My ordination in May 2003 was literally one of the best nights of my life. Surrounded by almost 300 of my family, friends, colleagues, and congregants, I felt a sense of joy, completion, blessing, and God's grace at the moment of ordination that was quite unlike any other experience in my life. When I left the sanctuary that evening for the first time as "the Reverend Debra Haffner", I quite unexpectedly began to sob deeply, filled with both joy and trembling about where this path would take me.
I can't help but wonder what the twelve women in Pittsburgh must be feeling this morning. At 3 p.m. today they will be board a boat in Pittsburgh for a floating ordination ceremony by Roman Catholic Women Priests. Five such ordination ceremonies have previously taken place in Europe and Canada; some of these women priests have been excommunicated. The Pittsburgh diocese has decried the ordination, saying that they "undermine the unity of the church."
I wonder whether the Pittsburgh diocese had anything to say about how the sex abuse scandal among male Roman Catholic priests undermined the unity of the church.
The fact is that a majority of American's Roman Catholics support the ordination of women, just like a majority support contraception and abortion. And the Roman Catholic church is desperate for clergy; the number of priests has been declining for the past forty years. Ironically the online story from the Washington Post that I read about today's ordinations, featured an ad for Vocations Placement, asking people to take a vocational test to see if they are "called to be a Catholic monk, nun, or priest."
My thoughts and prayers will be with these women at 3 p.m. today. They are fulfilling their calling and they are challenging the very church that they love to include them and their gifts fully. I hope today will be one of the best days of their lives.
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>>The fact is that a majority of American's Roman Catholics support the ordination of women, just like a majority support contraception and abortion. And the Roman Catholic church is desperate for clergy; the number of priests has been declining for the past forty years.<<
While you and others are entitled to your opinion, that does not make it right. That is part of the problem with us Americans. We have a say in matters of government, education, etc. and we have grown accustomed to having things our way. Problem is, not everything works that way. As Catholics we are to submit to the Church and its authority as granted by Jesus to the apostles and through apostolic succession to the Pope and the Magisterium. It's probably not an easy concept for Americans, to grasp, let alone American Catholics.
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