponents of a female priesthood said Jesus was acting only according to the customs of his time.

They also note that he chose women, like Mary Magdalene, as disciples, and that the early Church had women priests, deacons and bishops. [Which is not true.]

[HERE, folks, is a big problem….] The ceremony, held at St. Andrew United Church of Christ in Louisville, was attended by about 200 men and women. Many identified themselves to a Reuters reporter as Catholics, but some declined to give their names or their churches.

[…]

The rest of the piece is rubbish.

Here’s the bottom line.  Antics like this should have consequences for ecumenical dialogue.

The women’s ordination thing is silliness.  It is a circus.

A Protestant church hosted the circus.  They gave the Catholic Church the finger.

There should be consequences.

We either take ecumenism seriously or we don’t. If we do – and I believe we must –  we have to react strongly when ecumenical ideals are so grossly violated by Protestants who invite or permit these “women priest” ceremonies in their churches.

The most sacred rites of the Catholic Church are Holy Mass and ordination to Holy Orders.

They effectively trampled rites that we Catholics hold as sacred.

These silly Catholic women-priest supporters are committing sacrilege in simulating Mass and Orders.

However, the Protestants who host them are assisting in a mockery of our Holy Mass and a mockery of our priesthood.

For a long time progressivist Catholics were staging Jewish sedar meals in their churches.  Some Jews were angered by this.  We got the message from the Jews and stopped doing what was offensive to them.

By allowing this group of fakers into their churches, those Protestants accepted the premise that what those women play at is actually a Catholic ordination and a Mass.

How dare PROTESTANTS decide what a Catholic Mass is?

And if they respond, “Gee, we mean no disrespect. We are just giving space to this group”, then what they are doing is aiding a protest against the Catholic Church.

There is no way around this.

Protestants who give these fakers aid are either on their side, and thus support their claim that what they are doing really is an ordination and Mass, or in claiming not to be taking sides they are still giving support to an anti-Catholic protest.

Bishops have to take action when offensive, anti-Catholic things like this take place.

Upon hearing the news that this ceremony is going to take place (or has taken place), the local Catholic bishop must call the pastor of that Protestant parish and say, “I’m the Catholic Bishop.  Do not allow this sacrilege to be committed in your church. You wouldn’t do this for a group of dissident Jews wanting to ordain rabbis, but we are Catholics so you don’t care what offense you give us.  Until an apology is issued, don’t look for us to dialogue with you again.”

Then that Catholic bishop should call the head of the denomination and convey the same message.

Then that Catholic Bishop should send an informative note to the USCCB’s ecumenical office and to the CDF and to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity to let them know the facts of the sacrileges that took place and who helped them.

Then that Catholic bishop should call the press and give them his view about the offense the Protestants gave and the damage they inflicted on ecumenical dialogue.

True ecumenism does not consist in lying down and letting some other church kick you and define what Mass is for you, or say who can be ordained, or stick their “F-You” finger in your face by hosting these sacrilegious fakers.

 

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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101 Comments

  1. Frank H says:

    Is there any reason that Catholic laity should not contact this Protestant “church” and register our own complaint?

    Fr. Z's Gold Star Award

  2. Ben Trovato says:

    I notice the old canard ‘Proponents of a female priesthood said Jesus was acting only according to the customs of his time.’

    Which is more likely: that Our Lord, God-become-Man, should get things wrong because of the customs and thinking of His time; or that a 70-year-old Kentucky woman should get things wrong because of the customs and thinking of her time?

    It’s not rocket science…

    Fr. Z's Gold Star Award

  3. Jeannie_C says:

    Shocking, but not surprising as this has taken place in a protestant church. Protest – that’s what they’re all about, separated from the one true Church as an “f-you” centuries ago. The protestants I come into contact with have no interest in reuniting with us, they’re happy living their unbridled disobedient faith life as it is, happy to tell Catholics that we are burdened and enslaved by a Pope in Rome. Protestant churches are the go to for Catholics who don’t have their way with marriage tribunals and who want to rewrite the “rules” of the faith. I think all Catholics in the area should register their complaints with the minister of that “church” and boycott the World Day of Prayer farce in that location.

  4. Nan says:

    The reporter was probably invited. Based on a horrifying conversation with the consort of an alleged womanpriesty/ss, they have invitation only events and claim to have parish and archdiocese empoyees attend, but know they’ll be excommunicated if found out. Protestants are usually very ecumenical and many of them have women ministers so they don’t see the problem. The alleged catholics in attendance totally ignore that they self-excommunicate and nobody need tattle to the Bishop if they’re seen. The interesting thing is how these women claim to be Catholic, but aren’t willing to be bullied by octegonarians; the current bully in chief is a septuagenerian so maybe they don’t realize there’s a new pope?

    Anyway, the guy who did theological backflips has since retired so I haven’t received an update on their craziness. They do know that they’re in the wrong or they wouldn’t bother with the invite only events.

  5. markomalley says:

    We will note that the specific protestant denomination in this case was the UCC.

    The UCC that “ordained” Rev Jeremiah “God d@m* America” Wright.

    The UCC that openly embraces and encourages open, practicing homosexuality.

    The UCC that has, as a member, the abortionist-in-chief (and most pro-infanticide president in US history)

    The UCC that makes a mockery of all things Christian.

    Just to keep things in context here.

  6. Frank H says:

    Here is that UCC’s website. Even they can’t get it “right”, referring to the ordination of a “female Catholic priest”.

    http://www.saintandrewucc.org/

    I’ll be calling there tomorrow.

  7. Christopher says:

    There is only one dialogue necessary with these heretics:

    Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus!

    God Bless.

  8. Nan says:

    @Ben, Jesus was countercultural; pagans had priestesses. In his time priestesses were around so why do they keep saying he couldn’t ordain women because of the time and place he lived in?

  9. Phillip says:

    My favorite comment, from the Yahoo! news posting of the article, by a self-described Protestant minister:

    “And in other news, in defiance of the state constitution of Idaho, a 7th grader from Atlanta was sworn in as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Boise’s 1st congressional district while visiting his grandpa in Albuquerque.

    Now for the weather…”

    Yup.

  10. chonak says:

    The 70-year-old resents octogenarians: doesn’t that sound like rank ageism?

    Where’s her sense of justice? Where’s her zeal for accepting people without discrimination?

    Where’s the early bird special today?

    Fr. Z's Gold Star Award

  11. Soporatus says:

    Without contradiction, another perspective…

    Ecumenism is often misconstrued as John Lennon-like indifferentism.
    It is a work of mercy to instruct the ignorant and to give warning to sinners,
    but also to bear wrongs patiently.

    What is the point of ecumenism (oikumena_ism, cat_hol_icism)?
    The salvation of souls otherwise separated from the Church.

