Posted on 11/24/2001 3:10:42 PM PST by ninenot
By John Rossomando CNSNews.com Staff Writer November 22, 2001 (CNSNews.com) - The Roman Catholic diocese in Rochester, N.Y. not only refuses to acknowledge the recent ordination of a female priest in a breakaway religious community. The diocese insists members of the renamed Spiritus Christi parish can no longer even claim to be Catholic. The breakaway group was once part of the Corpus Christi parish in Rochester, but separated from the Roman Catholic diocese after Bishop Matthew Clark removed and defrocked the pastor and assistant pastor in 1998. Clark acted after the parish sanctioned same-sex marriages and the handing out of communion to non-Catholics, contrary to Catholic teaching. Nevertheless, the former Corpus Christi parishioners hoped a Roman Catholic bishop would ordain their longtime associate pastor Mary Ramerman to the priesthood. When no one stepped forward, the group turned to Bishop Peter Hickman of another breakaway group, the Ecumenical and Catholic Faith Community in Orange, Calif. to perform the ceremony. The Women's Ordination Conference, a lay Catholic organization dedicated to the ordination of women to the Roman Catholic priesthood, believes the U.S. Conference on Catholic Bishops is quiet on this matter because of a decree issued by Pope John Paul II in 1994. It stated that the Roman Catholic Church lacks the authority to ordain women to the priesthood. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester is commenting, however. Michael Todesco, communications director for the diocese, said the breakaway community could no longer claim to be Catholic because it has "committed a schismatic act." "By all definitions, to be Catholic means to be bound by the bonds of communion with the universal church, through the bishops, through the Holy Father (Pope John Paul II) and through all of the other bishops in communion throughout the world," Todesco said. "Clearly three years ago, Spiritus Christi decided to disavow those bonds of communion. Therefore, they are no longer a Catholic church; they are therefore an independent faith community." According to Todesco, the diocese considers Ramerman to be a Protestant priest who was ordained by a Protestant bishop in a Protestant church. Erin Hanley, communications director for the Women's Ordination Conference, said the diocese is wrong to label the Spiritus Christi parishioners Protestants. "If you were to ask any Protestant: 'Are Old Catholics Protestant?' They would say absolutely not," Hanley said. "Mary was ordained by an Old Catholic bishop, but I believe that the way Spiritus Christi identifies [itself] is as a Christ centered Catholic community," she said. "They are living out the work of Jesus Christ, and if that doesn't work in with the institutional Church because they are inclusive of women, gays and lesbians, and the poor... then so be it." Hanley also rejects the idea that Ramerman's ordination was an attempt to embarrass the Roman Catholic hierarchy. "This ordination is about the community of Spiritus Christi calling forth Mary to serve them as their priest, that's what it is about," Hanley said. "They're not about... a political decision... that is not why they are doing this. "They are doing this to celebrate their faith," she said. Hickman was unavailable for comment.
Looks to me like this is pretty cut and dried. Either you play by our rules or you can start your own organization. Then, by definition alone, you have opted to become Protestant (or non-Catholic).
Am I missing something here? This is just a headline-grabbing move by these people.
Since then, however, Rochester seems to have gone from being a backwater to being a scandal.
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