Catholic reaction prompts relocation of fauxdination

Yesterday I posted an ACTION ITEM! for your kind attention, a poll on a Michigan media site (please go an vote!) about an upcoming fauxdination of a woman that was to take place at a Congregration Church. You could tell how the paper/site was biased in favor of this offensive fake ordination.

Our own eagle-eyed Elizabeth D, frequent commentatrix here, saw this followup story:

Harassment forces relocation of Womenpriest ordination Saturday

THREE OAKS, MI — Lillian Lewis, who is to be ordained [nope] as a priest [nope] Saturday by a dissident [yep] Catholic group, says harassing phone calls have forced relocation of the ceremony. [HUZZAH! But… harassing?  *ring* “Hello, this is First Congregational, How may I direct your call?”… “Good morning.  I’m Catholic and I strongly object to your hosting the fake ordination of a woman.  This is an offense to all Catholics and harmful to ecumenical dialogue.”… “You are harassing us!” … “No, I am only calling you to tell in a civil manner you that I am offended.  I ask you not to host this insulting event.”  … *click*]

The event originally was to be held at the First Congregational Church in Three Oaks, where Lewis resides.

Lewis, 75, said she is moving the ceremony to her home because “Catholics have been harassing the (Congregational) parish and they were harassing me to such an extent that I had to take it seriously.”

She called the harassment “mean-spirited and vituperous.”  [*ring* “Hello.” … “I’m Catholic and I think that this fake ordination is an offense.” … “You are mean-spirited!” … “I am merely telling you, who wrongly aspire to be a priest, which is impossible, that you are about to commit a grave sin by an action that is offensive.  I pray and wish for every good thing for you, and in charity I ask you not do this thing.”… “You are vituperous!”  … “Even if ‘vituperous’ were a word in the English language”, I would not be put off by your name-calling.  I ask you, in charity, to reconsider this terrible plan.  Have a blessed day.”  *click*]

A man who answered the phone at First Congregational Church told a Kalamazoo Gazette reporter the church “has been been receiving theatening and harassing calls because of the media circus.” He hung up before giving his name.  [Well… that’s a good source.]

Lewis, 75, a longtime Catholic who worked 25 years as a pastoral associate for Catholic congregations in the Chicago area, [figures] is being ordained [nope] by Joan Houk, a bishop [nope] of Roman Catholic Womenpriests. The dissident Catholic group was founded in Germany in 2002 as a reaction against the Catholic ban [Jesus’s ban] against women priests.

Bishop Paul Bradley of the Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo is warning Catholics not to participate in Saturday’s ceremony Saturday.

In a two-page letter inserted in the weekly newsletter distributed at Catholic Masses over the weekend, Bradley strongly criticized the upcoming event as one that will “undermine the unity of the Church.” (Click here for a pdf of Bradley’s letter.)

The letter does not name Lewis, but says she [I thought she wasn’t named…] and direct participants in the ordination will be excommunicated, and those who “give witness and encouragement to this fundamental break with the unity of the people of God place themselves outside of the full community with the Church.”

“Bishop Bradley got his wish,” Lewis said Thursday about the harassment. [Notice how the “reportrix” simply accepts the assertion that there was “harassment”.  What a pro!]

This is, at least, a step in the right direction for that Congregational “Church” (more precisely “eccesial community” – HERE).   If the wywyn want to play dress-up, let them do so at home.

UPDATE:

Do not miss the comment by votefassino, below.

 

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33 Comments

  1. norancor says:

    YALOWF – Yet another little old white feminist – wanted to be “Ordained.”

    Meh…

  2. mrshopey says:

    It is ironic that when you object to something, it is harassment.
    So, if I applied the same stick they are using to us, her objecting to Jesus’ teaching that the Church has no authority to ordain women, she would be harassing also?
    I have not called, nor will I call anyone. I just find it amusing the way they use these terms.
    Also, I love the liberal way we can keep voting! :)

  3. Pearl says:

    Two things:

    1). If you look at the comment section which is on the page with the poll, you will see that someone is claiming that the poll has been hijacked by “a group of ultra-conservative pre-Council of Trent Catholics.” LOL!

