"Womenpriests" Understand the Link between Altar Boys and Vocations

The ladies at the women’s ordination conference–sponsors of Elsie and Rose’s Excellent Adventure— have issued a press release condemning the decision of Father of John Del Priore to discontinue the use of female altar servers in his parish in the Diocese of Madison.  So far, Bishop Robert C. Morlino has backed him up.  

This displeases the women’s sorta-nation crowd, who issued the following statement.  My comments in green:

Women’s Ordination Conference Decries Ban on Altar Girls in Wisconsin Diocese

WASHINGTON, DC – July 3, 2008 – On Tuesday, June 24, Rev. John Del Priore of St. Barnabas Parish in Mazomanie, Wisc. declared that he will no longer allow girls to serve at liturgy.  Rev. Del Priore was assigned to the parish on June 1, 2008. In response, Women’s Ordination Conference has requested that Bishop Robert C. Morlino, of the Madison diocese, overturn Rev. Del Priore’s decision and reinstate female altar servers in that parish. Women’s Ordination Conference members have made dozens of calls to the church [Let’s see– 12 members x 2 calls each = dozens of calls], asking to speak to Rev. John and expressing their serious concerns about this decision.

“With this policy, Rev. John brings the Madison diocese into the infamously sexist ranks of only one other diocese in the country that bans young women and girls from faithfully serving their church in this capacity,” [It would be nice to see the WOC actually promote “faithfully serving their church] said Aisha Taylor, executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference. “Around the country, young women have been lawfully serving at the altar for well over a decade.” [Because the women’s ordination conference is all about following canon law].

Since 1994, the Vatican and the U.S. Bishops have allowed female altar servers. There is no restriction in Canon Law for women to help at the altar during the liturgy. [And there is certainly no requirement either.  There IS a nearly 2,000 year tradition of having only men fulfill liturgical functions in the sanctuary].

“Rev. John has told our members that he banned female altar servers because he wants only boys to prepare to be priests in this way. This is not only untenable, it is impractical. Women comprise at least 80 per cent of church lay ministers, and they are backbone of most parishes around the world,” continued Taylor. “If young women in the Madison diocese want to grow up to work for the Church – or even aspire to the priesthood – I, and the vast majority of U.S. Catholics, don’t see the harm in that. [The crux of the matter:  girls cannot grow up to be priests, and the church’s teachings are not subject to opinion polls or popular vote].

You see, in spite of themselves, they know exactly what is at stake over girl altar servers.  It would be wise for those who support the infallible teaching of the Church on priestly ordination to understand this, too.

"Shut Down Altogether"

I had hesitated to run a follow-up to my SNAP post of four days ago until resolving an email correspondence with David Clohessy, the leader of that group.

I will not make the contents of that correspondence public, but suffice to say that he endeavored to provide specifics to justify the negative press statement SNAP issued against Archbishop Burke, and I endeavored to show him that his specifics did not prove his point, and, to the contrary, showed that SNAP couldn’t prove its assertions and clearly owed a public apology to the Archbishop.

After several emails back and forth, that started out fairly positively, we agreed to disagree. I still maintain that SNAP cannot back its claims against Abp. Burke and should issue the apology.

It seems that Bill Donohue of the Catholic League agrees. The title of this post, suggested by a reader, comes from the following statement:

ARCHBISHOP BURKE UNFAIRLY MALIGNED

July 3, 2008

On June 29, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran an editorial on the papal appointment of St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke to head the Vatican’s highest court, the Apostolic Signatura. The mostly favorable editorial ended with a startling paragraph that cited accusations made by Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). The group charged that “dozens of proven, admitted, and credibly accused predator priests have been welcomed here.” It also said that “there’s not a bishop in America who has imported so many pedophile priests into his diocese as Burke has.” (Emphasis is ours.)

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented as follows:

“When I read the operative verbs ‘welcomed’ and ‘imported,’ I knew it wasn’t true and I knew that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had been had. No bishop ever welcomes or imports troubled priests into his diocese. What many do is treat priests for behavioral disorders at various centers. That is exactly what they are supposed to do—give men who need treatment the help they need.

“As it so happens, there are two treatment facilities located in the Archdiocese of St. Louis—one in Jefferson County and one in Franklin County. The Archdiocese neither owns nor operates them and both were built before Burke became the Archbishop of St. Louis.

