"Papal Fantasy Romancing the Past"/ Progressive Bishops Considered More Dangerous Than Those Engaged in Sex Abuse

http://anothervoice-greenleaf.org/2011/05/16/papal-fantasy-romancing-the-past/

John Greenleaf writes in "Another Voice":

"Progressive bishops are seen as more dangerous than those engaged in sex abuse: As has been reported, the Vatican has taken decisive action against an “errant” Australian bishop, showing that it has a zero tolerance policy towards deviants. Bishop William Morris, who was forced to resign (for wanting to discuss married priests, women priests and an ecumenical understanding of holy orders) was not guilty of sexual abuse. On the contrary, the Toowoomba, Australia bishop has been a noted supporter of abuse victims in his diocese, and widely admired as a sensitive pastoral leader. At the same time, the Vatican has fast-tracked the beatification of John Paul II, the pope who denied that pedophilia was a problem in the church and gave great support to sexual abusers like his friend Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer of Vienna who abused 2,000 boys over several decades."

Bridget Mary's Reflection:
The Latin liturgies, meatless meals on Friday, and other pentitential practices will not heal the grievous wound in the heart of our church- the horrific global scandal that has not only devastated the lives of victims and their families, but also has betrayed the entire Catholic community and the result is loss of trust in the institutional church and its hierarchy. The fact that many bishops, including the Vatican were involved in a global shuffling of priests from parish to parish, from diocese to diocese and in some cases from country to country and ended up in the hands of both JPII and Benedict XVI. Both popes apologized for the travesty, but did not make the structural changes necessary to deal with the clericalism that protected the clergy, but not the children who were raped, sodomized, and sexually abused by the "Fathers" of their church!
Pope Benedict made a serious mistake by firing BishopWilliam Morris, who had a good track record of dealing compassionately with victims of sexual abuse and who considered married priests and women priests as a possible solution to the crisis of a priest shortage in his Australian diocese, His removal from office is another indication of how sick our institutional church is and how threatened the Vatican is by the mere words, "women priests".

Yet the fact remains that Roman Catholic Women Priests are faithful advocates of Gospel equality who are living prophetic obedience to God's call to serve the people of God in a a renewed priestly ministry. We minister in grassroots communities where all are welcome, including all who are on the margins of church and society.

In my view, this is the mandate of Jesus in the Gospel who embraced all.

Women priests are part of the grassroots reform and renewal that is on the ground now. I think Jesus, who had many women among his closest disciples, would feel rather comfortable in our inclusive communities.

Women Priests are part of the emerging Catholic Church, a new Pentecost that is taking root, in which a circle of beloved sisters and brothers come together to worship in inclusive communities and to live passionately the good news of God's love, compassion, justice and equality for all in our world.

Kudos to John Greenleaf for an excellent article in his blog: "Another Voice."
Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP
www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org
sofiabmm@aol.com