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Bob Graf
Jesuit priest Bill Brennan, 92, was stripped of his priestly duties after he presided over a Eucharistic liturgy with a woman priest last month in Georgia.
A Milwaukee-area Catholic priest was stripped of his priestly duties after he presided over a Mass with a woman priest last month in Georgia.
On Nov. 17, the Rev. Bill Brennan, a 92-year-old Jesuit, performed a liturgy in Columbus, Ga., at which Janice Sevre-Duszynska, an ordained member of Roman Catholic Womenpriests, an advocacy group that is not sanctioned by the Vatican, was a participant.
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee and his religious order, the Society of Jesus, ordered Brennan not to perform any priestly duties in public or present himself as a priest publicly.
"I was really angry when I found out ... that his faculties were suspended, too, because for God's sake, he's 92 years old," the Rev. Jerry Zawada, a Franciscan and a friend of Brennan's who has also led liturgies with Sevre-Duszynska and was suspended for it, told NBC News. "But he's so faithful to what needs to happen."
"He's willing to take risks at that level," Zawada, a 75-year-old Franciscan, added.
The Catholic Church prohibits women's ordination, saying it has no authority to ordain women because Jesus chose only men as his apostles. The church's Canon Law 1024 says only baptized men may receive holy orders.
Pope urges 'obedience'
Pope John Paul II issued a letter in 1994 saying that the church "has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women," and in 2010 the church included the "attempted ordination of women" among the list of grave crimes against its law, under the same category as the sexual abuse of minors. Grave crimes are punishable by defrocking or excommunication.
Earlier this year, Pope Benedict XVI denounced the priests supporting women's ordination, saying their desire to change the church was a "desperate push" driven by their "own preferences and ideas." Instead, the pope urged for the "radicalism of obedience."
About 59 percent of American Catholics are in favor of women's ordination, according to a 2010 poll by The New York Times and CBS, but the Vatican sees the initiative as having the potential to cause a rift in the church.
Brennan is only the most recent priest to be penalized for his support of women's ordination.
Courtesy of Janice Sevre-Duszynska
Jesuit priest Bill Brennan and Janice Sevre-Duszynska, an ordained member of Roman Catholic Womenpriests, co-preside over a liturgy in Georgia on Nov. 17, 2012.
Last month, the Rev. Ray Bourgeois, an American of the Maryknoll religious order, was dismissed by the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, for his support of women's ordination.
Last week, the Vatican also stripped an Austrian priest of his right to use the title monsignor for advocating in favor of women priests and married priests.
'Good stubborn'
Sevre-Duszynska told NBC News she wasn't surprised by the actions taken to penalize Brennan, whom she describes as being "good stubborn" and "full of such fire."
"It was a hope in the back of my heart that these men would walk in solidarity with Bill, stand up for justice and … make it a new world, make it a new day in our church, as Bill has done," she said. "It’s time for the rest of the male priests to find the courage to listen to the workings of the Holy Spirit in their heart and conscience."
Bob Graf
The Rev. Bill Brennan attends a protest in Milwaukee in 2008.
Sevre-Duszynska first met Brennan two years ago at a civil disobedience action organized by SOA Watch, an organization that seeks to close a U.S. Army training school at Fort Benning, Ga.
The school used to be known as the School of the Americas, and SOA Watch claims it was involved in human rights abuses in Latin America. For many years, Brennan worked as a missionary in the Central American country of Belize when it was a British colony known as British Honduras.
Brennan, who uses a wheelchair when his legs become tired, and Sevre-Duszynska were among the 29 people arrested at the protest.
"He's very fragile, but he's very strong in his heart," Sevre-Duszynska said of Brennan. "He's living in the heart of God, and he has lots of strength inside."
Not showing off 'for the ladies'
Brennan's "lifetime of service to the poor" and his work with immigrants and those marginalized by society will continue to be honored by the Jesuits, Jeremy Langford, a spokesman for the Jesuits' Chicago-Detroit province, told NBC News.
While Brennan's diocesan faculties have been withdrawn, he remains a Jesuit, Langford said, adding that the Society of Jesus has no intention of taking further actions against Brennan.
The Jesuits are mostly known for their missionary work and support of human rights, social justice and education. The Society of Jesus operates many colleges and universities around the world.
Brennan, who lives with other retired Jesuits in the Milwaukee area, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he understood the risks when he decided to perform a liturgy alongside a woman priest.