    Intellectual understanding that participation in such fake ordination ceremonies
    constitutes grave matter for serious sin,
    neither requires nor urges (even ‘righteous’) anger, much less does it invite hopes for consequences (other than enlightenment and salvation) for those involved.

    “True ecumenism does not consist in lying down and letting some other church kick you…”
    Frumentum Christi sum, dentibus bestiarum molar, ut panis mundus inveniar.
    I am the grain of Christ. I am milled by the teeth of beasts, so that I may be found pure bread.”

    [That 1st person is Ignatius Anthochenus, not Soporatus the coward.]

  12. Atra Dicenda, Rubra Agenda says:

    Some highlights from the main webpage of the heretical UCC website of the community who hosted the sacrilege. Their overall emphasis is clearly on the salvation of souls. Notice how their 50 Great Days are not the 50 from Easter to Pentecost…so green:

    *50 Great Days (April 1 – May 19) … The United Church of Christ’s goal is to engage in:
    1 million hours of engaged earth care
    100,000 trees planted locally & globally
    100,000 letters of environmental advocacy

    *The next Taize service is Sunday, May 12 at 7:00 p.m. at John Knox Presbyterian Church.

    *For the season of Easter, our theme is “A Wild Goose Chase.”

    *St. Andrew is hosting an ordination service for Rose Marie Smead on April 27 at 1:00 p.m.Rose Marie is being ordained as a Female Catholic priest.

    *St. Andrew is an Open and Affirming (ONA) Congregation. We openly welcome everybody, including those of the LGBT community.

  13. Absit invidia says:

    Here is the other bit of liberal code language:

    “The former pope, Benedict XVI, reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s ban on women priests”

    As if the current pope, Francis, will lift the Catholic Church’s ban on women priests.

    They fail to note that the former, former pope, John Paul II, also reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s ban on women priests and that’s true for the former, former, former pope Paul VI and the former, former, former, former, etc. popes.

    Fr. Z's Gold Star Award

  14. Shocked and deeply-deeply sad :-(

  15. MarcAnthony says:

    I’ve heard of people claiming there were female Deacons in the Bible. I can even see a reasonable argument being made for them.

    I have no idea where the idea of women Priests being in the Bible comes from. That’s just weird.

  16. Atra Dicenda, Rubra Agenda says:

    Things like this make me wish we had bishops like Thomas Becket. Walk in with Dies Irae being chanted, excommunicate some prystysses with the Anathema of Pope Zachary, throw some candles on the ground, then walk out like a boss.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRt2cKvJLlE

  17. mamajen says:

    Totally agree, Father.

    The way the news story is written reminds me of the whole “pregnant man” debacle a few years ago. The media is telling us that black is white and up is down, and we’re just supposed to suspend reason and go along with it.

    Ecumenism is tricky business to begin with, but this truly is a slap in the face.

  18. frjim4321 says:

    “The ordination of women as priests, along with the issues of married priests and birth control, represents one of the big divides between U.S. Catholics and the Vatican hierarchy.”

    Apples, oranges and bananas.

    There are probably few active U.S. Catholics who care at all about the ordination of women, a much larger number who care about the ordination of married men, and a vastly huge number that don’t see birth control as devisive because they don’t see the hierarchy’s statement on the matter as authoritative or relevant.

    Most of the people that I’ve met who are zealous about the ordination of women aren’t active Catholics. Most of the people who favor the ordination of married men are probably unwilling to ante up and pay the difference; at the rate the average Catholic gives a living wage for a priest who is father/husband/provider is impossible. Are all the people who want the ordination of married men willing to triple or quadruple their contribution?

    Those two issues are boutique issues that really don’t cause a divide between the prelates and the people in the pews. On the other hand being beat over the head with the birth control issue, which the majority of active Catholics have long since decided to ignore, is undermining the moral authority of the bishops. [And you were doing so well in the paragraphs above that I almost… almost… gave you a Gold Star! And then, this! In case the readership missed, you made the point that because birth control is either a moot or a loser issue, when priest/bishops talk about, they are undercutting their own moral authority. Piffle. Bull piffle.]

    Odd that the list did not even include equal marriage rights, which is clearly a bigger issues than all three.

  19. iPadre says:

    Time corrects all errors. This poor woman is 70 years old. I hope she repents, her time is short. Time is short for all of us when we live in sin!

    [A morte subitanea et improvisa…!]

  20. Absit invidia says:

    Dan O, that’s a non sequiter. [ALL: Absit is responding to a comment I deleted.] You could have posted your repulsion about the naked women who stormed the Archbishop of Brussels conference and threw things at him as he was speaking. But you didn’t.

    Or how about the taking of communion during mass and trampling it under foot in protest to the church? Or the men dressed in drag during a San Francisco gay pride rally and mockingly take Holy Communion during a scheduled mass nearby to protest?

    What the good priest is doing is QUOTING the repulsive reaction of liberals who actually use the real 4-letter word AND WORSE to protest the Catholic Church.

  21. Phil_NL says:

    “I am way beyond letting octogenarian men tell us how to live our lives.”

    Sounds like she’s also beyond a 2013 year old Man telling her how to live.

  22. StJude says:

    So.. basically….she is a protestant who went through a fake ceremony to get attention.

  23. Susan M says:

    Can you imagine going to Confession with a woman priest?! Since women are notorious gossips she’d tell everyone everything…all my sins to all the people!! Unfortunately for them, their dreams are in vain and they will die and go to their graves unfullfilled. Boo hoo. Sob.

  24. VexillaRegis says:

    UCC website:”…our theme is “A Wild Goose Chase”. Their search for the Way, the Thruth and the Truth seems to be futile indeed.

  25. Atra Dicenda, Rubra Agenda says:

    @frjim who said “On the other hand being beat over the head with the birth control issue, which the majority of active Catholics have long since decided to ignore, is undermining the moral authority of the bishops.”

    I can only think of three priests that I have ever seen personally who have discussed birth control during a homily. During my engaged encounter retreat for marriage, the NFP instruction/discussion was an *optional* session held after the official conclusion of the weekend as if to emphasize “this is unimportant and an inconvenience, so don’t bother.”

    I do not think that the average active Catholic is being “beaten over the head” about birth control and most have not ever heard a good argument for why it is an impermissible evil. And to be honest, there doesn’t even appear to be an old-fashioned paternalism about the issue from the Bishops in the sense of “we’re your spiritual fathers so do what we say, you don’t need an explanation.” I think what is undermining the moral authority of bishops is their utter failure to teach Catholics how to be Catholics. The USCCB appears to be too busy fraternizing with politicians and releasing documents on immigration and gun control and green energy, and they don’t have the time to offer cogent, life-giving arguments about birth control, sacramental marriage, and family life or releasing powerful and persuasive documents which synthesize Church teaching on these issues.

