VATICAN CITY — In its most significant revision to church law since a sex abuse crisis hit the United States a decade ago and roared back from remission in Europe this spring, the Vatican on Thursday issued new internal rules making it easier to discipline priests who have sexually abused minors.
But in a move that infuriated victims’ groups and put United States bishops on the defensive, it also codified “the attempted ordination of women” to the priesthood as one of the church’s most grave crimes, along with heresy, schism and pedophilia...
The revision announced on Thursday codifies a 1997 ruling that made attempting to ordain women as priests a crime punishable with excommunication.
The Rev. Roy Bourgeois, an American priest with the Maryknoll religious order, said that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sent him an excommunication letter within two months after he participated in a ceremony ordaining women, but that the Congregation had taken years while it considered the requests of bishops to defrock pedophiles.
“What I did, supporting the ordination of women, they saw as a serious crime,” Father Bourgeois said. “But priests who were abusing children, they did not see as a crime. What does that say?”
Really, this religion has difficulties.
4 comments:
What religion doesn't have problems? Yours?
Go read Zen Master Who? Zen has more than its share of 'masters' who are addicts, pervs, and hypocrites.
But where does pointing fingers get us?
Anonymous:
Yeah, they're only covering up for child molesters. What was I thinking?
You cannot be serious.
I know, and have reported on this blog about the baddies in Zen. I think it's important to have a sense of ethics if any religion is to be practiced, and regardless of the religion, if someone does not adhere to an ethical code in a leadership position in a religion they should not be in that position.
Since the Catholic Church lacks an ethical sense at the highest levels in their religion, it would be harmful to support them. The same would be true for any Zen teacher in the same position.
I think there is a significant difference between the sex scandals in the Catholic church and those among the Buddhist community. In the former, we have a centralized governing body that is actively demonizing people and covering up the infractions of those within this politic when they are exposed. With the latter, I am unaware of a centralized governing body doing the same.
Richard,
I agree, though in defense of the Catholic Church (can you believe I wrote that?) I think, like the deal with Galileo, they'll eventually get around to dealing with women & heretics properly.
After most people have, of course.
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