"Sometimes in our lives we have to trust our conscience and bring about the consequences," he told the newspaper. "I wasn't trying to show off for the ladies."
According to Sevre-Duszynska, Brennan compared his support of women's ordination to his support for women's suffrage, remembering that when he was born in 1920, his mother was still not allowed to vote.
Bob Graf, who was a Jesuit and has known Brennan for almost 20 years, spoke to Brennan this week and said he was taking the decision in stride.
"He’s very calm, he’s very peaceful, which is surprising, but he is," Graf told NBC News. "He’s a wise old man," he said, adding that Brennan will continue his life's work. "He just can't wear his robe and collar."
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Scholars believe that there was most likely a 13th Apostle - a woman, who was later written out of the earlier scripture. There were other early Christian women whose roles were either eliminated or rewritten. The current catholic cult is nothing more than a cult of mother Mary, that gained strength after half of Europe died from the plague and the powers that were saw the value in rampant procreation, especially of the SERF class, who had to work for little or nothing. Now we can see catholic dogma for the hogwash that it all really is. One of the deadliest "religions" that there ever was, causing as much if not more killing and suffering than Islam.
Keep that text in your pocket when come before God. You know so much.
How do you know so much? How do you know anyone ever "comes before God"? Did a priest whisper that in your ear?
At 92......... he must of thought she was a choirboy!
The fact that women, in the Catholic church cannot be ORDAINED a Priest, was not uppermost
in his mind, at the time. He said the Mass, for the faithful who were there, knowing that the
woman who was "pretending" to be a Priest had NO authority. Women, as Priests, is a joke
of the feminist movement, and they are WRONG to want to perform, as Men. Period.
As for this Priest being defrocked, the Church makes HYPOCRITES of themselves, because
when a Priest is Ordained, one of the Biblical verses used during the Ordination is "You are
a Priest FOREVER according to the Rite of Milchesidek" (sp)Therefore, he will never NOT be
a Priest, and if the Church claims he is not, they are blaspheming their own ritual.
The punishment they are giving him, does not fit the crime, and the Pope should really re-think
his decision to "defrock" this humble, elderly Priest who has served the Church most of his life.
This is truly a very sad decision, and I intend to write the Pope and tell him so!
Absolutely wrong. Rev. Sevre-Duszynska is validly ordained. The priesthood is no joke. People who embrace the priesthood are not performing "as men". They are "performing" as human beings embracing the sacred. Half of human beings are male, half of human beings are female. All will be separated from their human bodies at death. All humans encounter the sacred and spiritual portion of existence. This does not require a penis. A monopoly on this activity by any group of people is impossible. The Reverend was not "pretending." She was performing as intended. Her "legitimacy" cannot be decided by humans. I'm sure the Higher Power to whom her prayers are addressed is perfectly capable of evaluating the sincerity of her communications.
Hello Patty, the Rev. Sevre-Duszynska, is not validly ordained by the Catholic Church, therefore she is
a joke. She belongs in an Episcopalian Church, not holding herself out as a Catholic Priest. Period.
The Church does not recognize her, therefore, the joke is on her, and those who follow her, or hold her
blasphemy in any regard. Millions of true Catholics feel as I do. There's an old expression that
"IF it works don't fix it" and it has worked for thousands of years.
Some people just cannot adhere to tradition or laws. Were she a member of a Country Club, and decided
to elect herself as President, she would be booted out, before she could change her clothes. Same applies
to the Military. Either you follow what your DI tells you, or you are Court Martialed and Dishonorably
Discharged, for disobeying orders. Any "organization" has their rules and laws and unless you are "in"
you are "out". All this wrangling, over changing the laws of the Church is a waste of energy.
The Catholic Church follows scripture, and has made some minor changes, but to change their Traditions
and laws, that have worked for over 2,000 years will never happen, so this discussion is moot.
Priests will never be allowed to Marry, and Women will never truly be ordained BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH,
regardless of what Century we are living in. You have free will, excercise it. If you disagree with the
Catholic Church, just don't bother being one! Those who ARE practicing Catholics, are not going to vote
for Women Priests, or Married clergy. Jesus told His Apostles, "Leave everything and follow Me", and that
is exactly what Priests do, they "leave everything and follow Him". See if you can attend an Ordination
and contact your local Catholic Church to see if you can gain better insight into the WHY of what the Church
does, because unless you have that knowledge, you are not knowledgeable enough to even bash the
Church.