    2). Do you remember the last time Kalamazoo came up in your blog? I think it was when our very dear Fr. Ted Martin took on the wacky ladies who were supporting the Nuns on the Bus. I noticed in that video [HERE] that there was a “reporter” who claimed to be there just to report on the incident, but could not help siding with the wacko lady running the protest and putting her two cents worth in even though she was just there to report. From her looks, I am thinking she is the same Julie Mack who is writing these articles. Gosh…I thought reporters just reported the news….they don’t have agendas, right??

    Fr. Z's Gold Star Award

  4. votefassino24 says:

    In the follow-up story on the news website, a commenter named Robbie Sims came forward and stated that he was the quoted man at the Congregational church who answered the call from the news station. He claims that, in fact, there was *no* Catholic harassment of the church and that the news station in deliberately manipulating the story to drive an anti-Catholic narrative. Here’s his full comment:

    “I am that man who answered the Phone Call from the Gazette. In all fairness not all the calls were not from people claiming to be Concerned Catholics. We received many calls from persons claiming to be from other faiths. Many were prank phone calls because the location of the ordination was published by the media. Many calls were mean spirited and threatening. This is not Catholic Terrorism as stated by Ms. Lewis in a quote on today’s 5 PM edition of WWMT’s News Program. Eventually after unplugging the Church phone, protesters located my unlisted Phone number from my business webpage. We have not had one “Catholic” Protester intrude on our property today. WWMT and WOOD were the only people who insisted on filming our property, even when we asked them not too. Thank you Ms. Lewis for pulling your event from our facility.”

    Fr. Z's Gold Star Award

  5. majuscule says:

    What is a pastoral associate anyway? I see women like Ms Lewis coming from that background.

    Oh, that Kalamazoo! That “reporter”! Good catch Pearl!

  6. marcelus says:

    Sorry, I’m not in the US but, why bother giving these people publicity.?

    That is the silliest thing to do, to go ahead with that show. SImple enough , if anyone recalls the now famous airplane interview back from Brazil, Francis said :”women’s ordination? l porta e chiusa” the door is shut. Period. ST. JP made it sooo clear”. Unless they are misleading innocent people into their “churches” pretending to be catholic,. I dont’ know , Maybew it’s a big issue in the US. She can move the ceremony to the bathroom for more privacy.

  7. Marissa says:

    Everyone, there is another of these “fauxrdinations” happening on the 31st (tomorrow) in Olympia, Washington:

    At The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd (Facebook page)
    The Theology Uncorked Extra is scheduled for this coming Monday, June 2nd at 6:30 P.M. at the Capitol Theater in downtown Olympia. The event is a screening of God’s Daughters, a documentary about Roman Catholic Womanpriests featuring three women from Holy Wisdom Inclusive Catholic Community here in Olympia. One of them, Kathleen Bellefeuille-Rice, will be ordained at Good Shepherd this Saturday, May 31st.

    Here is their main website and phone number: (360) 357-3554. I use the Android app “Automatic Call Recorder” in case you’d like to prove that you did not harass anyone.

    Here’s the church’s contact page.

    Here’s their “overarching” organization, ELCA’s, webpage: http://www.elca.org/ [I wrote them a note.] which is part of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, an ecumenical organization which the archdiocese also belongs to.

    Here’s contact information for the Archdiocese of Seattle Their website and phone number: 206-382-4560

  8. Del says:

    Fake-ordained at 75? By the time Mx. Lexis becomes fake-cardinal, she’ll be much too old to vote for fake-pope.

  9. Marissa says:

    Also very important, Washington state is a “two-party consent” state, so if you do record the call, you must inform the other party first and get their consent.

  10. LarryW2LJ says:

    “Catholic Terrorism”

    Love it! The Progressive Left gets their undies all in a knot when that term is used in reference to radical Islamists who actually kill and maim. But let a Catholic say “I don’t approve of what you’re doing. It is offensive and you are putting your immortal soul in peril” and WE’RE called “terrorists”.

    You can’t make this stuff up.

