Aztlan-Network-News Blog: Read: Stand with Father Roy Bourgeois ~ Sign the Petition to Break the Silence on Women's Ordination ~ Father Roy Facing Excommunication Over Support

11/13/2008 8:04 AM

Gracias Sister Dorinda for bringing this core issue to our attention for our enlightened response. Clearly Father Roy Bourgeois has been at the forefront for justice, for humane rights and for the liberation of all peoples for a long time and deserves the support of all progressive-minded humane beings with good spirits, especially for all his community education and mobilization in relation to advocating the closing of the notorious School of the Amerikas.

Click: http://www.soaw.org/

http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=1691

I was born and raised a Catholic being brought up in a Mexican family. However, I do not condone the Catholic Church and cannot forgive its many historical sins against humanity.

I am still a believer in Creator God and believe that there is no specific Church doctrine against a woman being in the Priesthood, no matter how much others twist and bend Biblical scriptures to their warp.

These are troubled times that call for all of us to have a humane conscience, to care about the suffering of others and the pain inflicted upon others. I identity with the humane teachings of Jesus Christ and Christianity, but there is much hypocrisy in today's Christian zealots, especially when they obey the dictates of any Pope or mortal man, yet ignore the true compassionate teachings of Jesus Christ and his love for all peoples. By inherent definition, a real Christian should be a humane being with care, concern and compassion for the survival needs and spiritual desires of all who suffer in the misery of poverty and oppression.

We should do what we can with what meager resources available to us in order to help lift the burden of oppression upon the backs of billions and end all unjust wars via various forms of social liberation. We join and participate in movements, organizations and groups in order to help raise consciousness, marshal public opinion and create a critical shift in humane consciousness, but much of the work must actually be done within our own conscience, in our own personal lives, in our own local communities through direct contact and interaction with beings in our own immediate environment. God loves a cheerful giver and in these troubled times we must give of ourselves with our personal time, enlightened energy and limited resources in order to help others live lives dedicated to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The very idea of Father Bourgeois being ex-communicated for doing his God-ordained Ministry is monstrous, flies in the face of divine faith and should be condemned by all compassionate Catholics, all true believers of any faith and all progressive activists. Women have a right to preach, a right to teach and a right to help provide leadership for what is in many ways a fallen Catholic Church.

1 Corinthians 12:3-5 (21st Century King James Version)

3 Therefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed, and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, except by the Holy Ghost.

4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

Educate to Liberate!

Peter S. Lopez aka: Peta

Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com

Sacramento, California, U.S.A.

From: dorinda moreno <fuerzamundial@gmail.com>
To: The LA Progressive <dick_and_sharon@yahoo.com>; Aztlannet News <NetworkAztlan_News@yahoogroups.com>; Juntos <juntos_sf@yahoogroups.com>; Tommie Camarillo <cpscchicanopark@sbcglobal.net>; We Are The Ones <wearetheoneswehavebeenwaitingfor@yahoogroups.com>; chicnews@yahoogroups.com; El Salvador <enfoque@elistas.net>; El Salvador-2009 <dialogosocialosangeles@yahoo.com>; El Salvador <canillita_feliz@yahoo.com>; KGF <katrinaglobalfriends@yahoogroups.com>; DemocraticLeft@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2008 7:34:37 AM
Subject: [NetworkAztlan_News] Stand with Father Roy Bourgeois ~ Sign the Petition to Break the Silence on Women's Ordination ~ Father Roy Facing Excommunication Over Support for Women Priests ~

On 11/12/08, Frank Dorrel <fdorrel@sbcglobal. net> wrote:

Stand with Father Roy Bourgeois

Sign the Petition to Break the Silence on Women's Ordination

http://www.thepetit ionsite.com/ 1/breakthesilenc e

Father Roy Bourgeois Facing Excommunication Over Support for Women Priests

On October 21, 2008, the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith sent a letter to the Maryknoll community stating that Fr. Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll priest of 36 years, has 30 days to recant his belief and statement of public support of women's ordination or he will be automatically excommunicated. Fr. Roy Bourgeois attended and gave the homily during the ordination ceremony of Roman Catholic Womenpriest, Janice Sevre-Duszynska, which took place on August 9 in Lexington, Ky.

Father Bourgeois is the well-known founder of the School of the Americas (SOA) Watch, a group whose annual nonviolent protests in Fort Benning, Ga. draws more than 20,000 thousand activists to close the U.S. military's training base, known as the SOA, now the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.

http://www.thepetit ionsite.com/ 1/breakthesilenc e

Below is Father Bourgeois' letter of response to the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith..

November 7, 2008

TO THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, THE VATICAN

I was very saddened by your letter dated October 21, 2008, giving me 30 days to recant my belief and public statements that support the ordination of women in our Church, or I will be excommunicated.

I have been a Catholic priest for 36 years and have a deep love for my Church and ministry.

When I was a young man in the military, I felt God was calling me to the priesthood. I entered Maryknoll and was ordained in 1972.

Over the years I have met a number of women in our Church who, like me, feel called by God to the priesthood. You, our Church leaders at the Vatican, tell us that women cannot be ordained.

