Posted on 12/26/2014 3:21:42 PM PST by marshmallow
In a few days Georgia Walker, at age 67, intends to become a priest, at which point she will be excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.
That doesnt faze her.
I dont accept the legitimacy of that excommunication, said Walker, who will be the first woman in Kansas City to defy the church and be ordained a priest.
The church in turn will not accept the legitimacy of her ordination because, under canon law, only men can be priests.
Thats their problem, Walker said of the church.
That steadfastness is a trait of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, a growing movement of people who see the church as too authoritarian and unwilling to be inclusive. But instead of leaving the church, they hope to change it from within.
At other stages of her life, Walker has been a sociology professor at the University of Missouri, a financial officer and a hospital manager. In midlife she converted to Catholicism and became a Sister of St. Joseph, although she did not take final vows. She is working on a graduate degree in theology.
Walker also is a peace activist who has been convicted of trespassing at the Bannister Federal Complex in south Kansas City and at Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Noster, Mo.
She now works with men and women coming out of prison to help them reintegrate with society.
As a priest, Walker wants to establish a regular schedule to visit prisons in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph to bring the sacrament to inmates. She also wants to build a small community of worshipers while remaining a member of St. James Parish in Kansas City.
The church says no.
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
I also strongly dislike those things, and I avoid them as much as possible. For example, I will not receive Communion from a lay person. Every few years, usually when I am attending Mass at another parish, I receive from a lay person.
But please remember that the Church itself does not change. There are men in the Church who make changes such as those that you describe, but the changes are merely outward changes. And these, too, shall pass. The Church does not change.
Praying for you that the Holy Spirit will guide you.
Thanks for concern etc BUT I would be more than hypocritical were I to (continue) receive Holy Communion as to aforementioned Non Catholic Marriage, (43 some years), NOT raising two children in the Faith and subsequent Divorce.
From my ‘early learnings’ etc of the RCC, I have broken three of the ‘biggies’, which did not offer a ‘do over’.
In retrospect, if I were to Receive Communion etal, I would be in the same Company that I abhor - Right up there with the CINO that continue to back Abortion etc and continue to receive the Sacraments.
Don’t flaunt some of the basic ‘ground rules’ of the Church then take advantage of the photo ops by going to Mass on select days etc etc etc...
It has changed. It is a new religion.
LOL!
My aunt left an abusive husband, divorced and then remarried outside the church. She attended daily mass for 40 years but could not receive communion. After Vatican II, when it became easier to get an annulment, her priest suggested that she look into annulling the first marriage on grounds of alcohol addiction, and when she did, she found her first husband had died.
Talk to a good priest (not a modern one, but a very young or very old priest who believes in God). He might be able to help you with all of this.
And pray the rosary: Mama Mary is pretty good at getting her sons back to God.
I’ll remember you in my prayers.
You are correct sir. I knew women here in Davao City, who, along with their husbands, were missionaries from Florida. They did a great job starting local churches here, but they had one advantage over me. They all could speak the native language that I can't. They have moved on to other places, but these ladies were great missionaries.
The Catholic Church defines “preaching” narrowly, as giving the sermon during Mass. This can be done only by a Bishop, priest, or deacon: an ordained man.
Women can be evangelists, teachers of religion, give religious lectures to the general public (live or by radio or tv), and perform all sorts of other functions.
In our sacramental theology, the priest *embodies* Christ, eternal high priest and victim in the one perfect offering of Himself ... and Jesus Christ was a MAN. A natural human man, which is not the same as a natural human woman. Therefore, it is impossible - not forbidden: IMPOSSIBLE - for a woman to be a Catholic priest.
That’s a different paradigm than what is understood in the evangelical community. Even there, the conservative ones will have men preaching in general worship services, making exceptions only where a special need is present. Paul wrote that he did not permit women to “teach” though the context seems to me to suggest he did not want the women to be bossy in the presence of their husbands. Husband and wife instructional teams e.g. Priscilla and Aquila, were fine.
Yes, it is. This is one of the significant differences between Catholic/Orthodox and other Christians.
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