Merry Christmas!
The "Church", as you call it, is a group of humans. Some have a certain idea of what "being Catholic" means. Others have a totally different idea. What Rev. Sevre-D is doing is not "blasphemy," it is worship. We must remember that, aside from all the worldly power-jockeying, what is actually going on is people approaching the devine and the sacred in the spiritual world.
By the way, the Catholic Church has not functioned very well in the last 2,000 years. It has muddled through with a succession of sometimes really bad, violent, and power-hungry leaders. And priests could marry up until the year 1120 or so (see the sad tale of Abelarde and Heloise).
I was signed onto that Church a few days after I was born, and I have plenty of knowledge of "why" the group of male persons who run the organization at any given moment do what they do--or at least whatever rationalization they are dishing out at the moment. The "Church" as an organization is an institution, but is an entirely human-run institution the same way that any other organization, or even the federal government, is. The personnel changes over time as people die off. Yes, they write stuff, but it is merely cumulative of what went before.
Gee, from the misogynist writings of Tertullian, to the massacre of the Albigensians, to the lovely prose of the murderous Malleus Maleficarum and all the women tortured and murdered because of it, to the Spanish Inquisition and the persecution of the Jews, the organizational Catholic Church has brought such love and comfort to so many people! No. I don't need to continue to be an audience for their nonsense.
I'm also very grateful to the Supreme Being that the Pope no longer has an army of any size and the Papal States have been reduced to the Vatican.
"The Catholic Church prohibits women's ordination, saying it has no authority to ordain women because Jesus chose only men as his apostles. The church's Canon Law 1024 says only baptized men may receive holy orders". What an ARCHAIC crock of BS!!
Let's face it, the CC is TERRIFIED of women, they always have been! They have, through the ages, set into motion some of the most horrific crimes against women the world has ever seen, INCLUDING the Inquisition where they burned THOUSANDS of females to death! The fact is, the CC will NEVER allow women in because it's the epitome of a Boy's Club! I'm surprised they don't have signs that read 'no GIRLS allowed' pasted all over the Vatican!! I don't even consider it a religion.. Any church that deprives ALL members of the right to be involved in the running of it's hierarchy is appallingly behind the times!
We already know the church has changed and/or destroyed more then a dozen books from the original bible, many said to have been written by women that worked hand in hand with Jesus, spreading 'his word', INCLUDING his own mother and, very probably, Mary Magdalen.. Jesus NEVER condemned any woman but he sure as hell condemned many practices that MEN were doing at that time! Somehow, I doubt, if he were to return today, that he would look with kindness upon ANY religious institution that upholds such bigotry and intolerance for 1/2 of the human race!
The Catholic Church, much like the Mormons, simply cannot abide the truth, that women are just as intelligent, just as talented and just as able to run any institution as men.. The fact that, even today, with equal opportunity laws supposedly set in place in most of the civilized world there is STILL a bigotry against women that is VERY apparent.. Right here in our own USA, a great many women are still paid less then men for the SAME work in male-dominated work places and soon, hopefully, these wrongs will be addressed once and for all.. But the Catholic Church will most likely fold up in on itself and, 'poof', drift away in a shower of conceited and arrogant dust before it will ever allow a women to become a true working member of this 'good ol' boy's club'!! I say GOOD RIDDANCE!
My dear, to me you are just looking for an excuse to live your life as you please. Good luck with all that.
Contrary to popular catholic cult teachings, women can do much more than birth babies. And you know what else? They don't have to have babies anymore unless they really really WANT to. Stick that in your pointy hat and smoke it.
We already know the church has changed and/or destroyed more then a dozen books from the original bible, many said to have been written by women that worked hand in hand with Jesus, spreading 'his word', INCLUDING his own mother and, very probably, Mary Magdalen..
Yes, I've heard of those books especially the one Mary Mag wrote about cleaning, sewing and her top 20 bread recipes, was a good read.
OMG! A real, honest to God, dyed in the wool, male chauvinist pig!! LMAO! Haven't had to put up with one of you in years! Even your name says it-MANWOMANGOD! What a crack up you guys are!! Were you here, on Earth, when the Creator made the tiny, slimy bacteria that, in a few million years, would end up being US?? Did you notice if the first one was male or female?? Oh, that's right, it didn't even have a sex, it just split upon reaching adulthood..