    [And now we are talking about something that is not the point of the top entry! Cleverly done.]

  26. inexcels says:

    This crap is so exhausting. I need a solo retreat where I can be completely separated from human society for like a week or something. Except then I might never want to come back…

  27. VexillaRegis says:

    Should read the Way, the Truth and the Life, got interrupted, sorry.

  28. VexillaRegis says:

    inexcels: Good idea, but don’t miss Mass on Sundays! ;-P

  29. JimGB says:

    Focusing on the event yesterday and not extraneous matters, please note that this Protestant church’s website has a “contact us” function under the “About” tab, and anyone who wishes to write to them in a respectful but nevertheless indignant tone, to express some of the sentiments voiced in these comments about the purported ordination can do so.

  30. The Drifter says:

    I’m not really worried. Tomorrow, we just all go to our parish priests and have ourselves ordained as Roman Catholic ministers of the UCC, without having to wait for the official approval of the above congregation. What good for the goose, is good for the gander.

  31. Trinitarian Dad says:

    “This crap is so exhausting. I need a solo retreat where I can be completely separated from human society for like a week or something. Except then I might never want to come back.”

    I’ve been feeling the same way lately. But where can we go? When I travelled with my daughter to Mexico to see her enter the Trinitarians of Mary, I got to stay in the guest quarters for a few days. It was so peaceful there I hated to leave.

  32. Peggy R says:

    Poor then-Abp Burke when a St Louis area rabbi-ette interfered with internal Church matters by making her synagogue available to some elderly ladies (a 70 yo scoffing at 80 yo men. that’s rich) to become faux priestesses. He called her on it. Burke was of course a bad guy, chauvinist pig. A local liberal nun who attended the event also faced canonical consequences.

    The scary thing is the attendance of 200 confused people.

  33. John of Chicago says:

    Fr. Z. said: “The most sacred rites of the Catholic Church are Holy Mass and ordination to Holy Orders.” but…
    “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Mt 28:19
    I always thought the “most sacred” rite is the one that, in fact, we actually share with all communities of faith who, also, baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All our other Catholic sacraments/rites seem necessarily to flow from that preeminent, common source.

  34. If more people spent time correcting their bad catechesis and really learning about this beautiful truth of ours, the less we would see this kind of garbage, I think. Poor catechesis leaves one no where to go and at the end one starts to think that there must be more to it. And then, in error, think that they are what’s missing. Maybe ten years ago I would have thought a woman priest wouldn’t be so bad, why not? But now, after reading and learning and questioning and practicing – I know and cherish the truth. It’s not about me. That’s it.

  35. Imrahil says:

    My first reaction was: Totally agree.

    My last reaction is, I guess: Nevertheless I totally agree.

    That said, the problem with the ecumenism/dialogue thing is: Protestantism by its very definition includes explicit anti-Catholicism. I may say I’m not against ecumenical dialogue (in the form the Catholic Church officially has seen fit), for reason that yes, Protestants when for once they stop directly treating their relationship to the Catholic Church, they do some valuable Christian preaching, and yes, parleys have their sense even in war. Nevertheless: Ecumenical dialogue cannot demand that the Protestants do not trample on the Catholic Church. It is only that they do so that makes them Protestants.

    Another problem is that he who says “no talk until apology”, will be held to what he said. Either by constant repetition (which makes the issue “normal” by perception) or by forgetfulness, at least within some decades (or in our hasty times perhaps, years) some grass will have grown over the subject, and at least a future bishop will not see himself able to be silent and refuse all dialogue for the (perceivedly) nit-picking reason that an apology has not been issued, or that they do nothing but what they had been doing for decades (years).

    And they won’t apologize.

    I wonder.

  36. Ryan says:

    John of Chicago,

    That’s precisely backwards. Baptism exists for the Eucharist, as the foothills exist for the summit.

  37. Elizabeth D says:

    I totally agree with the commenter who said laity should contact this church, and any other church that hosts anti-Catholic things, and complain cordially but very firmly, and when relevant quoting something from Vatican II that explains the real Catholic teaching. People think they know what Vatican II is and they think Vatican II authorizes believing and doing whatever you want, of course that is not so but its presentation of Catholic teaching is particularly effective for responding to dissent. I took testimonies of local lay people about why Catholics shouldn’t support the local formerly-Catholic monastery that now has a fake “mass” and hosts so called “womenpriests” and activist dissent groups and presented it there to visiting celebrity Sister Simone Campbell and the two former Benedictine Sisters; this was actually pretty effective for getting the word out in a clear way that that is not actually Catholic and standing up to the indifferentism of some Catholics who absolutely should know better, such as some priests and sisters. This is a slightly different but somewhat similar situation where the lay people are really the best ones to make a firm point. I would really emphasize that anything good we do is done by God Who is love, and therefore any such action has to be done in charity and preceded by prayer for everyone concerned. Be sincere in your desire for your neighbor’s salvation no matter what it is they are doing.

  38. gracie says:

    If Jesus was only acting according to the customs of His time He would have:

    1) told Mary to help Martha in the kitchen

    2) not spoken to the Samaritan woman

    3) banished the unclean woman who touched Him

    4) told Mary Magdalene to find a man to witness to His Resurrection

    5) told the women who followed Him around (Susannah, Joanna, Mary, etc.) to get lost

    6) said that married women have to stay that way in Heaven

    Need we go on? Jesus broke customs left and right in His dealings with women. He constantly affirmed their equal dignity with men – no wonder they adored Him.

  39. DB1995 says:

    I agree with your outrage, but as a convert from Protestantism, whose conversion was aided by coming to see the place of Peter vs. the Yellow Pages of Protestantism, I have to wonder what would be the point of contacting the overarching denomination–assuming there is one. Maybe the southern baptist convention could exert some pressure, but it sounds like this is an independent ecclesial community, possibly under a loosely organized denomination. There would be no sanctions that they could bring upon these jokers. Only with Peter as the head is there unity in belief. Omnes cum Pietro ad Iesum per Mariam!

  40. inexcels says:

    Trinitarian Dad: “I’ve been feeling the same way lately. But where can we go?”

    That’s the question, isn’t it…

  41. Jack Hughes says:

    In excels

    I know exactly how you feel, I spend most of my vacation time in a Religious House and its harder to go home each time :)

  42. Matt R says:

    These folks got smart, see, because the ‘womyn priests’ chose a congregational church. There is very little the national United Churches of Christ organization can do in terms of correcting the local congregation or preventing this event in the future. It’s also possible, if not probable, the denomination’s leadership supports female clergy, and cannot understand why their actions are so wrong and are a hindrance to ecumenical dialogue. The best I think we can hope for is that the diocese ends ties to the UCC congregation, if not the entire denomination. Whether that is likely or not is another case, on which I shall not offer my opinion (Archbishop Kurtz is my bishop after all).