With all due respect, I believe our Catholic Church's teaching on this issue is wrong and does not stand up to scrutiny. A 1976 report by the Pontifical Biblical Commission supports the research of Scripture scholars, canon lawyers and many faithful Catholics who have studied and pondered the Scriptures and have concluded that there is no justification in the Bible for excluding women from the priesthood.

As people of faith, we profess that the invitation to the ministry of priesthood comes from God. We profess that God is the Source of life and created men and women of equal stature and dignity. The current Catholic Church doctrine on the ordination of women implies our loving and all-powerful God, Creator of heaven and earth, somehow cannot empower a woman to be a priest.

Women in our Church are telling us that God is calling them to the priesthood. Who are we, as men, to say to women, "Our call is valid, but yours is not." Who are we to tamper with God's call?

Sexism, like racism, is a sin. And no matter how hard or how long we may try to justify discrimination, in the end, it is always immoral.

Hundreds of Catholic churches in the U.S. are closing because of a shortage of priests. Yet there are hundreds of committed and prophetic women telling us that God is calling them to serve our Church as priests.

If we are to have a vibrant, healthy Church rooted in the teachings of our Savior, we need the faith, wisdom, experience, compassion and courage of women in the priesthood.

Conscience is very sacred. Conscience gives us a sense of right and wrong and urges us to do the right thing. Conscience is what compelled Franz Jagerstatter, a humble Austrian farmer, husband and father of four young children, to refuse to join Hitler's army, which led to his execution. Conscience is what compelled Rosa Parks to say she could no longer sit in the back of the bus. Conscience is what compels women in our Church to say they cannot be silent and deny their call from God to the priesthood. Conscience is what compelled my dear mother and father, now 95, to always strive to do the right things as faithful Catholics raising four children. And after much prayer, reflection and discernment, it is my conscience that compels me to do the right thing. I cannot recant my belief and public statements that support the ordination of women in our Church.

Working and struggling for peace and justice are an integral part of our faith. For this reason, I speak out against the war in Iraq. And for the last eighteen years, I have been speaking out against the atrocities and suffering caused by the School of the Americas (SOA). Eight years ago, while in Rome for a conference on peace and justice, I was invited to speak about the SOA on Vatican Radio. During the interview, I stated that I could not address the injustice of the SOA and remain silent about injustice in my Church. I ended the interview by saying, "There will never be justice in the Catholic Church until women can be ordained." I remain committed to this belief today.

Having an all male clergy implies that men are worthy to be Catholic priests, but women are not.

According to USA TODAY (Feb. 28, 2008) in the United States alone, nearly 5,000 Catholic priests have sexually abused more than 12,000 children. Many bishops, aware of the abuse, remained silent. These priests and bishops were not excommunicated. Yet the women in our Church who are called by God and are ordained to serve God's people, and the priests and bishops who support them, are excommunicated.

Silence is the voice of complicity. Therefore, I call on all Catholics, fellow priests, bishops, Pope Benedict XVI and all Church leaders at the Vatican, to speak loudly on this grave injustice of excluding women from the priesthood.

Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador was assassinated because of his defense of the oppressed. He said, "Let those who have a voice, speak out for the voiceless."

Our loving God has given us a voice. Let us speak clearly and boldly and walk in solidarity as Jesus would, with the women in our Church who are being called by God to the priesthood.

In Peace and Justice,

Rev. Roy Bourgeois, M.M. – PO Box 3330, Columbus, GA 31903

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~
OTHER ACTIONS TO SUPPORT - Rev. Roy Bourgeois 
Some have asked for addresses to write their support of Father Roy and to ask  
that he not be excommunicated.  Petitions are also appropriate. 
Please write or fax or email to Pope Benedict XVI, and/or the Pope's Ambassador 
to the U.S., the Apostolic Nuncio, and/or the Congregation for Doctrine of Faith, 
the group that is moving toward excommunication of Fr. Roy Bourgeois, and/or 
the leadersof the Maryknoll Order.  
 Their addresses are below.  
Please send a cc of any message or petitions you send to: 
Bill Quigley –  Attorney for Fr. Roy Bourgeois
7214 St. Charles Avenue, Box 902
New Orleans, LA 70118   
duprestars@yahoo. com
 ADDRESSES TO WRITE:
Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nunci
3339 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W, Washington, DC
Telephone: (202) 333-7121 - Fax: 337-4036
Pope Benedict XVI 
00120 Via del Pellegrino

Citta del Vaticano, Europe
The Pope's email address is: benedictxvi@ vatican.va
FAX from USA: 011-39-06698- 85378
Congregation for Doctrine of Faith
Piazza del S. Uffizio, 11, 00193 Roma, Italy

Telephone: 06.69.88.33. 57; 06.69.88..34. 13 - Fax: 06.69.88.34. 09
Superior General, John Sivalon at jsivalon@maryknoll. org  and to the three-member  
Maryknoll Council at mklcouncil@maryknol l.org   and/or fax to 914-944-3600
Write to: Maryknoll Council, P.O. Box 303 Maryknoll, NY 10545  
Again, please send a cc of your message to 
Bill Quigley – Attorney for Father Roy Bourgeois
7214 St. Charles Avenue, Box 902
New Orleans, LA 70118
duprestars@yahoo. com          