Of course, it's a bit more complicated then that but, after all, I'm talking to a fragile ego that thinks HE is the epitome of Human evolution.. Please, give me a break!
In my mind, those women who want to be Priests should be thrown out of
the Church, since they are unwilling to abide by the teachings of the Church.
Let them form their own Churches and stop causing problems for the rest of
those who are not comfortable with women as Priests.
Jesus never had a "female" Apostle, and Priests are the decendants of the
12 Apostles, and all were MEN....get over it, and go form your own "feel good"
church that doesn't stand for something, therefore they will fall for anything.
Yep, a cult built on a foundation of misogyny.
People form churches to "stand for something." That's the point. Just what is it that your church "stands for"? What is so important or "moral" about rejecting people just because they don't have the same kind of body that you do, particularly since they all have the same manufacturer? The entire point of this exercise is to communicate with, and worship, the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being is not private property. And I hate to tell you, but you're going to lose "that thing" when you die. It's not going with you.
The Church IS the Body of Christ, the community of billions alive on this Earth & in Heaven. IF the bulk of those billions of Catholic Christians would follow their consciences and support women as priests, then the bulk of the Catholic Church would support women as priests. "Tamed" elephants grow up from youth being anchored to some stake in the ground, and don't try to pull out their stakes when they gain the strength of adulthood. Perhaps Catholic Christians are similar to the "tamed" elephants -- there is really nothing that the Vatican can do to prevent people from following their consciences. The Church has long accepted what 13th century C.E. Saint Thomas Aquinas taught regarding conscience -- that a person should follow her/his conscience even if it collides with formal Church positions.
If Jesus started His ekklesia (community of people called together) to, as Pattie-in-MD discusses, "stand for" something, then IMO a faithful response to Scripture is that Jesus would rather His Church community stand for love of one another coexistent with love of God and respect of 'everyman'/'everywoman', rather than stand for following rule-books that don't have enough HEART/Spirit & personal individuality in them.
The Catholic Church is the oldest crime organization in civilization. We are told that Jesus was a simple man, yet Catholic leaders build opulent churches and adorn their righteous selves with gold. Their arrogance knows no bounds. Priests who have brought God's word to their congregations in English that is simple to understand are defamed and chastised. The Council of Nicea was nothing but a group of men with big egos. They preyed on the poor and continue to do so today.
The next big step for civilization is for Christian mythology to go the way of Roman and Greek mythology.
Seabreezin' I agree.History shows that men in power, never, ever, ever willingly share it or relenquish it. So, I believe you are right, in that the church will never do the necessary modification of itself to survive, but instead will stay exactly like it is and wither to complete irrelevancy as the times change and it dies on the vine. Can't happen soon enough for me.
The more that any church refuses to change the more insignificent it becomes.
Two things wrong with this. The first is that it is completely sexist. I do not care what some 4500 year old text claims, women should be allowed priesthood if that is what they want to do. Secondly the reason this is the case, men only, is because of the manipulation of the real texts that were used to create the Bible. Many Gospels were deemed "unfit" to be used in the Bible and who knows if one of those Gospels was written by a women (the main theory is that Marry Magdalene, Jesus' wife, was an Apostle and had her own Gospel but it was left out of the Bible to further the cannon that she was a whore and because the Church felt that women had no right to serve in higher positions in the religious architecture. The day we see a female pope is the day that Catholicism will no longer be perceived as sexist).
There is no way to confirm this, convenient for them, because they have any and all documents hidden away from the world as if they belong to the Vatican. Who knows, they may have even destroyed them. They do not belong in some vault buried hundreds of feet underground, they belong in a museum if they do exist.
I am having such an uproarious moment reading all the imperial arguments put forth by atheists and protest-ants alike on this page. Does not a single one of you bother to ponder the inexhaustible immortality of the Catholic Church? 2,000 years and STILL strong, surpassing the duration of any nation, any philosophy, any competing theological institution, any invading military force, any assault by the communist forces of atheism which itself murdered over 300 million in the 20th century alone. Who permits this Institution to survive, if not God Himself? We witness the dissolution of PROTEST-ant sects into over 38,000 different sects and innumerable self-developed, self-described and self-absorbed "Truths." We witness the internecine warfare being waged between Muslim sects throughout the Middle East. We witness the wholesale destruction of the heterosexual family via adultery, fornication, internet porn and the redefinition of the family to embrace the barren unions of homosexuals. Drugs, gambling, desecration of the Sabbath, the redundant taking of the Lord's Name in vain, the use of God's Holy Name a mere byword in today's "liberated" minds. And you think yourselves superior to the Catholic Church? Please, how many times in the past 2,000 years has such arrogance failed to destroy the indestructible? Better come home, and quick. Time is flying and satan knows his days are limited. Recognize the enemy of your soul. catholicscomehome.org. olrl.org. ewtn.com.