  43. Tradster says:

    You know, I would have slightly more respect for these women (only slightly, mind you, but still more) if, before having their dress-up ceremony, they showed any willingness whatsoever to first endure the years of authentic Catholic theological training that real priests are required to complete. And reading “Catholic Theology for Dummies” doesn’t count. The fauxdination would still be wrong and invalid, of course, but at least they would be demonstrating their seriousness about the vocation. [What the women-priests do is serious and wrong. But the point of this entry is to underscore what an offense Protestants offer to Catholics when they host these evil services. They clearly don’t care even a Brummagem ha’porth about ecumenical dialogue.]

  44. marylise says:

    False ecumenism is the motivating force behind most profanities, sacrileges and blasphemies, including the disgusting spectacle of women defying the will of God concerning Holy Orders. False ecumenism has infected the highest levels of the Church. In essence, it is a repudiation of justice whereby heretics are placated while the humble faithful Catholic in the pew is barely tolerated. Most importantly, false ecumenism is the sworn enemy of the Real Presence. These two foes are locked in a fight to the death. Either false ecumenism will have to go or the Real Presence will have to go. False ecumenists have succeeded in downplaying the Real Presence to a shocking degree, but they will not rest content with this achievement. They want more. Their dream is for heretics to continue to be heretics but think of themselves as “right with God.” The only way this can happen is to obliterate the Real Presence, the source and summit of Catholic truth.

  45. Sandy says:

    The counterpoint to this story, one that should cause joy, is the evangelical group giving Cardinal Dolan an award for supporting true marriage, life, and religious freedom. See the Christian Post story. At least we have allies in some important areas.

  46. Jackie L says:

    “Many identified themselves to a Reuters reporter as Catholics, but some declined to give their names or their churches.” – I’m shocked, SHOCKED that these brave prophetic voices, these proponents of openness and transparency, would decline to identify themselves.

  47. Ah, the good old UCC.

    As one of my Evangelical students used to say: “UCC means ‘Unitarians Considering Christ.'”

    Fr. Z's Gold Star Award

  48. Supertradmum says:

    Several years ago, the bishop in my American diocese excommunicated the woman who thought she was ordained priest and all those who attended the false ordination. The local bishop should do the same immediately.

  49. NBW says:

    Rosemarie Smead: “I am way beyond letting octogenarian men tell us how to live our lives.”
    TRANSLATED: ” I am moving way beyond Jesus” Have these 70+ women been given some sort of feminist, man hating Kool-aid in their formative years? I’ve known some women around that age which think the same way Smead does. They are VERY feminist, yet consider themselves VERY Catholic. Feminism is a form of Communism.

  50. I am a Catholic and live with a Jewish bishop. I do! I just ordained my cat as the first Jewish bishop! The problem is now that my other cat, a sede vacantist, wants to elect the bishop cat as Pope. Both are female. What am I to do?

  51. Jack Orlando says:

    Fr. Thompson and markomalley have it right. The United Church of Christ is so ultraliberal that it likely would regard Hans Küng and John Shelby Spong as holy roller, foot washing, Bible thumping, snake handling, slain-in-the-spirit, speaking-in-tongues, primitive fundamentalists. Since it was founded in 1957, it has lost half of its members, and by report the decline continues.

  52. Lucas Whittaker says:

    Please forgive my ignorance. While I agree wholeheartedly with Father Z’s call to respond in the name of true ecumenism I fail to see what we can do that will make a lasting difference. I’m not implying that nothing can be done, only that I personally fail to see what to do. I mean, if these people refuse to see the truth for what it is, or, better, decide to see a lie for the truth, what can we do in the face of such an abuse of right reason? In the dictatorship of relativism the autocrat thereof is blind to logical argumentation. It seems that the attack on and abuses of the Church will get worse and the best course of action for us is to pray for fortitude to withstand the attack while clinging to the good Lord. I believe that Pope Emeritus Benedict was right to say that the Church would grow small. While I do not doubt that there is much more to “the process of crystallization and clarification” to which Benedict referred than what my weak mind can envision, Benedict did say that we would become a Church of the meek (which word I take to reflect the virtue of fortitude and therefore patience), and to me this also implies that we simply shoulder on in the face of insult and injury, and indeed, even mockery as the case is here.

    @ Atra Dicenda, Rubra Agenda: Benedict XVI also said that the Church that exists in the future as a result of these attacks would “not the Church of the political cult, which is dead already, but the Church of faith.” Based on your comments it should make you happy to see that any political bent will be gone from the hierarchy. But it will be a Church of “faith”, which means that you should refrain from making foolish comments about birth control. Learn your faith and learn to love living the truth or go and worship over at T-Mobile cellular where you will no longer have to “do what the bishops say”.

  53. MarWes says:

    “a petite, gray-haired former Carmelite nun with a ready hug for strangers” This bit of maudlin brainwashing reminded me of a scene from the movie “Legion” in which a sweet grandma turns into a flesh-eating demon. Another memorable moment from the same film – asked about the reasons for God’s wrath against humanity, a woman says, “Perhaps He just got tired of all that bulls..t…”

  54. Dennis Martin says:

    RuralVirologist

    You asked what you were to do. Well, start by getting a Rastafarian cat to keep the other two cats in line, you know, to herd the cats, or, not to put to blunt a point on it, to pastor them. Your problem is that you are too juridical. You need a more pastoral approach.

  55. PhillipE says:

    I’m reminded of the movie The Shawshank Redemption. Specifically, the needlework on the Warden’s wall which read “His Judgement Cometh And That Right Soon.”

  56. bn24dorr says:

    I just called up this ecclesial community. I mentioned how upset I was about this sacrilegious act and commented on the fact that they would never have hosted an event that was offensive to Jews. The man said that he was not a Roman Catholic and I said I understand that but you still hosted an offensive event of which could be a big blow to ecumenical dialogue. He responded by saying what if MLK refused to do the things he did because he was afraid of offending white people! Then he said something to the degree of WWJD. I replied that he wouldn’t have ordained women as priests because he didn’t and further explained that such a concept did not and does not exist! After a few more seconds of bantering back and forth which included a charge of sexism I said to him that I didn’t want to debate woman priests per se, I simply wanted to express my anger and frustration at this sacrilegious act. He said well if we are not debating then good-bye and hung-up on me. Very tolerant these heretics are.

