Father Roy Bourgeois, a Catholic priest of 39 years, felt obligated to speak his conscience -- and it told him that women should be allowed to be priests too. His outspoken opposition to sexist discrimination could cost him dearly, however, as he now faces dismissal from his position and excommunication.
The Women's Ordination Conference (WOC) has launched a petition on Change.org in support of Fr. Bourgeois and other Catholics who believe that women deserve the same clergy rights as men in the Church.
"I cannot possibly speak out about injustice in society and at the same time be silent about this injustice in my church," Bourgeois affirmed. WOC -- along with cosponsors the Association of Roman Catholic Womenpriests, Call To Action, and Roman Catholic Womenpriests-USA -- wants the Vatican to know that a respected priest shouldn't be kicked out for supporting women's ordination when there's no scriptural prohibition for this practice.
"After much reflection, study, and prayer, I believe that our Church's teaching that excludes women from the priesthood defies both faith and reason and cannot stand up to scrutiny," Fr. Bourgeois wrote in response to his threatened removal from office in the Maryknoll Catholic order.
'This teaching has nothing to do with God, but with men, and is rooted in sexism. Sexism, like racism, is a sin. And no matter how hard we may try to justify discrimination against women, in the end, it is not the way of God, but of men who want to hold on to their power."
Bourgeois and his lawyer, Fr. Thomas Doyle, have challenged the dismissal, which came from the Maryknoll leadership under pressure from the Vatican, on the grounds that the ban on women priests is not infallible doctrine.
They want theologians to look into the current system and see if it doesn't need an update -- the Roman Catholic Church is now lagging behind other Christian denominations that have welcomed women into the clergy.
One woman writes as her reason for signing the petition in support of Fr. Bourgeois: "My mom and my sister are both ordained priests (Anglican), and the world did not end when they celebrated their first masses."
Over the past decade, 120 women priests and 10 female bishops have been ordained by the Roman Catholic Womenpriests, thanks to the courageous defiance of their brothers in clergy who believe that the call to serve God extends to both sexes, in spite of the penalty of automatic communication for ordaining a woman priest.
(A documentary, Pink Smoke Over the Vatican, explores this movement.)
But these individuals aren't taking some out-there fringe stance: Bourgeois points out that surveys say that a majority of Catholics back the ordination of women, while other priests who share his views only keep silent from fear of also facing dismissal and excommunication.
It's the Vatican and the Pope that continue to cling to traditional practices rooted in sexism. Fr. Bourgeois refuses to be cowed or hypocritical about his beliefs -- and for that, he faces the Church's most severe punishment.
Oh, and remember all those child sex abuse scandals plaguing the Catholic Church?
Canon lawyer Doyle challenges what exactly makes asking for a reevaluation of the unjust refusal to allow women priests so much worse than sexually abusing children or covering up such assaults.
According to the Church, it must be a far more severe violation; after all, Bourgeois faces excommunication for his brave stance, while those involved in child abuse are still recognized Catholics.
(And Doyle would know -- he's the same canon lawyer who has represented many of the sex abuse victims in suing the Church.)
Pope Benedict XVI, you have some explaining to do.
"The Vatican does not excommunicate the pedophile-priests who have raped and sodomized Catholic youth, or punish the bishops who covered up these crimes," stated Bridget Mary Meehan of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, one of the petition sponsors.
"Yet, now in this outrageous action they stand ready to defrock Fr. Roy, priest of the people and prophet for justice who has served God for over 40 years as a well-known peace and justice activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee."
Fr. Bourgeois is standing strong in his beliefs, refusing to recant his support for women priests, but he needs you to stand with him.
The Women's Ordination Conference and their allies will hand-deliver petition signatures on October 17.
And start putting women up there too, while they're at it.
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