You have a point there. Even the Plague failed to destroy the church, since the church locked its doors on the sick. Put that in your pointy pope hat and smoke it.
It this is not supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, you've got quite a bad case of Roman Catholicism there, pardner. If you knew anything about the disgusting history of the Church, you would know that it's committed all the crimes that you accuse everybody else of committing. Popes have been murderers, thieves, fornicators, child molesters, and generally nasty and criminal people. One of them (Pope Alexander VI, I believe it was), impregnated his own illegitimate daughter. Holy lineage, indeed.
Does Bingo count as gambling or alchohol count as a drug?
I don't think i'll be coming over to your house anytime soon...
@Peter1589-2514158 IMO your exaggerating rhetoric fails to do Christianity justice--
and
Instead of exaggerating consider Hinduism (among others) which has history much longer than just 2 millennia-- and, apparently, God is pleased with Hinduism since God "permits [it] to survive". Your bitterness & grasping at superiority over others, does NOT IMO manifest Jesus's spirit of love, respect, and humility. Rev. Brennan & Rev. Sevre-Duszynska in their actions & words do IMO manifest Jesus's spirit of love, respect, humility.
The tone of your response seems to indicate some notes of anxiety & insecurity; we do well to trust the goodness of God and not be quick to condemn our fellow humans-- solid faith is not threatened by variant ways & dispositions of others.
Dear Friends:
The manner in which this article is titled and stated it is somewhat leads to a confusing statement.
They are not Priests the woman and the men Priests give up their vows when they participate. So sad at such a time of his life, so near his own end. Does he or she believe in God then? So tragic that they want to injure members of the Roman Catholic Church. When for centuries and with our nations US Constitution to protect the real Roman Catholic Church, it's Sacraments, teachings, history and faith. Is this Priest well?
In this time of our Lord and the Season, I pray that such acts not continue.
Controversy has occurred in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. So Sad that it is in our nation.
I call upon all those who believe in the Roman Catholic Church to bring your children unto the Lord.
Soon after the holidays the classes for Holy Communion will start and for converts. It is your choice.
There are so many cults out their. Protect our faith and teach your children the true faith.
For other real faiths I call unto you to also in this Season to teach your children the word of God and bring them unto the Lord God Almighty.
Children do you know the difference between the celebration of Santa Klaus and the Christmas? How about your faith as in Hebrew or Arabic or Russian Orthodox or Greek Orthodox?
We must know that these historical faiths are part of the Old Testament and New Testament and the true history of Faith and World History. Know the difference and talk to your children.
Amen.
Where is the place of the actual birth of Jesus Christ children of all ages? Where is the actual place of his being crucified? What nations did the Kings come from , what faith were they? What faith were Joseph and Mary before they met and upon the birth of Jesus? Are there prophets in the Jewish and Arabic Faith?
How many days did Mary and Joseph travel on the donkey?
What is the name of the angel that came down to see and announce the birth of Baby Jesus?
Please share it is real history and is proven also by the tax records of Joseph and witnesses and by the court proceedings by the Romans and who else?
What Sacraments take place during the Christ Mas( Mass)? Roman Catholics?
"...the church included the "attempted ordination of women" among the list of grave crimes against its law, under the same category as the sexual abuse of minors."
Yeah, and we've seen how seriously they take that one. This is not a Church, it's a joke.