  57. Athanasius says:

    The thing that irritates me is not the bias, which is a given in any media, and with the news media it is controlled by whoever owns them, but with this argument that it was just the custom of the time. It was not the custom. Outside of the Jews every religion had priestesses and gave women top places in carrying out their rites. Christianity was in a sea of priestesses, if they just conformed to the custom of the age there would have been women priestesses. Plus, most scholars have noted how the church gave women a place unheard of in pagan society, so if we want to get down to it, a religion that teaches fornication (which destroys how many women’s lives?) is evil and husbands divorcing for younger women is evil, that children must obey their mother does a lot more than secular society which has made woman a thing.

  58. drea916 says:

    The proper place for this is on a boat.

  59. chantgirl says:

    The really sad thing about this is that now this woman will simulate the sacraments for confused Catholics. The bread and wine she will offer will not be consecrated, but still bread and wine. She will lead people to worship unchanged bread and wine, which is idolatry. She won’t be able to give absolution in the simulation of confession. People will be misled and think they are spiritually benefitting from the simulated sacraments that she will offer, when what they will be offered is in reality a lie, and incredibly harmful.

    Every time I see a story like this, I am reminded of Jesus not thinking equality with God something to be grasped at, and taking the form of a slave. If this women truly wanted to serve, she wouldn’t be trying to grasp something that God was not offering her. Her real problem is not with the hierarchy, but Jesus Himself. She doesn’t understand or doesn’t like the very real vocation that God has given her. This is a power issue.

  60. BLB Oregon says:

    When a similar situation occurred in Oregon, complete with the article in the Oregonian, then-Archbishop Vlazny wrote an excellent piece in the Catholic Sentinel. In it, he noted that he had said nothing about what other people were doing in their own churches, that is until they started claiming in the newspaper that their rituals were Roman Catholic. He called for non-Catholics who do not agree with us to at least be respectful of our sacraments, rather than treating us with disregard:
    http://www.catholicsentinel.org/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=35&ArticleID=8251

    “On Friday, Aug. 17, the Oregonian reported on a religious ceremony at Zion United Church of Christ in Gresham which was described as a Roman Catholic “ordination.” According to the report, we now have the first woman Roman Catholic priest in Oregon.

    Most readers, hopefully, were somewhat suspicious about the event when they learned it did not take place in a Catholic church. Out of respect for those involved in the ceremony, I had decided to make no public statement. The Oregonian also said nothing for three weeks.

    My main purpose in speaking up now is to assure you that there was no ordination of a Roman Catholic priest at Zion United Church of Christ in Gresham on July 28. Even though Catholics were involved, the claim that it was a Catholic ceremony is wrong but, hopefully, not intentionally disrespectful of a sacrament which we Catholics regard as a precious treasure, one for which we are called to exercise reverent and faithful stewardship.

    Our relationships with other churches are sometimes fragile because of differences in beliefs and values. But in all ecumenical relationships Christian churches do their best to respect the diversity in practices and beliefs. I regret the apparent disregard for this understanding.

    Any person who claims to have been ordained a Catholic bishop, priest or deacon without the proper authorization from church authorities not only is making a false representation of the facts but also by such an act leaves our church community. We are always saddened when sisters and brothers walk away from us, particularly in this manner. We continue to work and pray for unity in the essentials of our Christian faith and for charity and mutual respect in circumstances where we disagree.”

    He also wrote another piece on sacramental integrity that was very good:
    http://www.catholicsentinel.org/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=35&ArticleID=9263

    It included this:
    “….recent years the media has informed us about the so-called “ordination of women priests.” There are those who proclaim that it’s a matter of justice that women be allowed into the priesthood. Jesus was clearly an agent for justice in his time and he did not call women to the apostolic ministry as he did the twelve apostles. Priests share in that apostolic ministry with their bishops.

    Certainly a woman can pretend to be a priest. There are also many men who pretend to be priests but who are not ordained validly, let alone legitimately. But because they claim to be priests and are talented and generous, many choose to accept them as priests and participate in their alleged sacramental celebrations. This is a serious blow to the sacramental integrity which is a hallmark of our church.

    In recent times marriage as we know it has been challenged to the limit. People presume that civil marriage can be whatever civil society wants it to be in this present age of secularism and relativism. But that is not how marriage has been understood over the centuries both by civil society and by the church. This matter is all the more significant for us Catholics because in our community marriage is a sacrament, the love of husband for wife mirroring the love of Christ for his spouse, the church. Even if civil society acknowledges same-sex marriage as legitimate, this is impossible for the church. Because we also see this as harmful to family life, we speak out against such civil marriages and we certainly work to preserve the integrity of sacramental marriage. …”

  61. BenFischer says:

    @RuralVirologist: Your cats, by their very nature, can’t be sede vacantists. Everyone with a cat knows that when there’s an empty chair, the cat is in it before you can sit down. Now Jewish Bishop… that might still be possible. I’d have to consult Aquinas.

  62. Clinton R. says:

    “Seventy percent of U.S. Catholics believe that women should be allowed to be priests, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll earlier this year.”

    Where do they get these numbers from? Me thinks they are just polling Obama “Catholics”. I doubt they polled Catholics who attend TLM. But what can we expect from the main stream media? As Mark Twain said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

  63. A.D. says:

    The website for St. Andrew’s has a “Contact Us” email section. I sent this:
    Dear Pastor,
    As a faithful Roman Catholic I am appalled that you allowed a group to use your church building to commit what we consider sacrilege by pretending to ordain a woman as a Catholic priest.
    Perhaps you thought you were being kind in allowing them this space, but it instead speaks loud and clear that you don’t hold us in respect as we try to follow the Church’s teaching regarding the ministerial priesthood.
    I sincerely ask, that if you don’t hold to our beliefs, you at least respect them by not sponsoring a pretend ordination ceremony. Thank you. May God bless you and your congregation.

  64. RichardC says:

    They could adopt this as their motto: Don’t trust anyone over 80!–until, of course, they turn 80, which many of them already have.

  65. av8er says:

    @lucas Whitaker,

    I don’t think it matters if we get results. The simple act of doing something to stand up for the Truth is what is important. The people that we may be trying to correct might be lost but we don’t know that. In my opinion, we stand up for the Truth because the knuckleheads who attended the ceremony and the CnE catholics who read the story need to be corrected. We have to try. If someone is challenged to think critically about the issue then great, we hopefully helped a soul come to God.

  66. Bea says:

    What to do, What to do, somebody asked.

    Double our prayers and fast is all we can do.
    “Some evils can only be over come except by prayers AND fasting.”
    Mark 9:29

    Most of our bishops have bought into this Ecumenism @#*& and try to push us into this error.
    They will not listen if the Faithful protest. They look upon us as the “divisive ones”.
    Yet, Ecumenism is a one-way street.

