St. Louis Archdiocese warns women against Catholic ordination
St. Louis, U.S.A, Nov.09,2007 (CINS/AP) - The St. Louis Archdiocese has warned two Roman Catholic women that they will be excommunicated if they are ordained as priests on Sunday.
Rose Marie Dunn Hudson, 67, and Elsie Hainz McGrath, 69, are set to be ordained by a former nun as part of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement that began in 2002.
Only men are ordained as priests and deacons in the Catholic Church. The Womenpriests and the advocacy group, the Women's Ordination Conference, are among Catholics pressing to change that tradition.
Both women said they will ignore Archbishop Raymond Burke's warning.
"It's a typically hierarchical form of intimidation, and we will not be intimidated," McGrath said.
The archdiocese declined to comment about the letters, delivered by courier to the women's homes Monday evening. In them, Burke warned the women they would be committing a "grave error" and "act of schism" by trying to receive priestly ordination.
He reminded them that the pope has stated infallibly that only men can receive a valid ordination, and wrote that "in order to protect the faithful from grave spiritual deception" if they go forward, they would "incur automatically ... the censure of excommunication."
Further, Burke wrote, "additional disciplinary measures will also have to be imposed."
"What is he going to do, burn us at the stake, or what?" Hudson asked. "We're going to just totally ignore it. This is not unexpected. We wondered why it took so long."
Both women have graduate degrees in religious studies and have been active in ministry for years.
Hudson is a retired teacher who has done prison ministry for the past 15 years. McGrath is the widow of a Roman Catholic deacon and has worked for the archdiocese, for the theology department at St. Louis University and as a campus minister.
Of the roughly 100 women who have been ordained as priests or deacons worldwide in the Womenpriests movement, including 37 in the U.S., only the first seven were officially excommunicated by the Vatican, said spokeswoman Bridget Mary Meehan. Others have received letters from their bishop like that sent by Burke, she said.
A former nun from South Africa who now lives in Germany is scheduled to ordain the women at a synagogue in St. Louis. Patricia Fresen, who has ordained other women, says she was ordained as a bishop in Germany in 2005 by an unnamed male bishop. She isn't recognized as a bishop by the church hierarchy.
40th AGM of All India Association of Catholic Schools begins in Delhi today
New Delhi, India, Nov. 09, 2007 (CINS/CBCI) - The National Convention for the year 2007 and the 40th annual general body meeting of All India Association of Catholic Schools (AINACS) will begin today at Don Bosco School, Alaknanda, New Delhi.
The 4-day convention will discuss the All India Catholic Education Policy recently released by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.
“Implementation of the All India Catholic Education Policy and the Education for Peace and Harmony,” is the theme of the national convention in which over 400 heads of Catholic educational institutions are expected to participate.
“This is the first time in the history of the Catholic Church in India, an education policy has been brought out. It touches the vital areas of Catholic education. It is imperative for us to understand the policy in its entirety and discuss and deliberate it, in minute detail to see its relevance and applications in the areas of our work,” said AINACS’ national secretary
Lay Catholics weigh in on Communion for politicians
Washington, U.S.A, Nov. 07, 2007 (CINS/CWN) - A bipartisan group of American Catholics has issued a call for "civility in political debate," arguing strongly that lay people should not press Church leaders to denounce politicians whose views conflict with Church teaching.
In a statement released on November 6, a group of prominent Catholic public figures lamented the "divisively partisan" tone of political debates, and the "attacks on private conduct and recriminations."
The statement was critical of Catholic politicians who challenge Church teachings on important moral questions. But it was equally critical of those who "seek the public embarrassment of politicians whose public positions differ with Church teachings through the public refusal of the sacrament of Holy Communion or public admonition by the bishops." The statement indicates that the signatories are speaking out "to right this wrong."
The effort was coordinated by Thomas Melady, a former US ambassador to the Holy See, and Timothy May, a partner of the powerful Washington law firm Patton Boggs. The political affiliations of the organizers reflect the bipartisan character of the initiative; Melady has been active in Republican political circles for years; May has been an equally influential Democrat.
Arguing that Catholics should not seek to enlist the support of their bishops for partisan political stands, the statement focuses on the debate over denying Communion to political figures who defy Church teachings. "An individual's fitness to receive Communion is his or her personal responsibility," the statement argues.
Although the statement calls upon lay Catholics to respect the leadership of their bishops, the "Catholic Call to Observe Civility in Political Debate" contains an implicit criticism of the argument put forward by Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, who has explained that canon law places an obligation upon Eucharistic ministers to withhold the Eucharist from individuals whose flagrant public rejection of Church teaching could give rise to scandal. The statement supports the opposing view championed by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, whose public calls for civility in discourse prompted the lay initiative.