“I’ve been waiting all week for SNAP to send us the evidence that the Archbishop ‘welcomed’ and ‘imported’ molesting priests into his diocese. But it hasn’t been able to deliver. All that exists is the vicious interpretation by SNAP.

“This is anti-Catholicism writ large. What we have is an advocacy group that is going broke because it can’t get any more money from steeple-chasing lawyers and a prominent newspaper swallowing its moonshine. The newspaper owes Archbishop Burke a public apology and SNAP needs to take an ethics class or shut down altogether.”

John Allen on Archbishop Burke’s Promotion: Rumor Quelling

An interesting take from John Allen at NCR on why he does not believe that the Archbishop’s promotion was a “promuovere per remuovere” hit job. Allen is the most objective of NCR’s staff, and yet coming from that publication, it should help put to rest the oust-Burke-glee-club’s current line of attack.

More on Burke’s move to Vatican court

by John L. Allen, Jr.

Since news of St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke’s appointment as prefect of the Apostolic Signatura was announced June 27, I’ve received numerous telephone calls and e-mails, from both sides of the Atlantic, posing some version of the following question: Was this a case of what the Italians call promuovere per rimuovere … promoting someone in order to get rid of him?

It’s a reasonable question, given Burke’s profile as a lightning rod in St. Louis. Not only is he the American bishop most identified with the push to deny Communion to pro-choice Catholic politicians, but he also engaged in very public spats involving rock star Sheryl Crow and basketball coach Rick Majerus. Basically his last act as archbishop was to issue canonical penalties for Sister of Charity Louise Lears for her support of women’s ordination. While most of Burke’s fellow bishops, and certainly the Vatican, would share the substance of his positions, not everyone applauds his pugnacious way of advancing them.

So, was this a face-saving way of easing Burke out?

…my hunch is that this is not a case of promuovere per rimuovere, but what one might call “promotion for multiple motives.”

[…]

________________________

Allen goes on to discuss the reasons why he reaches this conclusion. A worthy read. Thanks to the reader in the comboxes for the tip.

NCR Fronts for Sr. Lears

(The photo above of Sr. Louise Lears was taken by Jim Tobin of NCR and appears at the linked page.)

As it did for Marek Bozek, the National ‘Catholic’ Reporter has run a soft piece about her travails with Archbishop Burke. You may find this surprising, but her faith community supports her. And–finally– there is an admission in print that she supports women’s ordination.

[Update:  at least one other blog has picked up on this article, and incorrectly stated that Sr. Lears has been excommunicated.  She instead is under interdict]

 Excerpts from the full story:

Community supports ousted St. Louis nun

By Tom Fox NCR Staff
Published: July 2, 2008

Sister of Charity Louise Lears, forced out of all church ministerial roles by Saint Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke, is described by friends and colleagues in near saintly terms.

They call her a bright, energetic, compassionate and faith-filled woman. They see her as a creative, generous and selfless person, a highly effective parish minister. They say she is first rate teacher and preacher. They view her as a person guided by the gospels including an unwavering commitment to justice and the local poor.

[…]

It was her belief that all church ministries, including women’s ordination, should be open to women. Curiously, this seems to have been only one of many of her passions and, perhaps, not her central passion, which seems to have been parish work.

[…]

Lears is not speaking to the media, but issued as statement saying she was “deeply saddened” by the judgment.

“I love the church. I would never give scandal to the People of God. As a faith-filled woman, I root my life and ministry in scripture, Eucharist, and Jesus’ gospel message of nonviolence and justice. As a Sister of Charity, I vow my life to God with whom I walk in humility, simplicity, and charity.”While Lears’ primary identification is that of a member of the Saint Cronan pastoral team, she is or has recently been a member of a number of other organizations. She is past president of the board of the Center for Survivors of Torture and War Trauma in St. Louis, a board and finance committee member for the Family Care Health Centers in St. Louis, a member of Winter Outreach to Homeless there, also a member of the W’EARTH Housing Coalition, a coalition led by low-wealth women in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood in St. Louis.

She is also an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University specializing in medical ethics and spirituality nonviolence.

[…]

Gina Meyer, a former student in Lears‘ class, Spirituality of Nonviolence, said, “The class completely reoriented my view of human relationships. We learned about Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jesus of Nazareth, and many other peacemakers. Beyond that, though, Sister Louise showed us exercises and gave us challenges in our daily lives that made me realize how much my own language and behavior affect those around me.”

___________________

I’m sorry, but “We learned about Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ and many other peacemakers”?