    No reasonable parent would invite a neighbor’s child to come into their home, where they can disobey the rules laid down by that neighbor.
    Yet that is ecumenism does:
    They say: “We don’t like your rules for your children, so they can come on over to our house and disobey you”
    And WE?: We are expected to say “I respect your rules, though we disagree with them. Let’s get along”.
    We give up God’s Eternal Truths and Authority as taught to us by Our Lord in order to “get along” with error.

    Inexcels
    We too, are looking for a retreat to live our last years in the peace of Our One True Church.
    Catacombs, anyone?: away from the maddening crowd. (a crowd gone mad with false reasoning)

  67. GordonB says:

    I shared this event with my 13 year old — and she is a 13 year old in every way — so in some ways I was surprised with the clarity in which she addressed the issue: After reading the gist of the article my daughter said, “She’s not a priest” and “She’s not Catholic”. I don’t know if she is capable of explaining the theology behind her answer, but there you have it, from the mouth of babes.

  68. Lucas Whittaker says:

    @ av8er: Thank you. Yes. I don’t mean to imply that anyone is lost but that it is God who touches hearts and that the tyranny of relativism creates a unique challenge in any conversation that we have–especially regarding shenanigans like this UCC hosting of an invalidly ordained woman priest. What specific good will come from calling that particular parish when Lucifer himself is at the heart of these provocations? I agree that we must stand for Truth, but in this circumstance I believe that the teachings of the magisterium stand as a ready witness to all those whom God draws to the truth through faith in his divine Son. What our neighbor needs more than anything else is for us to spend time in silent recollection, mental prayer, or contemplation, every day so that he can implant his love and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our heart. And our neighbor needs this from us more than any conversation or phone call. I know a good number of Catholic men and women and, well, frankly, we all need to take the universal call to holiness much more seriously than we do. I do not see these issues in a separate light but in one and the same light: they go hand-in-hand in such a way that our words will be fruitless if our lives are not inspired by mental prayer and a pure heart. When you have just 10 people who can agree on the necessity of mental prayer and who recognize that this is the best thing that we can do for our neighbor then come and talk to me. I do not know ten such people. St. Teresa of Avila remarked somewhere that it was the lifeblood of her soul: how much more is this true for us who are not yet holy enough to be called saints.

  69. Sandra_in_Severn says:

    What I come away with every time I read of one of these “events.” It is not about a ‘calling’ or ‘vocation’ it is about self-centered (and emotional) desires. It is about the perceived “power” and the entrusted authority of an ordained priest. It is all about them, and not about the sacrifice. it is about privilege, not responsibilities.

  70. Pingback: A young Catholic woman responds to the “Rosemarie Smeads” of the world - Catholic RomanCatholicChurch - Catholic Catholic Church Teaching Evil Heresy Obedience Rosemarie Smead sin - AlwaysCatholic.com

  71. pinoytraddie says:

    This is the Reason(save for a few exceptions)why catholic involvement in the ecumenical movement is IMMORAL! [This may be a bit of an overstatement.]

  72. Lin says:

    As our pastor emphasizes in his homily every week, “in the spirit of Vatican II……………”

  73. StWinefride says:

    Lucas Whittaker says: “What our neighbor needs more than anything else is for us to spend time in silent recollection, mental prayer, or contemplation, every day…”

    AMEN!!

    This is one of my favourite quotes from St Thérèse, the Little Flower, it is so full of wisdom and I do sincerely try and follow it but quite often fail!

    What would I do without prayer and sacrifice?
    They are all the strength I’ve got,
    the irresistible weapons our Lord has granted me.
    I’ve proved it again and again –
    they touch souls much more surely than any
    words can.

    And this from St Catherine of Siena, the Dialogue, as it is her Feast Day :

    So I washed you and made you a new creation in the Blood that my only-begotten Son poured out with such burning love. This Blood gives you knowledge of the Truth when knowledge of yourself leads you to shed the cloud of selfish love. There is no other way to know the Truth. In so knowing Me the soul catches fire with unspeakable love, which in turn brings continual pain. Indeed, because she has known my Truth as well as her own sin and her neighbour’s ingratitude and blindness, the soul suffers intolerably. Still, this is not a pain that troubles or shrivels up the soul. On the contrary, it makes her grow fat. For she suffers because she loves Me, nor would she suffer if she did not love Me.
    Thus, as soon as you and My other servants come in this way to know My Truth, you will, for the glory and praise of My name, have to endure great trials, insults, and reproaches in word and in deed, even to the point of death. Behave then, you and my other servants, with true patience, with sorrow for sin and love of virtue, for the glory and praise of My Name. If you do, I shall be appeased for your sins and those of My other servants. The sufferings you endure will, through the power of charity, suffice to win both atonement and reward for you and for others. For you they will win the fruit of life: the stains of your foolishness will be blotted out, and I will no longer remember that you ever offended Me. As for others, because of your loving charity I will pardon them in proportion to their receptiveness.

  74. pmullane says:

    Perhaps the Bishop should ‘appoint’ himself an ‘extraordinary’ United Church of Christ ‘minister’, then hold a special United Church of Christ service in his Cathedral, and explain to all of the attendees why the United Church of Christ is defective, and invite them to become one with Christs one, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

  75. sparks1093 says:

    “Proponents of a female priesthood said Jesus was acting only according to the customs of his time.”

    It is my imperfect understanding that our Lord was condemned to death because he did not respect the customs of his time and was seen as a threat to the status quo of the day.

  76. Imrahil says:

    Whatever proponents of a female priesthood say, as a rule lacks basis. But the hidden things they do not say but mean, must be addressed. It might be counterproductive if the disappointment about the Church is only changed into a disappointment about Our Lord himself.

    One thing, the speculative reasons for female priesthood, where possibly to be found, must be expounded. (Such as imho: that the bishop is, as St. Thomas calls him, the bridegroom of the particular Church [in representation of Our Lord], the priest holds power over the True Body which the bishop holds over the Mystic one, and the deacon does something in liturgy which might as well be done by a priest if there is no deacon.) But for this, you need to have preachers who do not only accept male-only priesthood but favor it. “I accept this in obedience [of faith, etc.]” is enough for salvation; it is way insufficient for evangelization.

    Another thing, the Church will have to bite into (what people largely responsible at present might perceive to be) the sour apple and shun feminism and gender mainstreaming. You cannot expect the World to accept that men and women should just be equal in any thing whatsoever, except (anatomy and) priesthood. The World will not accept this, because it, er, does not indeed really make much sense.

    That means the Church ought to, in this part, openly (perhaps only up to a certain point, but certainly up to a certain point) favor the right and the reactionaries.