The call for civility goes on to say that "it is a bishop's responsibility to set for his diocese the guidelines for administering Communion." That statement reflects the policy adopted by the US bishops' conference, which chose not to implement a national policy on the topic.
"American Catholics know who their Church leaders are: their bishops, archbishops, and cardinals," the statement read. The Pope was not mentioned in the text.
Among the 47 people who signed the document were a former national chairman of the Republican Party (Frank Fahrenkopf) and two former Democratic chairmen (Terry McAuliffe and Charles Manatt). Also among the signatories were several former ambassadors and public officials, including former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, the first chairman of the US bishops' National Review Board. Melady and May said that they deliberately avoided soliciting support from Catholics currently holding public office.
Catholic prison chaplains’ congress calls for more humane treatment of prisoners around the world
Melbourne, Australia, Nov.07,2007 (CINS/Melbourne Archdiocese) - A meeting of the International Commission of Catholic Prison Pastoral Care in Rome recently called for a more humane treatment of prisoners in many countries, with particular emphasis on the vulnerable, such as the mentally ill, drug addicts, foreigners and elderly people. Sr Mary Pauline Staunton RSC, who has long and distinguished experience in prison chaplaincy, attended the meeting as the delegate for the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. Ten Australians participated in the Congress, which had the theme, Discovering Christ’s Face in Every Prisoner. In her initial report, Sr Mary Pauline said “the Australian Chaplains found that attendance at the Congress was a very informative and worthwhile experience. They made a valuable contribution to the success of the Congress.” The Final Declaration from the Congress said that those in prison, like all human beings, have inherent dignity and fundamental rights which spring from their being “at the image” of the Divine Creator. “Their incarceration, for whatever reason, does not diminish this image.” The Declaration acknowledged “That in many countries the basic human rights of prisoners are not guaranteed; their religious liberty is not respected and the Church is prevented from attending to the spiritual and material needs of the prisoners. “Most prisons are overcrowded; the prisoners are abused and their needs are not satisfied. In many countries capital punishment and other penalties that are incompatible with human dignity still exist. “These inhumane expressions of institutional cruelty must be rectified by abolishing death penalty, putting an end to torture and observing the UN Standards and Norms in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice.” The Declaration made particular note that “the current criminal justice system in many countries fails to address the needs of children in conflict with the law as well as the vulnerable sectors of our society such as the mentally ill, drug addicts, foreigners and elderly people. “We advocate that programs, laws and systems be put in place to attend to the needs of these groups.” The Congress Declaration called for justice systems which makes offenders accountable for what they have done; “a justice that provides restitution to the victims who are most the time ignored and forgotten by the current justice system; a justice that engages the community in facilitating the healing process, thus leading to the re-integration of the victim and the offender to the community”. The Congress also recognised with gratitude the remarkable work of prison pastoral care ministers in many countries who, “despite their limitations and countless problems, are able to work for genuine justice, liberty, mercy, reconciliation and hope, thereby making God’s love visible”.Possible papal visit to Quebec inspires hopes of Catholic revival
Quebec City, Canada, Nov. 06, 2007 (CINS/CNA).- A massive Catholic event is scheduled to take place in Quebec City in June 2008. Canada's first Eucharistic Congress since 1910 is expected to draw over 100,000 people and their numbers could include Pope Benedict XVI, reports the CanWest News Service. Local Catholics hopes it will revivify Christian life in the area.
"This will certainly be the culmination of our efforts to re-evangelize Quebec," said Cardinal Marc Oullet, the archbishop of Quebec. "We have been preparing for this for years. There is a need in Quebec to reconnect with our Christian roots and to revive the Catholic identity," he continued.
The International Eucharistic Congress will include 15,000 delegates and 50 cardinals from 60 countries will meet to foster devotion to the Eucharist. Pope Benedict XVI might visit to preside over the congress' outdoor Mass on the historic Plains of Abraham, the site of a 1759 battle that led to the British takeover of French Canada.
The congress also coincides with Quebec City's 400th anniversary.
Quebec was the center of a strong Catholic population until the 1960s, when the so-called Quiet Revolution began a rapid secularization of the region. The fallout from this secularization has caused many people to become hostile to the Catholic Church.
Cardinal Oullet expressed hope that the Eucharistic Congress would dispel some of that animosity. "There is a lot of criticism in the society now against the Catholic Church, and we need to be reminded of those positive values," the cardinal said.
Cardinal Oullet has invited Pope Benedict to the conference, but the Pope has not confirmed his attendance. The cardinal hopes to get a final answer at the end of November when he visits Rome.
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