First of all, we (collegiatively) are NOT God... we are human & we're flawed. God is not. The church is made up of many good people BUT also some flawed people. Accepting that premise (which the R.C. Church accepted years ago both in writing & from the pulpit) . . . the church is flawed. All major changes in the church, it's doctrine, etc. historically did not come from WITHIN Vatican City but rather OUTSIDE with the church eventually coming to a realization that they had to change with the reality of the situation they were confronted with. . . always led by the Holy Spirit. If the church is stating that they don't have the POWER to ordain women, allow married priests, etc. - they only need to look at two examples IN THE BIBLE that can give them the guidance they need - #1 Jesus interaction with the woman at the well: Where Christ shared with her things that only she knew, shared a drink of water (which would have been prohibited by then Judiac Law) etc. . That woman went back and evangelized her entire village and brought followers to Christ & his mission. . . and #2 Mary Magdalene - Christ appeared to her FIRST after he rose from the dead. It was Mary who told the apostles that Christ had risen. It seems pretty obvious that if CHRIST could trust women with his message (in totality) there should be nothing wrong with a group of flawed men in Vatican City doing the same. It's time. ENOUGH SAID.
You ought to consider running for Pope, Penu. I'm sure you'd do a better job than most of them. At least you seem to know the stories.
Mary Magdalene running back to her camp in a somewhat bewildered state of shock had only a message for the Apostles, you can hardly call that a sermon.
And the other woman at the well only passed on what she saw and heard. She had little to evangelized with her entire village. It was the fact that the people asked Jesus to come and stay at their village is when the people were........evangelized
Attempting to trivialize the role that Mary Magdalene played in Jesus' life and times won't make the fact of it go away. There is a gospel of Mary Magdalene, by the way.
The story neglects to mention they were both naked at the time. Catholic doctrine clearly states you must at least wear a collar while preforming mass.
I'm SO PROUD he stood up for something he believed in.
let's just strip the Catholic church of its tax-exempt status since it's obviously NOT catholic as in
<
and seems best to serve as a modern day old boy's club, tax haven, and hide out for pedophiles.
First there's no such thing as a woman priest; they have traditionally been called priestesses. Come to think of it the activities of the Roman priestesses - the vestal Virgins - were real crowd pleasers back in the day. Since then they have transferred their activities to gentlemen's clubs but is is a fine tradition. Anyway how can you call a female priest "Father" unless they are transgender; if you call them "Mother' then your own mother will punch your lights out. No better to leave the current arrangement in place. If women wish to be priestesses, then get them a pole and put them to work.
You might want to do a little more reading on the Vestal Virigins. They remained virgins as long as they were priestesses tending the perpetual fires at the Temple of Vesta (the Temple of the goddess of the hearth). After 30 years of service, they were released from their vow of chastity and allowed to marry. They were respected, virtuous women - not "crowd pleasers." Your ignorance is showing.
They were also executed if they didn't remain virgins during their entire "shift."
Yeah,they made a movie about that. "The 40 year old virgin".
What a load of a CRAP! They fire this poor guy,because he says mass with a woman priest.Oh my God the world's going to end! However in years prior they'd move these molesting pigs,that called themselves priests, around from parish to parish,and that was okay!
I love the Hypocrisy here in it all. It's so poetic!Yeah and they did that and Demean Women!
Here's a thought! Enough with the BS about how women shouldn't be priest.If they had women priests then,at least they wouldn't molest kids.
Women were on an equal footing with men when Christianity began,because that's exactly how Jesus Christ wanted it.You're doctrines on Women's roles in the church are pure BS also,ordained from some sexually disfunctional male who didn't know his back end from a hole in the ground,and hated women!Stupidity,in it's purist form!
Father Bill Brennan,you are a hero,and I'm in your corner sir. God Bless!
This guy is the real thing.
This guy represents the best of the Catholic Church.
It's no wonder that today's Catholic Church – at least it's leadership – condemns him.
I see a story like this and wonder "who do they think they are?" But then, they have thrown hundreds of sexually abused children under the bus in order to preserve their wealth and power. So, I know who they are.
This man is a better Catholic, and a more moral person, than all of the MEN in the Catholic hierarchy ... combined.
This 92 year old will sleep well tonight.
Meanwhile, the pope and all the rest of them will try to think of ways to keep people like him "in line."
Well, good luck. Truly moral people don't need any instruction in how to be a good Catholic – especially from the church. They take their instruction from the life of Jesus.
Another post mentions the Scripture verse that attributes to Jesus words to the effect that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against My ekklesia (community of people called together)". As @MakeProgress maintains, Rev. Brennan & Rev. Sevre-Duszynska are examples of how Jesus's Church will not be "prevailed against by the gates of hell". Of course, the words attributed to Jesus here are metaphorical, as apparently Jesus was very inclined to speaking with metaphor & parable -- surely He didn't mean that some physical iron or wooden or stone gates would become animated and deliver deadly forces against His ekklesia (unless Jesus was predicting some of the animation in modern video (so-called) "games"??).