  11. AvantiBev says:

    Well, Fr. Z has not asked for “good news” sharing today but to counter this depressing news, go to cantius.org and see the GOOD NEWS about our 3 newly ordained members of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius. I was one of the newly ordained ,Fr. Nathan Caswell’s, first Mass last evening for the Feast of the Ascension…we don’t make Christ wait around until Sunday to ascend!

    And to counter Fr. Z’s swipe at Chi town (“it figures” he says) I would mention that Father Phillips is a TRUE Chicagoan. He made – with the help of the Holy Spirit, the late Fathers Hardon and Schuler, “no little plans” and now we have 13 ordained priests and a half dozen Brothers in permanent vows. The TLM, a reverent Novus Ordo, and orthodox teaching coming to a parish near you soon. perhaps?

    “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will themselves not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will not die.”
    Daniel H. Burnham quotes (American architect and urban planner 1846-1912)

  12. LeeF says:

    If it be harassment, better to be harassed by the truth now, than the fires of hell later.

    And I too would like to know what exactly is the function of a “pastoral associate”, which position seems to be so commonplace. What kind of “training” do they receive exactly? It seems more like a title for a glorified executive assistant to make the holder feel “empowered”. Yet another position that has become a haven in the Church for dissenters, who in effect get paid to dissent. What a racket!

  13. Boniface says:

    I had just assumed this whole thing was a ploy by the industry to sell more ordination tambourines…

    [You may be on to something!]

  14. Sonshine135 says:

    ” If you look at the comment section which is on the page with the poll, you will see that someone is claiming that the poll has been hijacked by “a group of ultra-conservative pre-Council of Trent Catholics.” LOL!”

    And the Catholic Church has been hijacked by a “group of ultra-liberal Spirit of Vatican II Catholics.”
    We’re just taking it back.
    And, my EF Ascension Mass was packed to the gills last night. Almost standing room only.

  15. Pastor Alfred Simon says:

    Marissa dear, you’ve done your homework and deserve an A+!

  16. Gratias says:

    Thank you Elizabeth D. I greatly enjoy your contributions to this blog.

  17. Magash says:

    LeeF says:
    “And I too would like to know what exactly is the And I too would like to know what exactly is the function of a “pastoral associate”function of a “pastoral associate””
    For what I’ve been able to glean it depends on the diocese, but basically if you work in a parish for pay you are a “pastoral associate.” Boston has a published set of guidelines for pastoral associates (which reasonably states it expects them to attend Sunday Mass weekly, among other things.) My diocese does not seem to have such a document, though the title of Senior Pastoral Associate is used for laypersons assigned to manage parishes without a resident pastor, such as are common when geographically dispersed parishes are clustered together.
    By the Archdiocese of Boston’s document: The title Pastoral Associate is used to describe those Lay or Religious full-time and part-time, salaried/stipend persons who are members of the parish staff, sharing responsibility for the daily pastoral care of the faithful.

  18. MarkG says:

    Laying aside the content, the lack of journalism and professionalism on the article is a real issue.
    The Bishop would be well justified to at least call the editor and express his disappointment with the lack of journalism and professionalism.

  19. Joe in Canada says:

    And some were worried that the Episcopalians would disappear.

  20. Athelstan says:

    …you will see that someone is claiming that the poll has been hijacked by “a group of ultra-conservative pre-Council of Trent Catholics.” LOL!

    PRE-Trent? What are we talking about here, some heretofore unheard of Society of St. Pius I?

    And here I’ve been told that Trent was key to making the Church so reactionary.

    Online polls like this are pointless in any event. They have no scientific accuracy; and they are too easy to manipulate by determined groups.

  21. greg3064 says:

    PRE-Trent?

    I imagine that as far as they are concerned, all councils besides Vatican II were the same.

  22. The claim of harassment is not credible, because there’s no specificity.

    If callers had used cursed or damned anyone, or made threats, or used women-hating language, wouldn’t that have been quoted in such a breathless story? Or even, “in words too vile to reproduce here”?

    No, just vague talk of “harassment,” meaning: lots of calls.

    That said, calling at someone’s business or home is jerky.

