Editorials
Disappointed with Francis on Women’s Ordination
Jane Kryzanowski, Roman Catholic Women Priests, Canada West
Volume 30 Issue 10, 11 & 12 | Posted: December 31, 2016
Roman Catholic Women Priests Canada (RCWP Canada) along with thousands of their Catholic men and women are once again disappointed by Pope Francis’s refusal to open up discussions regarding the ordination of women, citing yet again the statement of Pope John Paul II in 1994.
Pope Francis seems to feel that the Church needs to follow that 22-year- old declaration which was never said to be an infallible statement, rather than listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit clearly moving today within the Church, the people of God, and within the hearts and souls of hundreds of women who have chosen to follow their consciences and join other denominations or be ordained validly but contra legem (against Canon Law) as Catholic priests.
Roman Catholic Women Priests Canada (RCWP Canada) along with thousands of their Catholic men and women are once again disappointed by Pope Francis’s refusal to open up discussions regarding the ordination of women, citing yet again the statement of Pope John Paul II in 1994.
Pope Francis seems to feel that the Church needs to follow that 22-year- old declaration which was never said to be an infallible statement, rather than listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit clearly moving today within the Church, the people of God, and within the hearts and souls of hundreds of women who have chosen to follow their consciences and join other denominations or be ordained validly but contra legem (against Canon Law) as Catholic priests.
When did it become the norm that the words of a pope took priority over the movement of the Spirit within? Does Pope Francis really think that human words will stifle the Holy Spirit whom Jesus said would be with us until the end of time?
One has to wonder what Pope John Paul II was afraid of, what was his negative view of women, from where came his failure to uphold the Church’s responsibility to speak out against injustice in all its forms. The Catholic Church should be a leader in the world, speaking out against the sin of sexism and proclaiming loudly the equality before God of all persons.
Sadly, the Church’s voice rings hollow because, by refusing to ordain women, it does not recognize the full personhood of all the baptized. It does not practice what it preaches when it refuses to listen to the Spirit speaking through the people of God.
Pope Francis has shared how he looks back on his first years as a superior in the Jesuit Order. He admits that he made mistakes and that if he could go back, he would do things differently. This took great humility. Is Pope Francis going to look back at this time in his papacy, and realize that it was a mistake not to listen to the voice of the Spirit speaking loudly and clearly for the ordination of women? This is the voice that must be listened to if the Church is to give any meaningful witness to the world today. RCWP Canada National Leadership Circle Contact: Jane Kryzanowski Administrator, RCWP Canada West photina61@gmail.com.
Bishop Marie Bouclin Writes to The Canadian Bishops
Quite possibly you have only heard about the Roman Catholic Women Priests of Canada by way of the media. Today, while we are sending you our most recent press release, we would like to introduce ourselves to you, in the hope of entering into that dialogue which Pope Francis repeatedly promotes.
We are a new community within the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 2002. Our mission is “to prepare, ordain, and support qualified women from all states of life who are committed to an inclusive model of Church, and who are called by the Holy Spirit and their communities of faith to minister to the People of God” (RCWP Canada Constitution 1.2).
We are first and foremost disciples of Jesus the Christ, our model of service and leadership. As women, we collectively bring to the Church years of teaching at the elementary, secondary and university levels, years of working with the sick and dying as nurses, years of serving the poor and troubled as social workers, years of working in parishes and business.
We have experienced religious life, married life, motherhood and grandparenthood. We have balanced budgets, worried about meeting mortgage payments, known the pain of discrimination, divorce, single parenting, underemployment and loss of employment, life-threatening diseases and living with handicaps. We have also obtained degrees in theology.
Each one of us has heard the Holy Spirit, through our communities, call us to ministerial priesthood. We have answered that call, even at the cost of latae sentenciae excommunication. We believe that, although we love our Church and pray for her leaders, we must “obey God rather than any human authority” (Acts 5:29).
We invite you to learn more about us by visiting our website (rcwpcanada.x10.mx). But, especially, we invite you to engage in dialogue with us. We would welcome any conversation you care to establish with any of one or all of us. Contact information for individual RCWP Canada members is listed on the website.
Yours very sincerely and respectfully in the Christ we all serve, on behalf of the Roman Catholic Women Priests of Canada, Marie Evans Bouclin, bishop.
Marie Bouclin of Thunder Bay, On is Canada’s RCWP bishop.
Jane Kryzanowski, Roman Catholic Women Priests, Canada West