https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/ncr-today/all-male-priesthood-finds-itself-another-scandal
Bourgeois2.jpg
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Roy Bourgeois (third from left), a censured Maryknoll priest, joined a
demonstrate in support of women's ordination in Rome near the
Vatican in October 2011. Some in this group were detained briefly by
Italian police outside St. Peter's Square during the demonstration.
(CNS/Paul Haring)
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As a Catholic priest, I did the unspeakable. I called for
the ordination of women in the Church. The Vatican was swift in
its response.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith informed me that
I was “causing grave scandal” in the Church and that I had 30
days to
recant my public support for the ordination of women
or I would be expelled from the priesthood.
I told the Vatican that this was not possible. Believing that women and
men are created of equal worth and dignity and that both are
called by an all-loving God to serve as priests, my conscience
would not allow me to recant.
In my response, I felt it was also important to make clear that
when Catholics hear the word “scandal,” they think about the
thousands of children who have been raped and abused by
Catholic priests —
not the ordination of women.
In 2010, the Vatican called the ordination of women as priests a crime
comparable to that of the sexual abuse of children. Judging from its
actions, however, it would appear that the Vatican views
women’s ordination as a crime substantially more serious
than child abuse. Among the thousands of priests who raped and
sexually abused children, the vast majority
were not expelled from the priesthood or excommunicated.
very woman, however, who has been ordained to the Catholic
priesthood has been excommunicated by the Vatican.
And in 2012, after serving as a Catholic priest with the Maryknoll
Missionary Order for 40 years, I was expelled from the priesthood
for refusing to recant my public support for the ordination of women.
Today, once again, scandal is rocking the Catholic Church. This time,
it’s six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania. According to a grand jury
report, beginning in the 1950s, more than 300 “predator priests”
sexually abused.
The 1,400-page report, written by 23 grand jurors over the course of
two years stated that “Priests were raping little boys and girls,
and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did
nothing; they hid it all. For decades.” Among the horrific crimes
committed by
Catholic priests:
In Erie, a 7-year-old boy was sexually abused by a priest who told him
he should go to confession and confess his “sins” to that same priest.
In the Pittsburgh diocese, “a ring of predatory priests shared
information regarding victims, as well as exchanging the victims
amongst themselves. The ring manufactured child pornography
and used whips, violence and sadism in raping the victims.”
One priest abused five sisters in the same family, including one girl
beginning when she was 18 months old.
Another priest was allowed to stay in ministry after impregnating a
young girl and arranging for her to have an abortion.
A priest raped a 7-year-old girl in her hospital room after a
tonsillectomy. What was his punishment? The Vatican’s Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith decided, after reviewing his crime,
that he should remain a priest and “live a life of prayer and penance.”
The Pennsylvania grand jury report concluded that the Catholic
hierarchy “protected the institution at all cost and
maintained strategies to avoid scandal.”
Priests who got into trouble in one diocese were
shuffled to another diocese where more children were abused.
The FBI determined that Church officials followed a “playbook for
concealing the truth,” minimizing the abuse by using words
like “inappropriate contact” or “boundary issues” instead of
“rape.”
I am convinced that if the Catholic Church had women priests,
the Church would not be in the crisis it is in today.
I am equally confident that if the Catholic Church does not
dismantle its corrupt all-male priesthood and welcome
women as equals, it will continue to drift into irrelevance.
[Roy Bourgeois, a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient, is
the founder of the School of the Americas Watch Movement.
is story is the subject of the book, Disturbing the Peace: The Story
of Father Roy Bourgeois and the Movement to Close the School of
the Americas.]
the ordination of women in the Church. The Vatican was swift in
its response.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith informed me that
I was “causing grave scandal” in the Church and that I had 30
days to
recant my public support for the ordination of women
or I would be expelled from the priesthood.
I told the Vatican that this was not possible. Believing that women and
men are created of equal worth and dignity and that both are
called by an all-loving God to serve as priests, my conscience
would not allow me to recant.
In my response, I felt it was also important to make clear that
when Catholics hear the word “scandal,” they think about the
thousands of children who have been raped and abused by
Catholic priests —
not the ordination of women.
In 2010, the Vatican called the ordination of women as priests a crime
comparable to that of the sexual abuse of children. Judging from its
actions, however, it would appear that the Vatican views
women’s ordination as a crime substantially more serious
than child abuse. Among the thousands of priests who raped and
sexually abused children, the vast majority
were not expelled from the priesthood or excommunicated.
very woman, however, who has been ordained to the Catholic
priesthood has been excommunicated by the Vatican.
And in 2012, after serving as a Catholic priest with the Maryknoll
Missionary Order for 40 years, I was expelled from the priesthood
for refusing to recant my public support for the ordination of women.
Today, once again, scandal is rocking the Catholic Church. This time,
it’s six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania. According to a grand jury
report, beginning in the 1950s, more than 300 “predator priests”
sexually abused.
The 1,400-page report, written by 23 grand jurors over the course of
two years stated that “Priests were raping little boys and girls,
and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did
nothing; they hid it all. For decades.” Among the horrific crimes
committed by
Catholic priests:
In Erie, a 7-year-old boy was sexually abused by a priest who told him
he should go to confession and confess his “sins” to that same priest.
In the Pittsburgh diocese, “a ring of predatory priests shared
information regarding victims, as well as exchanging the victims
amongst themselves. The ring manufactured child pornography
and used whips, violence and sadism in raping the victims.”
One priest abused five sisters in the same family, including one girl
beginning when she was 18 months old.
Another priest was allowed to stay in ministry after impregnating a
young girl and arranging for her to have an abortion.
A priest raped a 7-year-old girl in her hospital room after a
tonsillectomy. What was his punishment? The Vatican’s Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith decided, after reviewing his crime,
that he should remain a priest and “live a life of prayer and penance.”
The Pennsylvania grand jury report concluded that the Catholic
hierarchy “protected the institution at all cost and
maintained strategies to avoid scandal.”
Priests who got into trouble in one diocese were
shuffled to another diocese where more children were abused.
The FBI determined that Church officials followed a “playbook for
concealing the truth,” minimizing the abuse by using words
like “inappropriate contact” or “boundary issues” instead of
“rape.”
I am convinced that if the Catholic Church had women priests,
the Church would not be in the crisis it is in today.
I am equally confident that if the Catholic Church does not
dismantle its corrupt all-male priesthood and welcome
women as equals, it will continue to drift into irrelevance.
[Roy Bourgeois, a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient, is
the founder of the School of the Americas Watch Movement.
is story is the subject of the book, Disturbing the Peace: The Story
of Father Roy Bourgeois and the Movement to Close the School of
the Americas.]
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