    I use the latter word without contempt, and yearning for the good old times, however unobligatory, is something that has always been a mark of the faithful part of the populace (and they are certainly free to do so). Remember Metropolis where Mary carries, of course, a flaming torch, while the representants of Modernity search for her with electric lights? (Not that the ideology of this movie would be entirely acceptable; but still.) Remember The Apartment where the (presumably) faithful Christian old woman attributes the bad weather to “all this modern nonsense they are doing in Camp” (Whatsitsname), meaning the NASA?

  77. OrthodoxChick says:

    May I ask a stupid question? Who supposedly ordained this woman? The article doesn’t (dare) say. If it wasn’t a Catholic bishop, then it can’t be valid. We KNOW it can’t be valid because she is a woman, but it further can’t be valid if it wasn’t even remotely similar to an actual Catholic ordination (and how could it be)? Was the person who supposedly ordained this woman even a Catholic at all? This is double-profanity and double sacreligion – and these UCC people can’t even get that right. And the press attempts to report this as if an ordination actually took place? As if there’s even a story to report at all?! All that media outlet has done is to report about a group of 200 flakes playing pretend; except it isn’t a game. Real souls may be lost.

    What a bunch of wayward losers. I hope and pray they wake up soon, come to know the sin they have committed, and repent while there’s still time.

  78. BaedaBenedictus says:

    Now that this 70-year-old woman is a “priest”, she should don her rainbow polyester and sing and dance in a sequel to last year’s “women priests” music video—I think I would pay to see it!

  79. LarryW2LJ says:

    At the risk of being accused of wanting to go backwards (go ahead, accuse me, I don’t care!)

    Bring back the Baltimore Catechism! Make it manadatory reading – even if it opens only a few eyes and saves only a few souls, it will have been worth the effort.

  80. The Masked Chicken says:

    Five year olds playing dress-up.

    How soon before the Barbie Doll comes out?

    The Chicken

  81. jm says:

    The indignation here shows that Catholics do not ‘get’ Protestantism. The Church in question is the UCC, which is a Modernist, liberal group that pushes all the false moral positions. Protests or reactions are hwat the want. The poster who said, “Oh, the reason these women chose the UCC…” again misses the natural symbiosis between the women and the Church. The choice was not strategic but organic… they are peas in a pod. Also, the indignation is misplaced, since if the Vatican would simply issue and ex cathedra statement, it would put years of problems to rest. Instead, in a Vatican II funk, it resists defining what has obviously become a flash point in the question of dogmatic faith. If ex cathedra statements are not for such moments and times, what on earth are they for? AN encyclical on gender and sex, now wouldn’t that be earth-shattering?!

  82. glennbcnu says:

    @ OrthodoxChick. The Crescat posted a link to a news article. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/28/17959215-kentucky-woman-ordained-as-priest-by-dissident-roman-catholics?lite The ordaining “bishop” was Bridget Mary Meehan.

  83. Indulgentiam says:

    Article-Smead said:”In an interview before the ceremony, Smead said she is not worried about being excommunicated….it has no sting for me”
    Perhaps the point is not changing her mind or her heart, nor convincing protestants they are wrong to do this, which really only God can do, but how vigorously we defend Truth, Who is Our Lord.

    “In a statement last week, Louisville Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz called the planned ceremony by the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests a “simulated ordination” in opposition to Catholic teaching.” He may have said more and b/c the writer is biased they simply didn’t print it. Be that as it may, a stronger show of opposition, IMHO, was called for. And would have gone a long way towards mitigating the scandal. Perhaps the Bishop could have called for a public Rosary across from the facility where this mockery was taking place. He could have shown up with a few REAL Priests in their Cassock’s and offered reparation to Our Lord.
    “Not to oppose error is to approve it; and not to defend truth is to suppress it; and indeed to neglect to confound evil men, when we can do it, is no less a sin than to encourage them.”
    –Pope St. Felix III

  84. Lucas Whittaker says:

    Dear JM: I believe that Blessed John Paul the Great already–as the Pope–gave us a quite beautiful exposition on gender roles in his Theology of the Body. The dignity and balance of human life depend at every moment of history and at every point on the globe on who woman will be for man and who man will be for woman (cf. TOB 43:7). We need desperately to learn how to live our vocation as either a man or a woman in order to build up a better community where participation is possible for every person. “. . .the search for the human identity of the one who, at the beginning, is ‘alone’, must always pass through duality, through ‘communion'” (TOB 10:1).

    But this has little to do with the power of the keys and more to do with learning to embrace the gift of our particular sexuality (viz. male or female). This idea reflects the understanding that “the exchange of the gift is realized by preserving the inner characteristic of self-donation and of the acceptance of the other as a gift: the very act of giving becomes acceptance, and acceptance transforms itself into giving” (TOB 17:4). “The contrary of such ‘welcoming’ or ‘acceptance’ of the other human being as a gift would be a loss of the gift itself and thus a transmutation and even reduction of the other to an ‘object for myself'” (TOB 17:3). And this “object for myself” is what we sadly see reflected in this “ex-Carmelite” woman stating that she is a priest–blatant selfishness. That her life is not set apart for the sacrifice [of the Mass] but instead is placed on a pedestal as a sign of female authority allegedly flying in the face of “men” is profane. But again, this is based on our natural God-given gender and not on any statement or writing from a Holy Father: The Catholic Church is a shelter for our humanity, not its definer.

  85. Mary Jane says:

    I think this is the contact form for the church that held the simulation:

    http://www.saintandrewucc.org/about/contact-us.html

    Perhaps someone can verify…but if it is, maybe we can flood their pastor with letters of complaint.

  86. Mary Jane says:

    A.D. – I borrowed some of your wording and sent a note off to the pastor myself as well. Thanks for sharing what you sent!

  87. AngelGuarded says:

    How can something that does not exist be “banned”? They are doing their language twisting again trying to appeal to the illogic of the multitudes. The One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church does not “ban” female priests or same sex marriage, there are simply no such things. Just as there is no such thing as a male mother or a female father, there is no such thing as a female priest or a same sex marriage. One thing I know I can never change is the Law of God. The hubris! God please have mercy on these misguided children, they don’t know what they do. Jesus, help us.

  88. OrthodoxChick says:

    glennbcnu,
    Thank you for the link. Those women look ridiculous. Is is accurate for Reuters to refer to them as “dissident” catholics? Haven’t they technically already excommunicated themselves even if their real Roman Catholic Bishop has not? If so, then maybe a letter writing campaign to Reuters and the AP might be more effective. Tell them to get their facts straight and refer to such people as former Catholics (or estranged Catholics) and state the canon law that explains why this is the case. There’s no such thing as a dissident Catholic. You’re either in Communion, or you’re not.