Hopefully, a lot more members of Jesus's ekklesia will, in various ways in their lives, incarnate God's loving grace to be the heart & soul & mind & strength of the Body of Christ as this ekklesia, His ekklesia, continues to be embodiment of God's love, instrument of God's peace, for millennia to come. Such Authentic Christians as Rev. Brennan & Rev. Sevre-Duszynska and many others, will in essence evangelize the Vatican. Even Jesus Himself was responsive to nudges from some of His mates -- "They have no wine", "Even the dogs eat scraps that fall from the master's table", ...
God bless this Priest for doing what is right instead of that which the Vatican dictates. I am a Christian, a Catholic, and a woman - and until EVERY priest who has abused children has been excommunicated, NONE should be excommunicated for celebrating mass (just because the other priest was a woman). I love the Catholic faith, and there are many priests who truly serve the people of their communities. But there are too many priests who excuse the sinner when he's a priest, and persecute the sinner when he/she is a lay person. Bless those priests and nuns who are working toward social justice and equality within the Catholic Church.
Here is something to wonder about the integrity of Christianity, starting with their God.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:6, 'But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.'
One would have a real problem reconciling what Jesus said above with the fact that He did not even 'flick' a finger (*) to rescue hundreds of thousands of young and innocent children throughout the years and decades. These were repeatedly sexually raped and sodomised by His many clergy namely priests, bishops and even cardinal. These clergy, according to church's teachings, are selected believers, chosen by God to lead his flock while he is up there in heaven looking down on us. Here is my dilemma. The same God decided to wave his magic wand to cure some Australian cancer victims from the illness when Mary MacKillop whispered into His ears. For that Mary was made into a blessed person of influence with God, i.e. a saint, under Catholic doctrine.
This begs the question of whether the Almighty God was busy sleeping, drinking or having orgies up there with 77 virgins that He could not hear the crying such as of some 200 kids in a Milwaukee orphanage from their suffering of sexual abuses by father Murphy, who is now presumably in heaven, smiling, as he died within the grace of the same God!
Likewise, one has to wonder about the speed at which Catholic church leaders stepped in and stripped of Father Brennan's duties as priest while having transferred paedophile priests from one parish to another to avoid exposing their brethren's crimes. And this is a tell tale sign. It's a club of old men who protect their own reputation at the expense of anything else including their God's teachings. For it's clear that raping and sodomising a young and innocent kid is not as serious as challenging the status quo of women in the church. What a bunch of sh*t heads and hypocrites.
When are we humans truly grown up and get rid of this medieval cult.
(*) One assumes that it is within His omnipotent power to kinda wave a wand like that used by Harry Potter.
John Citz's remarks are straight on. If Jesus's ekklesia (community of those called together) is to "prevail against the gates of hell" (whatever that means), it seems imperative that many more Christians like Rev. Brennan & Rev. Sevre-Duszynska hold firm for the integrity of the Church, hold firm to their consciences. Such Christians as these will embody the strength to stand against the valid critiques like those of John Citz here. Outside of such action, we can hope & pray that the souls caught up in the hierarchy & legalism & insecurity of the Vatican see the illumination and accept the graces from the Authentic actions of those of the ekklesia's members like Brennan & Sevre-Duszynska. Now that's a "miracle" to hope for, & work for.
No wonder most Catholics I talk to are EX-Catholics.
Many times in church a certain gospel has been replayed tellin us one of Jesus's paraboles about God and his kingdom. It is a story of a wealthy man going away for a long time. He leaves his treasure in trust with three of his stewards and he devides it equally among them. The firs steward leads a life of dissipation and blow his portion of the treasure. The second invests his portion wisely, the investment does well and he earns a profit for its owner and the third steward buries his portion of the treasure for safe keeping.
On his return, the owner discovers what each did. He punishes the first steward for mishandling the treasure, praises and rewards the second steward for wisely investing his portion of the treasure and strongly rebukes the third as totally worthless for not doing anything with the treasure.
Could women representing half the treasure of the world be the one that is buried?
Nice sermon.
So the evil, misogynistic, power-mad old men who run the Catholic church have found another way to demonstrate their irrelevance to the modern world. This is new how, exactly?
And you give a sh*t why? exactly !!