  23. buckeyepastor says:

    Does anyone know which Canon of the “Mass” is used by Roman Catholic Womenpriests? If they are Roman Catholic, they must use the Roman Missal, right? Do they pray for Pope Francis and for the local Ordinary? Or do they call themselves Roman without praying for the Bishop of Rome and the local Successor of the Apostles in communion with him? I’d love to find out, but I’m unwilling to attend one of their “Masses” because I’m afraid that my attendance would be construed as support for them, and would cause scandal to some in the Church.

  24. Militans says:

    Slightly off topic, but Marissa who makes that call recorder app? There seem to be lots with that name and I don’t want to be downloading a virus or something like that!

  25. Marissa says:

    This is the one I use: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appstar.callrecorder

    It looks like the creator is Appliquato. The logo is a red circle with a green phone receiver.

  26. William Tighe says:

    “What are we talking about here, some heretofore unheard of Society of St. Pius I?”

    Been there, done that:

    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1406639/posts

  27. Athelstan says:

    Dr. Tighe:

    You discovered my inspiration – that’s an oldie, but still a goodie.

    “Pre-Trent” here leaves an even richer field to play in. I am having visions of the mLive poll being swamped by hordes of angry Parisian Rite devotees, outraged at the refusal of any of these priestesses to employ red chasubles on Sundays in Eastertide.

  28. LeeF says:

    Re “pastoral associates” again, what exactly are deacons for then? They are a sore thumb liturgically doing nothing that a priest can’t do or doesn’t do when there is no deacon. So shouldn’t they as ordained clergy be the ones to share responsibility for pastoral care with the priests? If that should be the case then all a parish needs in addition, not counting school administration, are secretaries and business managers. Deacons are clergy so when they are plentiful there should be no need to clericalize the laity.

  29. aviva meriam says:

    Read her statement at the bottom of the article: stunned that she knows and understands that she will be excommunicated and yet is willing to go forward….

  30. Elizabeth D says:

    Aviva Mariam, her husband is a laicized priest (had been a Dominican religious) and their intention is to start their own church holding weddings (obviously invalid if either party is Catholic), baptisms, and Sunday services. This is the key aspect of the “womenpriests” thing that many observers don’t seem to understand, in practice it is inherently a movement toward forming myriad breakway sects, a protestantism nouveau, while claiming (for now) that it is a Catholic Church “reform” movement.

    The people “getting ordained” as “womenpriests” are all old ladies. That is the generation that has that interest the most strongly. So this (extremely grave and harmful) current stage of splitting off from the Church, while it is likely to result in an array of new sects (some of which could be long lasting, though I doubt they’re likely to be very large), is probably not likely to continue, ie the actual splitting-away will probably not be strongly ongoing. The splitting-off stage may peter out and it will be fairly clear to people that there is the Catholic Church on the one hand as she always has been, and on the other hand these other groups with significantly different basic belief systems that are obviously their own thing even if they continue to label themselves “Catholic”.

    It will become more obvious that people have to make a choice. Are they Catholic or are they part of the “Womenpriests” sect, marrying and getting their children baptized at the “Womenpriests” church? People baptized at the “Womenpriests” church aren’t Catholic, and if they are baptized for instance “in the name of the Creator and of the Redeemer and of the Sanctifier” then they would not be validly baptized as Christians. Once the phase of splitting away from the Catholic Church passes, then it seems to me these groups get very far from the Catholic Church very fast.

  31. tonyfernandez says:

    Jesus is sooooooooooooo pre-Trent.

  32. Ave1 says:

    I just called 360.606.9114 and politely spoke with Pastor John Rosenburg of Olympia’s Good Shepherd Lutheran. I explained how his church’s hosting of the fauxrdination by thise claiming to be Catholic was a grave insult to ecumenism, and how such mockery of Catholic rites and beliefs destroys the prior dialog and progress Catholics and Lutherans have made toward unity in Christ.

    May his heart be bothered by this tragicomedy.

    You might wish to give his church’s Facebook page a 1 star rating.

  33. NoraLee9 says:

    Pre-Trent? I knew my joints were creaky, and the bags under my eyes were incredibly deep, but I still don’t think I am over 500 years old yet.

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