    If someone estranges themself from the Catholic Church, whether by public act or statement, then they should be labeled as such. If some bishops lack the courage and/or desire to formally excommunicate such people, then at least have the honesty and responsibility to the remaining faithful to call this what it is. Put the onus back on the person who chose to estrange themself, but don’t allow them to continue to identify as Catholic until they reconcile their staement(s)/action(s) and declare their reconciliation as equally as publicly as they declared their “dissent”.

    Or maybe we should all write letters to the USCCB and ask them to enact a policy in their Communications committee right away to contact and correct every news media outlet that gets this wrong, each and every time they get it wrong.

    I mean, “Hello? McFly??”

  89. Lucas Whittaker says:

    OrthodoxChick said: “…maybe we should all write letters to the USCCB and ask them to enact a policy in their Communications committee right away to contact and correct every news media outlet that gets this wrong, each and every time they get it wrong.”

    I like this idea. A really great idea!

    But as for writing to the pastor of the UCC church where this took place I think that we should take note that both sides tend to be caricatured by the other side. I am willing to bet that any letters that he receives will end up on the dining room wall of this 70-year-old Kentucky woman as twisted trophies. But, as OrthodoxChick suggests, if we could flood the media–particularly if the USCCB could do so–when they misrepresent the faith: Now that could well have a positive effect.

  90. BLB Oregon says:

    –“Seventy percent of U.S. Catholics believe that women should be allowed to be priests, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll earlier this year.”

    Where do they get these numbers from? Me thinks they are just polling Obama “Catholics”. I doubt they polled Catholics who attend TLM. But what can we expect from the main stream media? As Mark Twain said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”–

    The statistic you will hear very often is that Roman Catholicism is the largest religious denomination in the USA, but that if “ex-Roman Catholic” were a denomination, it would be the second-largest. Those are not two distinct groups. There is a whole continuum between the baptized who accept all that the Church teaches, those who reject it all and do so with venom, and every gradation in-between. Truth be told, it is not atypical for American Catholics to move up and down that continuum over the course of their lifetimes, particularly in young adulthood. Strictly speaking, they are all baptized Catholics, and I think there are some who are knowingly on the threshold of walking out entirely who self-identify as Catholic for the purpose of these polls.

    For crying out loud, if these women pretending ordination and their supporters didn’t “self-identify” so strongly as Roman Catholics that they resort to claiming a right to “reject their excommunications”, they’d either choose to stay and abide by reality or they’d choose to start their own Protestant church and live with that reality, but we wouldn’t have this nonsense we’re having! We might all regret that they felt a need to leave, but at least we could all agree that they have indeed freely chosen to leave the building.

  91. A small nit: “Women-priest fakers” is redundant.

  92. Supertradmum says:

    The New York Times has never asked me for my opinion. They probably only ask their liberal, avid readers.

  93. jflare says:

    Someone already half mentioned this but:
    So, because she’s peeved by the rules of male octogenarians, I gather I’m supposed to now take direction from female septuagenarian.
    Hmm… Well, John Paul II DID attempt to get us to focus on, er, youth….
    Try again ladies.

  94. Frank H says:

    Here is an interesting website with more contact details, should anyone wish to “congratulate” the new “priestess”.

    http://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/2013/04/historic-first-ordination-in-louisville.html

  95. j says:

    We really have to stop referring to these as “simulated”. I don’t disagree with the view behind the comments, but with the rhetorical and semantic fault that follows. Whatever “church” that womynpriests are being ordained in, it isn’t Catholic. Referring in any way to these events with respect to the Catholic Church undermines the fact that they have nothing to do with the Catholic Church.

    As a thought experiment, do we ever go into a tizzy about Episcopal, UCC, Lutheran, Buddhist, Gaian or Druid ordinations or choosing of Priests? No. While it is certainly valid to mourn the loss of any Catholic, the objection cannot be grounded simply in the criticism of the womynpriest church, hard (and valid) as that may be, but in the anti-Catholic hate-speech that accompanies their ceremonies. The UCC providing a home and forum for hate and hate-speech, denigrating another religion, and presuming to be an authority on another religion is what is at issue, as is the virulent preoccupation with anti-Catholic hate speech and action by the womynpriest church.

    We need to contrast the spittle-flecked anti-Catholic nature of the womynpriest ordinations (and a religion based solely on the desire of virtually every member to be in charge of the religion is one of power, not prayer) with the loving reception to the Ordinatiate of ex-Episcopals. Great care is taken by the Catholic Church NOT to insult or offend those who remain Episcopal, though when ex-members become Ordained, there is no question that they are leaving the Episcopal church by their actions.

  96. Fr. Thomas Kocik says:

    “Antics like this should have consequences for ecumenical dialogue.”
    Amen! Likewise in the case of Protestant ministers witnessing the (invalid) marriages of Catholics who have not received the necessary dispensation from canonical form.

  97. Chris in Tucson says:

    FYI, James Taranto, author of the “Best of the Web Today” e-mail newsletter at the Wall Street Journal, commented on this story in today’s issue. He doesn’t normally comment on religious topics but his take on recent press stories:

    Is There a Mrs. Pope?
    Here’s a weird headline from NBC News: “Pope Francis Honeymoon Continues: Draws Big Crowds and New Fans.” Since when are priests allowed to get married?

    “Then we noticed this story from Reuters:
    In an emotional ceremony filled with tears and applause, a 70-year-old Kentucky woman was ordained a priest on Saturday as part of a dissident group operating outside of official Roman Catholic Church authority.

    These Reuters guys don’t know the first thing about Christianity, do they? “A dissident group operating outside of official Roman Catholic Church authority” is called a Protestant church. NBC still has us confused, though, as we’re pretty sure the pope is Catholic.

  98. Lucas Whittaker says:

    Dear StWinefride: Since I commented after what you said I should speak to your quotations. Please forgive me: I missed your comment before now. Those are great quotes. Commenting on Father Dubay’s Fire Within, Peter Kreeft said, “…there is no more revolutionary power than prayer and sanctity.” May God lead us to that revolution. And from suffering into liberating freedom. Help us, Lord.

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  100. Pingback: The Ordination of Women and Radical Feminism « EPHESIANS-511.NET- A Roman Catholic Ministry Exposing Errors in the Indian Church

  101. tech_pilgrim says:

    Every time I hear about women “priests” I’m reminded of Monty Python’s “Life of Brian” in the scene when the women’s rights obsessed radical is asked why he cares so much about women. He reveals that he wants to be one because he wants to have babies….

    John Cleese’s character responds “where are you going to put the fetus, a box?”

    The character Judith replies, “we should all affirm his right to have babies, even if he can’t have them”

    Ordaining a woman is like a man giving birth, cant’ happen, there cant’ be a right to something that is impossible. A woman’s right to ordination is as silly as a man’s right to pregnancy or a cat’s right to baptism.

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